El Pasoans offering help to the Ruidoso community
RUIDOSO, New Mexico (KVIA) -- The entire village of ruidoso has been evacuated as the wildfire continues burning. Many in the El Paso community want to do what they can for those fleeing ruidoso and they are providing different types of help. Some El Paso residents are saying the community wants to return the favor to the town we use for getaways. Restaurant Star Burgers and Fries is providing a free burger to Ruidoso residents who are here in El Paso. Additionally, Realtor Heather Harmston is offering Airbnb's free of charge to those who are in need of housing and Valentin Gonzalez is offering land for wild horses and/or cattle.
El Pasoan Valentin Gonzalez says "For all the animals that that are in need right now during these times of need, our space is available." He says he is willing to take in as many horses or cattle from Ruidoso residents who had to evacuate with their animals. Gonzalez has 4 acres of land and plenty of horse panels to make stalls. He says he can probably fit about 50 to 100 wild horses or cattle. Gonzalez also says he's helping because his sister was part of the Ruidoso horse racing community. Gonzalez says he also has a couple of friends who live nearby who have acres of land for wild horses and are also willing to volunteer their land free of charge. He said "there is a lot of people here in the el Paso area that are willing to help. just last night a couple of my friends a I decided to post about it just because its available to anybody you know, we have the space available for these people to come and find some peace for the moments of stress."
Furthermore, some El Pasoans are offering temporary housing for the people who have been evacuated. Heather Harmston is a Realtor who's offering free stays at her Airbnb's told ABC-7 "I have 3, one is occupied already, so unfortunately, I cannot have anybody stay in that one for a few days until they check out. But the other two are vacant, so they'll be staying in one, and then I'll have another one. And then someother friends of mine I've already asked, and they're going to start looking around to see if they have any open housing or rentals or anything that they can rent for a day or night a week."
