Friday, June 14, 2024:
It was another beautiful day in our amazing mountain town of Ruidoso, New Mexico. I took the day off of work because my parents were coming into town and I had not seen them since August 2023 so I was really excited to welcome them. We had chicken tortilla soup and talked on our porch in the National Forest. It was so quiet, you could hear the wind through the trees. It was a wonderful night spent with the three people I love the most.
Saturday/Sunday June 15th and 16th:
We did a little shopping, went to the horse races and enjoyed each other’s company as we ate by the Rio Ruidoso River at Downshift Brewery. It was a beautiful weekend weather wise and I was sad to see them go.
Monday, June 17, 2024:
I woke up at 7:20 AM and arrived at work at 8 AM. I texted my parents to make sure they were safely on the road and began my day.
9 AM: It was a totally normal morning at work. I ate breakfast around 9 AM, sent some emails, made some phone calls. My office is on one of the main 2 roads in town and I have a large picture window overlooking the road.
9:30 AM: I started hearing a lot of sirens, they were continuous and it was all different emergency vehicles. They were speeding faster than I have ever seen here and I started getting nervous. There were a lot of fire trucks hauling ass by our office. Everyone’s phones in the office began to chime the emergency warning about a fire in the Upper Canyon. It started on the Mescalero Apache reservation and spread rapidly from there. That is about 10 miles from my office.
11 AM: I started hearing the helicopters above which was very fast, it normally takes them a few hours to get those up so I knew that was not a good sign. When you live in the mountains they have what’s called a ready, set, go status. Ready means stand by and pay attention there is a fire in the area. Set means get your shit together and in your cars including pets because you may have literal seconds to get out. Go means get out as fast as possible, flee for your life. I was glued to my window watching all the emergency personnel flying back and forth. I texted Brett and told him the shit was hitting the fan. He was aware because the helicopters were so close to our cabin all the walls were shaking.
12:30 PM: Brett called me and said I needed to get home as quickly as possible and that was when they switched us to ready status. I rushed home and grabbed the important documents which I keep in a go bag in case of emergencies and then concentrated on animal stuff we had to have. Dogs and cats require a lot of supplies such as beds, meds, toys, food, collars, leashes, kennels, bowls so we gathered all that together and got it in the cars. I grabbed about 5 days worth of clothes, medicines (for people!), but for reasons I can’t explain, even now, I did not grab a majority of my jewelry. My jewelry is how I remember things and it makes me happy. I love my jewelry and have collected it over years and years of buying. I love each and every piece but I only grabbed 3 necklaces, some bracelets, 5 pairs of earrings and most of my rings. I cannot for the life of me tell you why that is all I grabbed. I had time to get more but I didn’t. I don’t think I truly believed the fire was coming, denial is a bitch. Afterwards, of course things will pop into your head like this Kendra Scott crystal box my mother gave me and the James Avery dog tags with Brett and I’s names on it that I would normally get or these statues I bought in Austin right after we got married. And these thoughts come up at completely random moments and it hits you like a tons of bricks and it hurts when you realize again that it’s all gone.
1:15 PM: Brett and I stood on the porch watching the helicopters drop water and small planes directing air traffic. Police and fire vehicles were speeding up and down our canyon. It sounded like a Vietnam movie, like Apocalypse Now with the helicopters being so low they were almost touching the trees. We are almost at the top of the canyon and there is one road in and out which is terrifying now looking back. When we looked behind our home we could see the flames at the tops of the trees. You could hear the fire coming and it sounded like a freight train coming at you really quickly. It was a completely surreal moment and I was petrified. Suddenly the sheriff pulled into our driveway and told us to run, get out, don’t stop for anything. We were ready to go with all the animals in the cars and sped down the canyon road.
1:45 PM: We reached a friend’s house about 2 miles down the road and stopped to see what she might know and not 15 minutes later another sheriff pulled into her driveway and told us to go as fast as we can, the fire is just over the ridge, it had moved that quickly. It was truly terrifying not knowing where it may go or where to find safety. We fled to the center of town which is where the schools are.
2:10 PM: Ruidoso is surrounded by mountains and you get a great 360 degree view from the parking lot by the elementary school. That is when we realized how bad the situation truly was. There wasn’t just one fire there were 3 or 4 separate fires and we were completely surrounded by the fires and they were spreading rapidly due to dry conditions and wind. The South Fork fire started first followed by 2 minor fires they were able to stop and the Salt Fire. The edges of town were engulfed, this was way worse than we thought, the fire was jumping from tree to tree. The winds helped it spread quickly and it could not be stopped. I was shaking with fear and Brett was distraught.
2:30 PM: We decided to move out to Ruidoso Downs which is by the horse racetrack and get a hotel room. However when we arrived at the La Quinta you could see the fire was coming that way. We knew we would just end up evacuating again so we made the decision to evacuate to Roswell.
3:30 PM: Roswell is about 65 miles away so while on our way there I booked a hotel room. Traffic was heavy but since we left early we were not stuck in a traffic jam which I heard got pretty bad after that. They eventually evacuated all of Ruidoso and Ruidoso Downs. We got lucky getting a hotel room. There were people sleeping in the lobby and in their cars because no one could find a room. People were traumatized and crying. It was so overwhelming! It was just so fast, in a matter of hours the fires surrounded my lovely village and we didn’t know if there was going to be anything left. That first night in Roswell was exhausting. We were in shock, the dogs knew something was up but weren’t sure what and the cats were just pissed that we put them in their travel bags and moved them. It was a very small hotel room but at least we had one. However our room was only for 1 night and we had to be out at 11am the next day because someone else booked it. I went to get ice and a lady got on the elevator with 3 kids, a dog and her 5 puppies and a cat. She looked exhausted, poor thing. That woman deserves a medal for mother of the year.
Tuesday, June 18th:
So we decided we did not want to stay in extremely hot Roswell or Alamogordo. Since the evacuation route was only towards Roswell, Coudcroft which is small, nice and cool and the opposite direction, had rooms available, we just had to take the long way there because of the fire road closures. We spent 6 days at a hotel in Cloudcroft. The first day or two I thought that maybe our home might have made it. There was very little information available and you have to hope. We lived next door to a fire fighter, maybe we would get lucky. Facebook was really the main way to get any information and you have to be careful since you don’t know if the source is trustworthy. Rumors were flying, people were panicking and I felt like we were stuck in some weird limbo where we didnt know what was up or down. We finally spoke to a neighbor who stayed (ballsy) and learned that our home was gone, it was devastating. I did not cry at all the first few weeks because I was in survival mode: find someplace to stay, take care of animals, deal with logistics, find food, try not to think too much and get overwhelmed. I just felt and still feel pretty numb. It was all about picking up the pieces. I have never been homeless before and the feeling is terrifying. It is very humbling to realize that most of your life is gone. And the realization is ongoing, yesterday I needed some scissors and realized we don’t have any or when I was trying to cook dinner and we didn’t have a measuring cup, you know it’s the little things that are just there until it’s not.
Those six days in Cloudcroft were so long. We tried to find things to do but it was hard. We took the dogs for hikes everyday and we had to go to Alamogordo for donated supplies like toiletries, water, food, gas, socks, etc. We had to get PPE so that we could go back to the cabin and see what was left. Everyone was so nice and thoughtful and just wanted to help but we were running out of money and needed somewhere cheaper to stay.
Sunday, June 23, 2024:
My boss, Diana at the title company I work for had a camper for us to stay in which was great. Look we have an 80 pound dog and an 100 pound dog along with 2 Siamese cats that are indoor only. It was greatly appreciated but had no running water so we had to use her house to go to the bathroom or take a shower. I think the cats really loved the trailer, they didn’t seem to mind being up in everyone’s business but I did. I had a million things to do dealing with FEMA and all the other aid groups, working everyday and we needed a place to stay that was more permanent.
Friday, June 28th:
The Village of Ruidoso opened back up on June 22nd. Cedar Creek, Alpine Village and Upper Canyon did not open up for residents until June 28th, 11 days after the fire. Brett and I took a deep breath and drove up the canyon. Our cabin is about 3 miles up Cedar Creek Canyon. At the bottom of the canyon is a park and the Forest Service office for Lincoln County. It looked pretty decent and then, once you passed the park the destruction began. I personally consider Cedar Creek Ruidoso to be one of the most beautiful parts of New Mexico. All the beautiful trees and almost every single cabin, people’s homes that they loved and built, were just black and twisted pieces of metal. Most homes still had their chimney standing if it withstood the fire. You could see cars and four-wheelers that burned. When we finally reached our property it was completely overwhelming. A tree had fallen across the entrance to the driveway so we parked on the road and walked in. We had the most beautiful trees on our property but the ones left standing will have to be cut down. You could see the metal left from the oven, washer/dryer, 4 wheeler, sofa frame, bed frames, the grill. The fire was so hot it completely burned the fireplace made out of river rocks to the ground, there was nothing left. We had a beautiful creek that ran across the property but the constant flooding due to the lack of vegetation has carved out a much larger area with tons and tons of debris and vegetation that has come down the mountain. All the trees and debris will have to be removed. Luckily the Department of Homeland Security Disaster Management Division will do that for you. I met with a DHS employee and they will take out the unsafe trees and natural debris. Another department comes in and removes all the hazardous material like glass, metal, asbestos, which is a relief. I did not know how to do the cleanup so the help is really appreciated. I asked the FEMA guy if he thought we could rebuild. He said he did not have an official position on that but personally he did not believe that we will be able to rebuild there anytime soon. He said it will flood over and over again not to mention the hill behind our house was probably unstable and there could be a landslide.
So I cried that day but not since. I have been working as has no Brett but things seem to change on a day to day basis.
Saturday, June 29, 2024:
One of our real estate agents we do titles for at work, Rye Richardson reached out to me and said she had a property for sale in Capitan, New Mexico and that the owner of the property, Haarmayer Electric, wanted to let us use it as a place to stay while we get back on our feet. Capitan is about 20 minutes from Ruidoso so the location is perfect. Since we have so many animals we have had several wonderful people offer the use of their homes but backed out because of the animals. This house is completely tile so no carpet or wood to worry about. Our animals are perfectly trained, they wouldn’t dream of peeing in the house or messing up furniture. We have multiple cat poles and toys to keep all the animals occupied. We have been here for the past month. The property is 50 acres and amazingly beautiful with a gorgeous porch and claw foot tub. It has been a truly peaceful place to try to heal.
Brett’s entire life he spent his summers and holidays here in Ruidoso with his grandparents and family. He has always wanted to live here permantly, it was his dream. 4 years ago following the death of his mother and the fact that he could work remotely we made a leap into the unknown and moved here. I was a nervous wreck, I never wanted to live in a small town. But I fell in love with Ruidoso, the land, the people, the relaxed vibe. This is home. We are going to do everything we can to stay but I don’t think it will be possible. There are major housing issues here and 2 days ago I was laid off from my job I loved very much. We have no idea what we are going to do and I am terrified. Most of the forest is gone and it is hard to see the burned remains day after day. Everyone is hurting especially the full-time residents and business owners. It feels like our dream here has died.
We have been looking elsewhere like Santa Fe, Pagosa Springs, Durango, Colorado Springs. We do not want to go back to Texas because of the heat and the traffic and many other reasons. If you have any suggestions please let me know. This has been the hardest post I have ever written. It’s has taken me days and many tears, sometimes sadness outweighs the Prozac.
I have not discussed how and why the fires started, but I have my suspicions. The fact that these fires were deliberately started by man is truly hurtful. I could write an entire blog post about that subject, but I won’t right now because it is still too painful to think about. The flooding has been overwhelming as well, and I feel for the residents who made it through the fire just to lose everything in the flooding. What can you do? Mother Nature always wins. It is all so overwhelming.
Tomorrow I get to deal with more government agencies. I shouldn’t be bitter, FEMA has been surprisingly easy to deal with. I am just worn out. I have a whole new understanding of what tragedies cause families to go through and my empathy has never been stronger. Hang in there, it has to go up from here, right? Well that is what we hope. XOXO. Ruidoso Strong!
The night is calling... 