‘We have a lot to be thankful for': Ruidoso rebuilds after fire and flood devastation
Life is beginning to return to the scorched hills, dotted with charred tree trunks, in the charming mountain village of Ruidoso.
Colorful butterflies lilt among snapdragons, heavy machinery clears the foundations of torched homes and carves out larger banks along Rio Ruidoso, and a hum of energy resonates from the community's main drag.
A year after twin fires and repeated floods ravaged the historic village, Ruidoso has made significant strides toward rebuilding what was lost and repairing what survived. It's a journey that will continue for some time to come.
"Even though to the locals here it seems like it's been very slow, a lot of progress maybe hasn't been made in their area … when you look back at the total body of work, it's been remarkable," Ruidoso Mayor Lynn Crawford said. "A year later, we've made a lot of progress, but still have a long way to go."
That community spirit was on display as locals gathered at Wingfield Park to recognize first responders and celebrate their community's resilience on Tuesday, June 17.
Crawford recalled the day flames began stretching into Ruidoso: it was a Monday, June 17, and it started like any other day. The South Fork and Salt fires, which began on the nearby Mescalero Apache reservation, torched roughly 25,000 acres and destroyed around 1,300 structures, leaving behind a bald landscape that made the water from the torrential downpours that followed rush into the city without impediment.
The blazes also caused two deaths — 60-year-old Patrick Pearson was found dead near the Swiss Chalet Hotel and a second unidentified victim was found in a burned car on Ranier Road.
And though the fires were eventually extinguished, the land they ravaged only sets the stage for more flooding as the Southwest prepares for monsoon season, another issue Crawford and village leaders must contend with, along with rebuilding their town.
But none of that appears to overwhelm Crawford or, by all accounts, the roughly 7,600 people he represents.
"A lot of it is rebuilding and maintaining," he said. "That's one thing about Ruidoso … we're very optimistic people. We always have a good plan, and they say that plan works until you get hit, but we got knocked down and through the subsequent nine floods, we got up every time."
"When we have so much support from the surrounding communities, the people that support our (tourism) industry, it really helps us get out of bed in the morning and make sure we're ready to go to work for the people that come to see us."
Ruidoso Fire Chief Cade Hall was just a firefighter when the blazes broke out around Ruidoso last year.
The Ruidoso Fire Department includes about 27 firefighters, with only seven or eight on duty each day. On June 16, 2024, Hall was off when he got a call from the Smokey Bear Hot Shot crew saying, "We lost it."
Hall did not even know there was a fire in the area, but he immediately looked outside and could see the dark plume of smoke rising over the horizon. The whole fire department was then called into action.
"I hit all-call and brought in every firefighter in Ruidoso to try to help mitigate the problem," he recalled. "We were fighting fire, fighting fire — there was 100-foot, 150-foot flame lengths, we had a house torch here and then you turn around and it's wrapping around you — and the next thing you know, the rain came and we went from fighting fire to having people floating down the creeks, houses and all that stuff."
Ruidoso's firefighters immediately pivoted to rescue efforts as state and federal agencies continued fighting the fires, getting swift water crews into action.
Ruidoso native Leland DeFord was there when the fires and flooding began, opting not to evacuate from his home. A former El Paso firefighter and forensic photographer, DeFord began documenting the destruction but changed course after only a few days.
"It just got so depressing, the damage," he remembered, "so then I started photographing the relief effort."
Immediately after the fire and flooding ended much of the work for Hall and the rest of the village has been on make sure the kind of devastation seen last year is never seen again.
Flood mitigation efforts such as expanding culverts, installing barriers around riverbanks and thinning areas to create defensible space around homes and other structures continue to be a large part of the recovery effort.
Despite mudslides still being a concern for Hall, he applauded the resilience of the people in Ruidoso, who, he said, were anxious to reclaim their hometown.
"This place is second to none," he said. "They came back with a vengeance. They wanted their place to be back."
"Minus some trees, and some houses in areas that we can't build back due to flooding, it's just resiliency," Hall added. "These guys are resilient."
For Heather Kinney, who is opening her shop, Feather and Stone Emporium, on Sudderth Drive in Ruidoso next year, evidence of the village's slow but steady recovery is everywhere — from the constant hum of traffic to, most notably, the local farmers' market.
"We had more people attend the farmer's market, as vendors and patrons, than we ever did before," she said as she moved along the stones and jewelry at her shop. "So, people are ready to get back to normal for sure."
While a new normal might be in the offing for the people of Ruidoso, as Crawford noted, the expansive rebuild in the village leaves room for a new vision to take root. Something he's calling "Ruidoso 2.0."
"We have plans and we're working with access to the community to let them know that they can have their input," Crawford said. "But the village, we're a bunch of planners here, so we have a very robust comprehensive plan, a master plan, strategic plans and then, indeed, tactical plans for every aspect of the community, so we have buy-in from all parts of the community."
The first step to reimagining Ruidoso is housing. Crawford said "well over" 100 families are still not in their permanent homes, taking up residence in nearby towns like Capitan or Tularosa, and many will never be able to return or rebuild as their former properties are now in extended flood zones.
"We need to continue to invest in affordable and, primarily, workforce housing," Crawford said. "People that are working, they need nice, safe, secure homes that are hardened, and by that I mean that we make sure the lots are thinned, that maybe the roofs are made out of metal or some other material that has a lot of fire resistance, making sure that we have different aspects that have been pointed out during our thinning process by the local forestry (department)."
By the end of the month, the village will finish construction on a housing development that will include 10 modular homes and village leaders recently broke ground on a 72-unit apartment complex. Additionally, Crawford said he is working with federal agencies on a buy-back program for residents who cannot rebuild as a way to avoid piling financial devastation on top of already-traumatized residents.
The site of the iconic Swiss Chalet Motel, which was destroyed, may also be a future site for new housing in the village, Crawford said.
While housing remains at the top of the community's list, Crawford also has an eye toward securing the village's economic future by protecting water resources and bringing businesses back to town.
The fires caused half a billion dollars in damage.
"Our water resources and assets are in full tact, we check those constantly, but it's rebuilding our economy, it's doing the rebuilding of homes, structures in the community where most the people who work in our shops live, that the majority of the homes that we lost," he said.
The people of Ruidoso appear committed to bringing their village back to its former glory.
"A year later," Crawford mused, "we have a lot to be thankful for."
Adam Powell covers government and politics for the El Paso Times and can be reached via email at apowell@elpasotimes.com.
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This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: Ruidoso rebuilds homes, hopes after year of disaster and disruption
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