Ruidoso NM ... major interface fire

[zerg901]

Lincoln County EMS Live Audio Feed ... major wildfire ... #McBrideFire ...... Ruidoso NM .. just found more burning homes at 2047 hours edt ... 6 trucks enroute from the high school ... comms were on "EMS Buck" .... earlier comms were on "EMS Cap" ... USFS reports 50 blds lost so far

 

[Giddyuptd]

Its been pretty bad. Communications were down to 50% yesterday due to various factors. Extra dispatchers brought in. Local ham operators assisting with temporary repeaters and setups.

 

[es93546]

Per Inciweb at McBride Fire

"The McBride Fire started on April 12, 2022 around 2:30 pm on Warrior Rd in Ruidoso, NM. The fire quickly spread into neighboring residential areas and has continued to move northeast towards the airport. There are 2 confirmed fatalities and over 200 homes have been lost."

This is a tragedy when people are killed by a wildfire. That weighs heavily on firefighters, as you can imagine. It's mid April and this has already happened, it does not bode well for the rest of the fire season. The Lincoln National Forest is usually the first NF in the west to have activity though. They are the first to dry out and the first to receive monsoon moisture in late June. I worked in the USFS Southwestern Region at the start of my career and we looked at the Lincoln as sort of a predictor of what was coming for the rest of the region.

EDIT: now at 5700 acres and burning northeast, away from town.