The fast-growing wildfire in rural southern New Mexico that authorities said was sparked by a fatal medical plane crash outside Ruidoso has led to evacuations and forest closures as firefighters worked to keep flames away from nearby ranches and a community. Officials said the blaze expanded quickly over the weekend amid dry, windy conditions, and that steep terrain limited how closely crews could engage the fire directly.
The crash that authorities linked to the wildfire happened before dawn Thursday, according to the report. Investigators said the plane was en route from Roswell Air Center to Sierra Blanca Regional Airport when it went down, killing the four people aboard.
Those onboard included pilots Keelan Clark and Ali Kawsara of Generation Jets, along with flight nurses Jamie Novick and Sarah Clark with Trans Aero MedEvac. In a joint statement, Matt Goertz, the vice president of Trans Aero MedEvac, said, “Our hearts remain with the families and loved ones navigating an unimaginable loss,” alongside Generation Jets.
The Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board are investigating the circumstances of the crash. Their probe is ongoing as firefighters continued responding to the fire it sparked.
By Monday, fire officials said evacuations were underway for a rural area north of the Capitan Mountains. Officials also said the wildfire caused closures in the Lincoln National Forest.
Firefighters from the U.S. Forest Service, the Bureau of Land Management and multiple interagency Hotshot crews were assigned to the incident, but they faced major constraints because the blaze was burning in sparsely populated areas with rugged, steep terrain. Adam Turner, a public information officer for the fire, said the conditions made it impossible for crews to engage the fire directly, calling the landscape “mountain goat territory.”
Turner said crews were working to contain and steer the fire away from evacuated cattle ranches to the northeast and the community of Arabella to the west. He described that strategy as crews focused on managing fire spread rather than direct attack in the immediate area.
Officials said the wildfire grew rapidly over the weekend, nearly doubling in size between Sunday and Monday morning to more than 19 square miles (50 square kilometers). A red flag warning stayed in effect across southern New Mexico on Monday, with forecast wind speeds between 20 and 30 mph (32 to 50 kph).