Local, state officials bracing for economic impact of Ruidoso fires
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EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) — Plenty of images have been captured of the devastation and damage that the South Fork and Salt wildfires have caused in the Ruidoso, New Mexico, and the Mescalero Apache areas, but the economic impact is already weighing on both communities, and officials are preparing for the negative impact to grow.
According to data from Ruidoso News, the total cost to fight both so far exceeds $8 million.
Local and state officials are already considering what sectors of the economy they’ll have to address soon and what the total economic impact of the fires will be.
“Well, I think unemployment assistance is going to be one of the really important things, as so much of the economy is service-based,” said U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich, D-New Mexico. “The mayor and other elected officials are really concerned with trying to keep the labor force here. We’re days into this, but we’re going to be weeks and months soon, and anything we can do to keep that labor force local is really important to an economy like Ruidoso.”
Heinrich said the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) administrator will arrive on Saturday, June 22, to begin implementing operations from the national declaration of emergency that President Biden signed earlier in the week.
Heinrich visited shelters and damaged areas in Ruidoso and the Mescalero reservation on Friday.
“It’s going to be a long road to rebuild all of that. For every home that you see, that’s not smoldering, that’s a family with a lot of memories and a lot of connection to that place. And so that’s a process of healing that’s going to take a long time,” Heinrich said.
Thora Padilla, president of the Mescalero Apache Tribe, said they’re already losing revenue, and have had to cancel concerts scheduled in the coming weeks at the Inn of the Mountain Gods Casino, as well as downsizing their Fourth of July celebrations.
“We’re not going to do the rodeo, and all of the entertainment, vendors, and so forth,” Padilla said. “It does mean a big change but I think it’s important to do this at this time because we’re still going to be fighting this when the time comes.”
The reservation was mostly affected by the Salt Fire but they were fortunate not to lose any homes, Padilla said.
When asked what are some of their biggest needs are, Padilla said they want more federal funds to use for forest thinning.
“That’s (thinning) what’s making it a little easier for us on our residential areas,” Padilla said. “People need to understand that thinning is very necessary.”
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