5,000 under evacuation orders as New Mexico wildfire rages

AP via Breitbart ^ | 15 April, 2022 | SUSAN MONTOYA BRYAN Associated Press

[GonzoII]

Evacuation orders for close to 5,000 people are still in place as firefighters battle a deadly blaze in New Mexico

Douglas Siddens’ mother was among those who made it out with just the clothes on her back when a deadly, wind-fueled wildfire ripped through a mountain community in southern New Mexico.

The RV park where she lived was reduced to “metal frame rails and steel wheels,” said Siddens, who managed the site

“I had like 10 people displaced. They lost their homes and everything, including my mom,” he said.

The fire has destroyed more than 200 homes and killed two people since it broke out Tuesday near the village Ruidoso, a vacation spot that draws thousands of tourists and horse racing fans every summer....

[GonzoII]

" It was a decade ago that fire ripped through part of the village of Ruidoso, putting the vacation spot on the map with the most destructive wildfire in New Mexico’s recorded history"

[GonzoII]

Jumping in for CedarDave....

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[Trumpet 1]

Could it be that a mowing machine could cut the tall dry grass and then a hay baling machine could then scoop up the grass and turn it into bales of grass to be hauled away on trucks. Remove the fuel. Could it be that simple? I am just a city person. Yet, I have seen the country side.

[ronnie raygun]

Like the fires in California no one is tending the field

[Bonemaker]

That’s Mescalero Apache reservation country.

[ridesthemiles]

IF the flora there is like here in N Nevada high desert-—

We don’t have ‘grass’.

We have sage—which is a tough plant to remove under the best of circumstances-—

Also tumbleweeds-—which start life as Russian thistles.

[apostoli]

Oh, it’s worse that that...ONE or more of these fires were started BY the state as a ‘controlled burn’... During our WINDY months!

the culprit in charge, SHE says they followed the ‘guidelines’... FK that

[IYAS9YAS]

Oh, it’s worse that that...ONE or more of these fires were started BY the state as a ‘controlled burn’... During our WINDY months!

Not the state. The fed gov. The Hermit's Peak fire in the Santa Fe NF started as a controlled burn by the US Forest Service this last week. The Overflow fire in Chaves County (SE of Roswell) was also a prescribed burn that got out of control. That was the Bureau of Land Management, not the USFS. Two big fires that were directly government caused.

The McBride fire in Ruidoso was suspected to be downed power lines due to high winds. But as of right now, the cause is under investigation. It started near the eastern edge of the town's city limits and spread to residential areas just outside the city limits. The Nogal Canyon fire in the Lincoln NF (NW of Ruidoso 10-15 miles or so) is still burning. It was started by downed power lines in the high winds.

The Big Hole fire started near Belen, NM (roughly 35 miles south of Albuquerque). Still no cause on that, either.

All of these fires were either caused and/or exacerbated by high winds on Tuesday. It's amazing these agencies that have lost control of "controlled burns" in the spring (windiest months) in the past here in NM still start them in the spring.

[moonhawk]

I am sorry to hear that. As a volunteer firefighter I have helped on several controlled burns in the East Mountains—Cibola Ranger District. The conditions are very strictly monitored, and the OK is not lightly given. I have not been on one during this type of windy dry weather.

When I was there, it was actually difficult to get stuff to burn. I am appalled that they went ahead in this kind of weather. Same thing happened in the big Los Alamos Fire, I forget the name, in the early 2000s .

[CedarDave]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cerro_Grande_Fire

[moonhawk]

Thanks, I had an unobstructed view of that one from my second floor deck. That and the Las Conchas fire in 2011. Unbelievable.