Fire crews were busy Sunday mopping up burned areas of the deadly South Fork and Salt fires surrounding Ruidoso, an effort aided by days of rain.
Meanwhile, officials prepared to allow the first of thousands of evacuated residents to return Monday to homes still standing in neighborhoods untouched by the blazes, which have killed at least two people and increasingly appear to be human caused.
The FBI is aiding in an investigation into the fires and is offering a $10,000 reward for information that leads to the criminal conviction of anyone who might have caused them.
Authorities have been silent about possible causes of the pair of fires, which ignited the morning of June 17 in forested lands of the Mescalero Apache Reservation. The fires quickly spread that day, burning the western and southern edges of Ruidoso and destroying an estimated 1,400 structures.
They have since slowed to a crawl with the onset of heavy rains from monsoon storms.
Rumors have circulated on social media about the possibility the fires were ignited by an arsonist. The FBI reward fueled such suspicions, but authorities have not confirmed any details of the investigation.
Margot Cravens, a spokeswoman with the FBI’s Albuquerque office, declined to comment Sunday on whether the FBI believes the fires were intentionally set on tribal lands, or whether the agency believes both fires were ignited by the same suspect or suspects.
“Out of respect for the ongoing investigation, we will refrain from commenting on its substance,” she wrote.
Ruidoso Mayor Lynn Crawford, in a virtual briefing Sunday evening, also faced a question about the probe. “When the investigation is done, it’ll be done,” he said.
Residents who choose to return to homes and businesses Monday, a week after the blazes began, were warned to be cautious: More storms in the forecast could lead to “life-threatening” floods.
The National Weather Service forecast a 20% to 30% chance of isolated and scattered showers and thunderstorms bringing light rain to the area Monday.
Leaders of the Southwest Area Incident Management Team 5, which is overseeing the firefighting efforts, and local officials reiterated in the Sunday evening briefing the dangers posed by the mix of fire, burn scars and heavy rains.
They spoke of debris flowing into the village on swollen rivers — even a trailer between swept by floodwaters.
The flooding has been a threat to firefighters, National Weather Service and fire incident meteorologist Tom Bird said, “but when the community comes back in, it’s going to be more of a concern.”
Crawford urged residents to “bring plenty of drinking water; bring plenty of food” when they arrive Monday to survey their properties or move back in.
Utility infrastructure has sustained heavy damages, and wells likely are polluted, he noted.
Only two deaths have been discovered so far, Crawford said, but “we still have a lot of properties to go through. … We need to stay out of the way of professionals that are in here.”
He offered residents some good news: Emergency housing has arrived for 500 people. The Red Cross is preparing to provide meals, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency will be arriving with “cash and services,” he said.
He lauded organizations and communities throughout the state that have supplied donations of goods and funding. He called for a halt on donated supplies, however, as space for them has filled. Contributions of money are still welcome, Crawford said: “Cash is king.”
The rainy weather mostly helped crews Saturday in battling the two wildfires, though at times it kept them from entering some areas where flooding was a risk.
An update issued Sunday morning from the incident management team shows the larger South Fork Fire saw some growth since Saturday morning but also an increase in its containment. The wildfire had spread by nearly 1,000 acres from a day earlier, reported at 17,551 acres. The Salt Fire, at 7,775 acres, had grown by only about 100 acres.
At the same time, fire crews had increased containment of the South Fork Fire to 31% Saturday, while the Salt Fire remained at 7% containment — notable progress from Friday when neither fire was contained at all.{/div}
There now are 1,300 personnel deployed to fight the blazes.
“Yesterday was a good day for the firefighters with the cloud cover and the precipitation,” Paul Meznarich, the incident management team’s spokesman, said in an interview early Sunday afternoon. “Firefighters were able to get closer to the flames for more direct attack.”
Rainfall varied widely throughout the fires’ footprint Saturday, with the terrain more vulnerable to flooding in spots than others, Meznarich said. Stiff downpours compelled crews to move from drainages and other low-lying areas onto higher ground until the threat of flooding passed, he added.
The team now has at its disposal a mixture of nine helicopters and fixed-winged aircraft that can drop water and retardant onto the fires, but haven’t used them in the past couple of days because of the rain, Meznarich said.
Albert Newman, from the incident management team’s air operations, said in the Sunday evening briefing drone use is impeding the use of aircraft. He urged residents to keep their unmanned planes, even small ones, grounded.
“Daily I’ve been getting reports of drones, civilian drones, local people flying drones,” he said.
A search for drone operators is underway, Newman said, adding those found to be violating a ban in the burn area could see their aircrafts confiscated and face other punishments.
Drones could cause significant damage “or worse” to helicopter crews, he said.
