Day 3 of Ruidoso Fires
From fire to flood: Heavy rains prompt water rescues around Ruidoso
By Diana Alba Soular
Southern New Mexico Journalism Collaborative
SOUTHERN NEW MEXICO – An intense storm brought a new twist Wednesday afternoon to the fire response efforts in Ruidoso: water rescues.
Authorities emphasized the need to seek higher ground and touted the mantra “turn around; don’t drown,” encouraging people and drivers to avoid crossing running water, the strength and danger of which is not always apparent.
Separately, state police confirmed a second person died in the South Fork Fire, a now-16,300-acre blaze that started Monday and swiftly expanded over 24 hours.
Wednesday afternoon, weather officials and local authorities urged people who were in the path of burn scars around Ruidoso to seek higher ground immediately because the risk of flooding was extreme. Burn scars boost the intensity of floods because there’s little vegetation to slow water, and they heighten the risk of mudslides, according to the National Weather Service.
After 5 p.m, the weather service posted on the social media platform X: “Water rescues are ongoing in the Ruidoso area as flood waters surge down the slopes from nearby burn scars.”
Areas expected to be at risk for flash flooding include Ruidoso, Ruidoso Downs, San Patricio, Hondo, Tinnie, Glencoe, Sunset and Hollywood.
Kerry Gladden, spokesperson for the Village of Ruidoso, said the flash flood risk Wednesday afternoon forced crews to temporarily pull back from a number of areas where they were fighting fire over concerns about the crews’ safety. Those included: Upper Canyon, Eagle Drive, Sleepy Hollow, Country Club, Lower Gavilan, Lower Paradise Canyon, Two Rivers and Carrizo Canyon, according to a village post on social media.
“We’re having flooding and mudslides and large debris fields that are washing down from the burn scars,” Gladden said in a phone interview with the Southern New Mexico Journalism Collaborative.
Although Ruidoso and Ruidoso Downs remain under evacuation orders and most people have left the area, an unknown number remained behind, Gladden said. As crews pulled back from the fire lines because of flood risk, “they were evacuating anybody who hadn't heeded the original evacuation orders,” Gladden said.
Gladden said low-lying areas and bridge crossings could be overtaken by the run-off and mudslides.
Second death confirmed
Meanwhile, New Mexico State Police on Wednesday afternoon confirmed a second person died in the South Fork Fire burning in the west and north of Ruidoso.
Around noon, state police officers found a body “located in the driver seat of a burned vehicle on Ranier Road,” according to a statement from the agency.
They’re not able to identify the person now because of the “condition being skeletal remains.” Also, there were no “legible” IDs or documentation found in the vehicle.
The person is the second confirmed death as a result of the fire. From Monday night into Tuesday morning, the South Fork Fire burned homes and businesses in north and west Ruidoso and in Alto just to the north. Patrick Pearson died near the Swiss Chalet Inn, where he’d been living. He was the first confirmed death.
The Swiss Chalet Inn is about 1,800 feet – roughly one-third of a mile – from a segment of Ranier Road, according to Google Maps. However, it’s not clear where on Ranier Road the second victim was found.
Through mid-afternoon, the South Fork Fire had burned a total of about 16,300 acres (up about 1,000 acres from Tuesday). A second fire that also started Monday to the south of Ruidoso, the Salt Fire, reached nearly 7,100 acres (up by about 1,600 acres the day before). Both were still 0% contained.
Tuesday evening, officials announced a much larger number of structures — 1,400 — as damaged or destroyed than an earlier estimate of 500 structures. Some residents who had access to their properties were taking stock of the damages Wednesday and posting about them on social media.
Flash flood emergency
The National Weather Service issued a flash flood emergency for the Ruidoso area that was expected to last until 11:15 p.m. Wednesday.
In addition to the two newest fires, burn scars from the Blue 2 Fire, which started in May, and the McBride Fire of 2022 were considered to be contributors to the flooding risks.
By 6 p.m., storm run-off sparked a 6-foot increase in the height of the Rio Ruidoso, which flows through the heart of the village. The National Weather Service’s Albuquerque office described the sharp leap as “unbelievable.” The increase happened near the Hollywood neighborhood.
The weather service said between 2 and 4 inches of rain had fallen by 7 p.m.
Early morning, command of the fire response transferred to a multi-agency federal group, the Southwest Area Incident Management Team #5. Officials said this means additional fire crews and equipment will be available to counter the Ruidoso fires.
Rainfall a mixed bag
While rain can bring relief to firefighting efforts, it also can create more difficult conditions, depending on the specific circumstances, said David Shell, public information officer Southwest Area Incident Management Team.
“The thunderstorms, when they collapse, they put out outflow winds,” he said. “They're erratic winds. Those are a danger for firefighters.”
Because of that, crews have to back off the front lines of the fire – pausing the fights against the blazes, Shell said.
“The positive side is you get rain,” he said.
Widespread, heavy rain could have a beneficial impact.
Wednesday morning, more than 250 personnel were helping to fight the fires. But those numbers were increasing throughout the day. Shell didn’t have an estimate as to how many extra personnel had arrived from across the region.
“We’re putting our firefighters between the town and fire,” he said.
The response effort is also using about 15 planes and helicopters. Both water and fire retardant are being dropped on the fires.
Shell encouraged residents to treat the evacuation orders seriously.
“It's a very active fire front, and it's very dangerous,” he said. “With these thunderstorms and outflow winds, they can pick up the fire and make it move quickly.”
For information about the response, residents can call: 575-323-8258.
Cooler days with chances of rain are in the forecast for the rest of the week. Thursday, a 60% chance of rain with a high of 74 degrees is expected, according to the weather service. Friday, the chance of rain increases to 80% and decreases to 30% on Saturday.
Authorities were concerned about the risks for “debris flows,” a type of fast-moving, deadly landslide.
“They are powerful mixtures of mud, rocks, boulders, entire trees - and sometimes, homes or vehicles,” according to the National Weather Service. “You'll often hear 'debris flows' called 'mudslides' or 'mudflows.' Many people use the terms interchangeably, but to scientists, each is a different kind of landslide and debris flows are the most powerful and dangerous of the three.”
The Southern New Mexico Journalism Collaborative is a partnership of local newsrooms working together to cover important topics in the southern half of the state. More info: www.southNMnews.org or www.surNMnoticias.org.
Patrick Pearson is seen with his granddaughter, Harlynn Mallak, who was born last year. (Photo courtesy of Hilary Mallak)
'It’s devastating' says family of Patrick Pearson killed in South Fork Fire in Ruidoso
Adrian Hedden, El Rito Media
Diana Alba Soular, Southern New Mexico Journalism Collaborative
Patrick Pearson played bass and sang ‘90s cover songs, along with country and Spanish music three or four times a week at local bar Quarters in Ruidoso.
He was known to cook up a pot of taco soup for his friends, of which he made many since moving to Ruidoso full-time in 2021 to play a gig.
He died probably in the evening of June 17 or the next morning as the South Fork and Salt fire ripped through the popular tourist village amid the Sacramento Mountains and Lincoln National Forest, but Pearson’s body wasn’t found until the next day as fire crews sifted through ashes of the decimated hotel.
Pearson, 60, was a private kind of person, but made friends wherever he went, said his 36-year-old daughter Hilary Mallak. His move following a divorce in 2008 from Albuquerque to Ruidoso saw Pearson staying in the historic Swiss Chalet Inn.
“It’s devastating,” Mallak said in an interview with the Ruidoso News. “People spend their whole lives there. People retire there. That’s what my dad was doing. He said he’d spend his entire life there.”
Correction: An initial version of the story misspelled Hilary Mallak’s name.
Pearson's son and Mallak's little brother Zach Pearson, 33, of Santa Rosa said he spoke to his dad last on Father's Day, and tried to reach him Monday with no success. The family also called shelters set up in the region, mostly in Roswell, for word of their father.
"I was kind of hoping everything was okay and he didn't have (phone) service. Come Tuesday, we still hadn't heard from him," Zach Pearson said. "Nobody had seen him. We really didn't have much information to go off."
The South Fork Fire burned about 16,335 acres in the Ruidoso area as of Wednesday afternoon, according to the New Mexico Forestry Division, leading to a full evacuation ordered for all residents on Monday. The nearby Salt Fire burned another 7,071 acres south of the village simultaneously, and Ruidoso Downs was also evacuated the next day.
By the most recent estimates, 1,400 structures were lost in the wake of the fires.
Family forced to wait as fires shut down Ruidoso
One of the structures lost was the Swiss Chalet, built in 1962 and nestled among the picturesque mountain vistas that were covered by a thick blanket of smoke as Ruidoso residents fled their homes during the fires.
It’s where Pearson was living when the fires crept at first into town, then exploded, tripling in size over Monday night. He was still healing from a recent out of town surgery after breaking his leg and returning to the Chalet on June 10.
Pearson had arranged a ride out of town with friends, but it was too late as that vehicle was denied entry to Ruidoso as the highways were shut down.
So, he appeared to set out on foot, Mallak said, using a walker. Eventually, she said the smoke appeared to become too much for Pearson. He was found curled up in a fetal position in the hotel’s parking lot.
"I know he was in pain already with his leg being broken," Zach Pearson said. "Being in a walker trying to escape all that couldn't have been easy. I just hope he didn't suffer for so long."
While the fires were overtaking the village, Mallak followed the story on TV some 300 miles away in Albuquerque where she lived her entire life. She said while it was sad to see the forest burning, she didn’t expect tragedy to strike her family.
She heard later that Pearson had last spoke to a friend at about 4 p.m., June 16, saying he had a bag packed and was ready to leave Ruidoso.
“That’s the last anyone had heard from him,” Mallak said. “You don’t think it’s that bad, especially being far away. I was watching it on the news and I did try to get ahold of him. By then, the cell towers were out but we didn’t know that. We didn’t really get any updates from him.”
The family was forced to wait for word from Pearson. Mallak said her father returned their calls during previous wildfires in Ruidoso, most recently when the McBride Fire burned about 6,159 acres and led to the evacuation of 4,500 residents in April 2022.
An elderly couple was found dead among the rubble of the McBride.
“We were hopeful for the majority of the day, until we heard people were hearing from their loved ones, and we hadn’t heard anything,” Mallak said.
Zach Pearson said he called New Mexico State Police dispatch, provided a few more identifying details and was face to face with a State Police officer soon after, receiving news he hoped he wouldn't.
"I had a state police officer come to my door and he said my dad was gone. He didn't make it. I was in disbelief. It's the biggest shock of my life," Zach Pearson said. "I don't have my dad anymore."
A father, grandfather, musician and cook
Mallak’s daughter Harlynn was born on July 29, 2023 and she said Pearson was looking forward to being a grandfather. He had several custom items made to welcome Harlynn into the world, Mallak said, as the girl joined her two teenage sons.
“He was very excited about that,” Mallak said. “They all knew I wanted a daughter at some point.”
She said she spoke to him about weekly since he moved from Albuquerque for that first gig in Ruidoso about three years ago, and to escape the big city for scenic mountain vistas.
“What took him to Ruidoso was he always wanted to get out of Albuquerque,” Mallak said. “He got a gig in 2021 and fell in love with it. He never came back.”
In Ruidoso, Pearson played in a band with Craig Rivera. Rivera's daughter Christiana Alvarez of Oceanside, California said the bond between her dad and Pearson since they were teenagers meant he was "like and uncle" to her. She said she talked with Pearson frequently, especially for counsel when her son died at a young age.
"My dad told me he never saw Pat mad in all the years he's known Pat. He's always been that person − my dad was the one sticking up for him," Alvarez said. "He (Pat) was funny. he had a humor. But the one thing was: he was simply just kind."
She recalled a kind man, always excited to perform and have a good time.
"It was really nice because every time I'd go listen to them (at Quarters), there was always people dancing," Alvarez said. "It was people in their early 20s to couples in their 60s and 70s. It was a mixture, and it wasn't just about alcohol. It was about the music.”
Before his passion of music drew him to the mountains, Mallak said Pearson was strong father, who attended many of her and her sister Samantha Garcia’s dance and cheerleading events.
She also remembered her dad as the family cook, known for his “taco soup” he’d frequently prepare for friends he met through music and “simpler southern food” he’d prepare for the family.
“We loved to go see him play,” she said. “He was the main cook. That’s what I remember. He like to make people happy.”
Garcia, 31, of Albuquerque said she remembered a father born to perform. He sang during her first dance with husband Leon Garcia on their wedding day.
“My dad had such a gift and passion for singing and entertaining. He played the bass guitar and made lifelong friends doing what he loved,” she said. “I have many fond memories of going to his gigs and dancing to him singing. He actually sang to my husband and I during our first dance at my wedding. He was well loved and will be greatly missed.”
Zach Pearson said it was his dream to join his dad on stage. That's why he took up the guitar. After his father's passing, Zach still has recordings he said bring back the cherished memories of following his parents to county fairs, festivals and other event to hear his dad's deep, country-tinged voice reminiscent of George Strait.
"He was an amazing musician. He made a part-time career out of it for most of his life," Zach Pearson said. "He'd go all over and play, and everybody loved his music. There's nobody that didn't fall in love with my dad's singing voice."
That voice was silenced by the South Fork Fire.
Fire crews continued working to control the blaze in the days after Pearson’s death, hoping to bring an end to the chaos gripping the village, and prevent any more tragedies from hurting families like his.
Adrian Hedden can be reached at 734-972-6855, achedden@currentargus.com or @AdrianHedden on the social media platform X.
New Mexico State Police confirm second victim in Ruidoso fires
New Mexico State Police on Wednesday afternoon confirmed a second person died in the South Fork Fire burning in the west and north of Ruidoso.
About noon, state police officers found a body “located in the driver seat of a burned vehicle on Ranier Road,” according to a statement from the agency.
They’re not able to identify the person now because of the “condition being skeletal remains.” Also, there were no “legible” IDs or documentation found in the vehicle.
The person is the second confirmed death in the blazes, which started Monday and have grown significantly since. The fastest expansion of the South Fork Fire so far happened Monday night into Tuesday morning, as the blaze burned homes and businesses in north and west Ruidoso and Alto. Patrick Pearson died near the Swiss Chalet Inn, where he’d been living. He was the first confirmed death.
The Swiss Chalet Inn is about 1,800 feet, roughly one-third of a mile, from a segment of Ranier Road, according to Google Maps. However, it’s not clear on which segment of Ranier Road the second victim was found.
— Reported by Diana Alba Soular/ Posted 5:27 p.m. 06/19/2024
Weather Service issues extreme danger warning for Ruidoso burn scars
The National Weather Service issued an urgent alert Wednesday afternoon for the Ruidoso area about expected “torrential” rainfall likely to fall over the South Fork Fire burn scar, as well as a burn scar of the Blue 2 Fire, which started in May.
Describing the situation as “extremely dangerous,” the agency says a flash flood warning is in effect for “all points downstream” in Ruidoso and Alto.
Rainfall over burn scars can be especially dangerous because there’s little vegetation to slow the path of the water, and mudslides — or “debris flows” — are a risk.
“Locations downhill and downstream from burned areas are very susceptible to Flash Flooding and Debris Flows, especially near steep terrain. Rainfall that would normally be absorbed will run off extremely quickly after a wildfire, as burned soil can be as water-repellant as pavement,” according to a Weather Service article. “As a result, much less rainfall is required to produce a flash flood.”
A debris flow is a “fast-moving, deadly” landslide, the Weather Service states. They travel faster than a person can run and can overcome vehicles. Their paths can be unpredictable, too.
“They are powerful mixtures of mud, rocks, boulders, entire trees - and sometimes, homes or vehicles,” according to the agency. “You'll often hear 'debris flows' called 'mudslides' or 'mudflows.' Many people use the terms interchangeably, but to scientists, each is a different kind of landslide and debris flows are the most powerful and dangerous of the three.”
The National Weather Service advises people in the path of a burn scar flow to evacuate as soon as they get notice.
By Diana Alba Soular/ Posted 3:25 p.m. 06/19/24
Fires’ growth continues, as victim’s name comes to light
SOUTHERN NEW MEXICO — Two large fires continued to grow Wednesday in Ruidoso, as officials announced a larger number of structures had been damaged or destroyed in the blazes.
The South Fork Fire, burning on the west and north of Ruidoso, and the Salt Fire, burning to the south, continued claiming acreage.
Around 2:45 p.m., about 16,300 acres (up about 1,000 acres from Tuesday) had burned in the South Fork Fire. The Salt Fire crept to nearly 7,100 acres (up by about 1,600 acres the day before). They were still not contained.
The name of a man who died in the fires also came to light, as family and friends posted on Facebook about his life. Pat Pearson lived in the Swiss Chalet Inn on Mechem Drive, which burned in the path of the South Fork Fire. He was a guitar player at a well-known bar in town, Quarters Nightclub.
Tuesday evening, officials announced a much larger number of structures — 1,400 — as damaged or destroyed than a previous estimate of 500 structures.
— By Diana Alba Soular/ Posted 2:55 p.m. 06/19/24
