Single Publication

Southwest Area

Incident Management Team

TEAM 5 – David Gesser – INCIDENT COMMANDER

Crews help community while waiting for road conditions to improve

Daily Update, Wednesday, July 3, 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: 532

Containment: South Fork – 87%; Salt – 84%

Fuels: mixed conifer, grass, pine/juniper                                             

Resources: The South Fork and Salt fires are currently staffed with 11 crews, 1 helicopter, 16 engines, 
2 bulldozers, and 5 water tenders.

Highlights: 

• Fireworks – Fireworks are always prohibited on the Lincon National Forest. On the Mescalero Apache Indian Reservation, fireworks are only allowed as part of an organized event.
• Fire restrictions – Fire restrictions have been updated for Mescalero Apache Tribal lands. Details available in “Closures”, below.
• Flood mitigation – On Tuesday, crews once again supported flood mitigation efforts, filling an
  additional 28,000 sandbags for the community, bringing the 2-day total of filled sandbags to over
  46,000.

Fire Activity: Fire activity remains limited on the South Fork and Salt fires. Remaining heat sources on the South Fork Fire are downed logs away from control lines. Hot spots on the Salt Fire remain within dense conifer stands and snags and do not threaten containment.
Suppression repair crews will work across the South Fork and Salt fire area today. If conditions permit, crews will focus on repair of bulldozer roads and hand lines as well as chipping operations.

While monsoon season is in progress across the region, dry fuels are still present due to the continuation of the long-term drought affecting the area. Large diameter fuels, like dead/down logs, are dry for this time of year. As the 4th of July holiday approaches, please refrain from using fireworks, as these can cause new ignitions in persistent dry fuels.

Weather: Wednesday brings light clouds across the fire area, temperatures in the mid-80s and light potential for scattered rain. The remainder of the week will include a mix of warm, dry weather, followed by more scattered storms.

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 an updated Class V/Stage II – Extreme Fire Restriction Notice on July 1, 2024. More information is available on the Mescalero Apache Tribe Facebook page at www.facebook.com/mescaleroapachetribe.

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