Wildfire — South Central Mountains, New Mexico

2024-06-17 to 2024-06-23 · South Central Mountains, New Mexico

Event narrative

The South Fork Fire was discovered on June 17th within tribal land along the Rio Ruidoso west of Ruidoso. It blew up in size within its first two days reaching 15,000 acres and destroying an estimated 1,400 structures. Two lives were lost, an as of yet identified person in a vehicle on Rainier Road due to the limited remains, and a 60 year old Patrick Pearson within the Swiss Chalet Motel. The fire's growth slowed considerably by the 19th due to heavy rainfall causing flash flooding on the burn scar. Flash flooding and debris flows exacerbated recovery efforts. Many of the structures lost were located within the eastern and northeastern portion of the burn area including areas from Alto to Cellars Canyon and Cedar Canyon down to the upper Rio Ruidoso. Damage is an estimate based on number of structures destroyed.

Wider weather episode

The devastating South Fork Wildfire was discovered June 17th at 9am MDT within the tribal land along the Rio Ruidoso west of the village of Ruidoso, NM. The fire burned in dry and receptive fuels and exploded in size to 13,921 acres within a day while officially crossing into Lincoln County as elevated fire weather conditions ended up allowing for extreme fire behavior. Evacuation orders were made for the entire Village of Ruidoso on June 17th with shelters being set up across eastern NM including Roswell. The nearby Salt Wildfire in combination with the South Fork Wildfire blocked evacuation routes to the west, leaving only U.S. Highway 70 eastbound as the only route out of Ruidoso. Despite this, an estimated 8,000 people had evacuated. The South Fork Wildfire grew to 15,276 acres by the end of June 18th having destroyed an estimated 1,400 structures. Two people unfortunately lost their lives from the wildfire with New Mexico State Police having found the remains of one deceased in a vehicle on Rainier Road in Ruidoso, and a 60 year old man in the Swiss Chalet Motel in Ruidoso. Weather conditions changed rapidly from an elevated to critical fire weather pattern to a moist and cooler pattern resulting in severe thunderstorms. Heavy rainfall and severe hail was observed over the South Fork Wildfire on June 19th. This helped greatly to subdue the fire, but at the cost of flash flooding and debris flows. Growth of the fire slowed considerably surpassing 16,000 total acres before the heavy rains started. Rains continued on June 20th and 21st allowing fire crews to reach 31 percent containment by Sunday afternoon on the 23rd. Total acreage burned reached 17,569 acres as of late June. Active fire activity ended by June 23rd thanks to the abundant heavy rainfall and monsoon moisture. This total acreage is split over both Otero and Lincoln Counties.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1176524. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.