“We’re very optimistic about the future:” Ruidoso Mayor reflects on the McBride Fire, one year later

RUIDOSO, New Mexico (KVIA) -- Wednesday, April 12th will mark the one-year anniversary of the McBride Fire in Ruidoso.

That fire destroyed over 200 structures and killed 2 people.

"A lot of those structures were home to our workforce," says Mayor Lynn Crawford.

He says following the fire and the subsequent floods that resulted, the village was able to make strides.

"We were able to start a small housing development, with 17 homes for fire victims. But it's taken a year to get that done."

Mayor Crawford says he's been frustrated with the federal response to the fire, but adds the state response was helpful.

"A lot of promises, a lot of things that need to be done, but when it comes down to it, we don't get that help very quickly. The village has always been very responsive to take care of things ourselves," he says.

"I will have to say the state did a wonderful job helping us set up that because we don't have a big evacuation center, you know, so we had cots and whatnot. We worked out rates and gifts and everything from our local hotels and short-term rental places to let these people live and stay," adds Crawford.

Crawford says he's proud of the way his community handled the situation.

"We had over 200 structures lost. You know, it was a little bit of a shock and all. But the community is very resilient," he says.

"We implemented a lot of emergency statuses and training and coordination so that there wasn't a lot of standing around when it happened. Everybody knew what their job was and took action and when we handed over the fire to the top 113, we went into full recovery mode," the Mayor adds.