Hundreds in Ruidoso are without power, PNM placed on Wildfire Safety mode amid Red Flag Warning

RUIDOSO, New Mexico (KVIA)- According to officials with the Village of Ruidoso, due to the the National Weather Service issued a Red Flag Warning, the electric company for the area, PNM, has placed its system in Wildfire Safety Mode to be more sensitive to wind-blown debris such as tree branches coming in contact with power lines.

As of 9:15 am, PNM is reporting 852 customers without power in the Upper Canyon and Perk Canyon areas. Officials with the Village of Ruidoso previously reported 152 customers were without power at 9:10 am.

Officials with PNM say that customers should treat any downed power line as if it is energized and stay away from it, call 911 and PNM at 888-DIAL-PNM to report.

PNM crews are being assigned to repair outages according to Ruidoso officials.

Residents in the area can find updates through the PNM's outage map by clicking here.