RUIDOSO, N.M. (KRQE) – As crews battle the South Fork and Salt fires outside Ruidoso, some of those fighting are now part of the hundreds who won’t have a home to return to.
Regardless, they will continue to fight for the property of others.
“When they got back, they realized the fire had entered Cedar Creek, and it was a 400-foot wall of flame coming.”
For almost a week now, crews have been attacking the fires raging outside Ruidoso.
Over 1,000 firefighters on the ground are working to keep the fires at bay with the help of rain. Some of those fighting the blazes, like the Smokey Bear Hotshots, call Ruidoso home.
PICTURES: Rain over burn scars causes flooding in New Mexico communities
“One of the crew members had grown up there. His father was also a previous Smokey Bear Hotshot,” said Michelle Levy, a friend of the member of the crew.
With dangerous winds and dry conditions, the fast-moving South Fork Fire ripped into northern parts of the village earlier this week.
“They got pulled again because it was just too dangerous, and there was no stopping it.”
One crew member came back after the fire ripped past Cedar Creek, and he found his childhood home gone.
“They had to continue to work knowing that his childhood home had burnt down, that his home had burnt down, not knowing if everybody was safe, if everybody was okay.”
He wasn’t the only hotshot who lost his home this week.
“One was able to get in his truck and go try to rescue his animals, and he was too late that the house had already burnt down.”
“It was just one after another. Everybody discovered that their houses had burned down, and there was nothing they could do.”
It didn’t stop them, though. The crews kept fighting to save as much of the town as they could through no sleep and heartbreaking loss.
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“They were able to save, you know, prevent it from pushing over Mechem Drive, and they were able to save their station, which I know is really important to them having lost their homes.”
Michelle said this crew is still working and will keep fighting until the very end, and she has helped organize a GoFundMe to help them when the ashes settle.
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