Single Publication

Southwest Area

Incident Management Team

TEAM 5 – Mark Bernal– INCIDENT COMMANDER

Scattered storms cause severe flash flooding

Daily Update, Sunday, June 30, 2024

Mescalero Apache Tribe Emergency Operations Center: 575-464-9214 (8am-6pm)

Village of Ruidoso and Lincoln County Emergency Operations Center: 575-258-6900 (7am-10pm)

Fire Information Phone: 575-323-8378 or 575-323-8258 (8am-8pm)

Media Information Phone: 575-323-8053 (8am-8pm)

Email: 2024.southfork@firenet.gov

Acres:  South Fork – 17,569; Salt – 7,939

Start Date: June 17, 2024

Location: South Fork – Ruidoso Area, Salt – 7 mile west of Mescalero, NM

Personnel: 725

Containment: South Fork – 79%; Salt – 84%

Fuels: mixed conifer, grass, pine/juniper                                             

Resources: The South Fork and Salt fires are currently staffed with 17 crews, 3 helicopters, 25 engines, 2 bulldozers, and 8 water tenders.

Highlights: Flash floods were observed across the fire area on Saturday. Flooding will continue to pose a threat as afternoon storms pass across the South Fork and Salt fires. 

Fire Activity: Fire activity remains minimal across the South Fork and Salt fires. While some hot spots are present within the fire area, heat sources are more than 150' from the closest perimeter/holding lines and pose no threat to containment.

Today, crews will focus on constructing direct control lines on the west side of the incident to protect values at risk and further increase containment as weather and road conditions allow. Mop up along established control lines is also underway and will continue for the foreseeable future. Additionally, suppression repair work on constructed containment lines and structure assessments will continue where appropriate and safe to do so. 

Weather: The South Fork and Salt fires experienced intense scattered thunderstorms on Saturday, resulting in flooding and debris flows. Sunday temperatures will remain in the mid-80s with continued chance of scattered storms. 

Smoke: As monsoon moisture continues, very little smoke will be present.  When temperatures increase, and thunderstorms decrease, pockets of heat may produce light amounts of smoke. Additional details are available at https://outlooks.wildlandfiresmoke.net/outlook/430b2c05.

Closures: A South Fork Fire Emergency Closure Order was issued on June 20, 2024, for national forest lands within the Smokey Bear Ranger District. The identified areas, and roads and trails therein, are closed to public access to allow firefighting personnel to work and through the fire area safely. More information is available at www.fs.usda.gov/alerts/lincoln/alerts-notices/?aid=88199. 

The Mescalero Apache Tribe issued a Class V/Stage II – Extreme Fire Restriction Notice on June 28, 2024. More information is available at https://mescaleroapachetribe.com. 

A Temporary Flight Restriction (TFR) is in place over the fire area. Public/commercial drone flights are also prohibited within this area. If you fly, we may have to ground our air resources. Visit https://tfr.faa.gov/tfr2/list.html for more information.

More information:

Inciweb: https://inciweb.wildfire.gov/incident-information/nmmea-south-fork-and-salt

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SWIMT5 

Smoke Outlook: https://outlooks.wildlandfiresmoke.net/outlook/430b2c05

Lincoln County Government: www.lincolncountynm.gov

Mescalero Apache Tribe: https://mescaleroapachetribe.com 

Village of Ruidoso: www.ruidoso-nm.gov/south-fork-fire