RUIDOSO DOWNS,
New Mexico (April 4, 2011) – The Billy The
Kid Casino has reopened and Ruidoso Downs is
ready for horses to move into the stable
area on April 25 after the 10,500-acre White
Fire burned adjacent to the track property
on Sunday.
The corner of one barn was burned and work
has already begun to repair the damage,
primarily to a tack room.
“We are very fortunate,” said Ruidoso Downs
general manager Jean Stoddard. “We are very
thankful for the courageous work of
firefighters, the police and all of the
responders. They’re amazing. Our hearts and
prayers are with the fellow members of our
community who have been impacted by the
fire.”
The White Fire started about 1:30 p.m. on
Sunday and the cause is unknown. The blaze
was whipped by high winds in dry conditions.
The winds subsided overnight, yet the fire
is not contained. It continues to burn east
of Ruidoso Downs and is no threat to Ruidoso
Downs and the Billy The Kid Casino.
Five
homes have been destroyed and firefighters’
top priority is protecting homes and
structures. There have been no reports of
deaths or serious injury.
Firefighting teams are using bulldozers and
planes are dropping slurry on the blaze
during the reduced wind.
The summer racing season at Ruidoso Downs
will start on May 27 with the trials to the
Grade 1, $500,000 Ruidoso Futurity. Racing
runs on a Friday through Monday schedule.
Photos by Ty
Wyant - April 4, 2011 - Ruidoso Downs
Racetrack & Casino
Stables burn in White
Fire, but 16 horses saved
Ruidoso Downs, NM - April 4, 2011 - Barbara
Green watched her home and Cowboy Stables
business go up in flames during The White
Fire Sunday, but picking through the charred
rubble of her house Monday, she was upbeat
and optimistic.
"I'm up here now and finding all kinds of
strange things that survived," she said of
the four-bedroom doublewide structure. "I
got out with my three dogs and I hope my cat
survived. I don't know yet, but my son's
house and my brother's houses made it, while
my house and the man on top of the hill
didn't.
read more
The Day
After Ruidoso Downs Fire Fight Continues
1:15 PM Update: April 4, 2011 -
Less than 24 hours after the incident was
first reported, firefighting crews as of
Monday morning are making headway in the
battling flames caused from the White Fire
that started in Gavilan Canyon and spread
into Ruidoso, Ruidoso Downs and other areas
of Lincoln County, according to the New
Mexico Department of Homeland Security and
Emergency Management.
Fire officials said Monday morning that the
White fire is still zero percent contained,
but there is no active flame front and the
fire is not moving.
"There is a big difference between
containing the fire and putting the fire
out," Don Scott with Bureau Chief of the
Department of Homeland Security and
Emergency Management said. "The fire is on
both sides of Highway 70 and with the winds
now blowing from the north, our concern is
providing structure protection in the
Ruidoso Downs area."
“We’re making good headway,” said Scott,
adding that “a lot of progress has been made
in trying to contain the fire.”
The cause of the blaze is not yet known.
Scott said that Lincoln County officials and
investigators from the National Forest
Service are investigating.
Eighty percent of the fire is on forest
land, while the rest is situated on private
lands in Ruidoso and Ruidoso Downs, Scott
said.
"Last night a cold front went
through and dropped winds significantly,"
Incident Commander Eddie Tudor said Monday
morning. "We made good progress overnight.
With daylight and less smoke the team was
better able to evaluate the size of the fire
and changed the size from an estimated 1,500
acres to 6,900 acres of burned area.
"We are working in the area of Forest Road
120 to keep it from spreading east," Tudor
said. "There are five dozers working with
hand crews to construct a containment line
around the fire.
Mandatory evacuations are still in effect
for residents of River Ranch RV Park and
River Trail in Ruidoso and River Gardens --
known locally as Spaghetti Flats -- in
Ruidoso Downs.
A cold front that started Sunday night and a
decrease in wind speed have helped stop the
fire from spreading, according to Eddie
Tudor, Incident Commander for the New Mexico
State Forestry department.Sources:
Ruidoso Free Press /
Ruidoso News
FOREST Fire Evacuates Ruidoso Downs
Ridge in flames across from
the Ruidoso Hospital, Ruidoso,
NM -courtesy of Kirstie Trotter - 3:00 PM -
April 3, 2011
8:30 AM - Ruidoso, NM -
April 4, 2011 - Fire officials have yet to
identify a cause for what is being called
the White fire in Lincoln County, which has
now blackened more than 6,000 acres and
claimed five homes and numerous other
structures.
As of 8 a.m. Monday, the fire was still
"zero percent under control," according to
fire officials.
The fire started at about 1:30 p.m. Sunday
near the “Y” at Gavilan Canyon and Hwy 70.
Within minutes, huge billows of smoke could
be seen near the Ruidoso Downs Racetrack and
officials started issuing evacuation notices
in a number of areas, including Gavilan
Canyon, the Highland area, Joe Welch Lane,
and Spaghetti Flats.
Walls of flames, fueled by tinder-dry trees,
forest waste and 60 mile per hour winds,
were reported to reach hundreds of feet into
the air.
No injuries were reported, although one
horse was reported overcome in Ruidoso
Downs.
By 9 p.m. Sunday, officials were allowing
residents of the Upper Gavilan Canyon area
to return to their homes as the fire
continued to burn east of Ruidoso Downs.
For those who could not return, a number of
local lodgers offered free or reduced rates
to evacuees and firefighters who continued
to arrive from across the state.
State emergency management officials brought
in a Type III Incident team Sunday, with
plans to upgrade the response to a Type II
team Monday, according to Jennifer Myslivy,
public information official.
Fire officials Sunday said the primary goal
was to “protect homes,” over aggressively
fighting the fire, which burned large areas
of relatively uninhabited forest.
Evacuating livestock was a top priority,
although some residents in the Ruidoso Downs
area reportedly just released horses to
escape the fire on their own.
Hwy 70 east of Ruidoso was closed for much
of Sunday evening as the fire roared toward
Glencoe and the Fox Cave area, actually
jumping the highway at one point and burning
at least one home near the River Ranch
campground.
Eight fire crews, 15 engines, two water
tenders and five dozers were in action by
Monday morning.
White fire threatens Hondo Valley
- 5:00 PM - Ruidoso, NM - April 3, 2011 -
Numerous neighborhoods in Ruidoso Downs and
on the northern edge of Ruidoso are
threatened by a wildfire Sunday.
Shortly after 5:30 p.m., Dan Ware of the
State Forest Service, confirmed at least
four structures have been lost to the White
fire, which began about 1:30 p.m. near the
“Y” at Gavilan Canyon and Highway 70.
The fire ran down the ridges on the north
side of Ruidoso Downs, running about eight
miles east and burning to the edge of the
Ruidoso Downs Racetrack parking lots. Two
barns on the backside at the racetrack were
reported to have burned.
"The fire did jump Highway 70," Lincoln
County Manager Tom Stewart said. "It burned
a home in the River Ranch RV Park and
another home on the south side of the
Highway."
The other three homes that burned were in
the area of Ruidoso Downs that borders the
Lincoln National Forest. The Ruidoso Downs
Police Department and some volunteers had to
round up horses owners had left out to
escape the fire.
"We drove them up Joe Welch Road and
corralled them at the Sales Barn," Ruidoso
Downs Police Chief Doug Babcock said.
One horse was the only casualty of the fire.
"He was an older horse that just couldn't
take it," Armstrong said.
"There were no injuries to residents or fire
fighters," National Forest Information
Specialist Jennifer Myslivy said.
Myslivy said the cause of the fire is under
investigation and the fire is rated at zero
percent contained.
Hwy 70 eastbound has been closed near
Lloyd's Feed, according to reports, and the
River Ranch Campground near Fox Cave was
being evacuated.
The fire has burned on private and state
land along the north side of Highway 70, and
has caused law enforcement to ask residents
along the north side of the highway to
evacuate as a precautions.
Areas under a mandated evacuation order by
police and fire officials include the
400-500 block of Gavilan Caynon Road in
Ruidoso and Highland Road, Joe Welch Lane,
Ruidoso Downs Race Track and Spaghetti Flats
in Ruidoso Downs.
Voluntary evacuations have also been
announced for of all of Upper Gavilan Canyon
including Fawn Ridge, Homestead Acres, Eagle
Creek and Shangri La.
PNM announced it would be cutting power to
the Spaghetti Flats area due to poles
catching fire.
Kathryn Minter of the Bonito Fire Department
said there were more than 75 firefighters
and 20 pieces of equipment fighting the
blaze, but efforts were being hampered by
high winds which aren't expected to
dissipate until at least 10 p.m.
There is also a voluntary evacuation for any
residents five miles north and 10 miles east
of the traffic “Y” at Highway 70 and
Sudderth Drive.
An evacuation center has been set up at
Gateway Church of Christ at 415 Sudderth
Drive.
The Lodge at Sierra Blanca is offering
complimentary rooms for persons evacuated
from the fire. Representatives said evacuees
will be asked to provide a credit card to
cover incidental expenses, and that the free
room is for Sunday night only.
Hotel Ruidoso and Comfort Inn have also
announced special local rates for anyone
needing a place to stay that have been
affected by evacuations.
In the wake of the fire, Ruidoso schools
will not be in session Monday.
3:00 PM - Ruidoso Downs, NM - April
3, 2011 - Warm weather and sever dry
conditions sparks forest fire in Ruidoso,
Sunday afternoon. According to Dan Ware of
the State Forest Service, the White fire,
which began about 1:30 p.m. near the “Y” at
Gavilan Canyon and Highway 70, has burned on
private and state land along the north side
of Highway 70, and has caused law
enforcement to ask residents along the north
side of the highway to evacuate as a
precautions. No structures have been
reported burned, but several are threatened.
Areas under a mandated evacuation order by
police and fire officials include the
400-500 block of Gavilan Canyon Road in
Ruidoso and Highland Road, Joe Welch Lane,
Ruidoso Downs Race Track and Spaghetti
Flats, Champion's Run in Ruidoso Downs.
Kathryn Minter with the Bonito Fire
Department said that all residents north of
the Rio Ruidoso, within five miles of the
river, and 10 miles to the east of Ruidoso
Downs Race Track are being evacuated.
Forty mile-a-hour plus winds have prohibited
the use of air tankers at this time. A "Type
3" team is onsite and have begun to cut fire
lines as of 4:45 pm. It is estimated that
3,000 acres are involved with 0% containment
and growing rapidly.
