FBI investigating two people for allegedly starting Salt Fire
RUIDOSO, New Mexico (KVIA) -- New court documents obtained by ABC-7 indicate that federal investigators are looking into two people who possibly intentionally set the Salt Fire, one of two wildfires that burned thousands of acres in and around Ruidoso and Mescalero Apache, New Mexico in June.
The court documents name the two suspects, who have not yet been charged with any crime. ABC-7 is choosing not to list their names here because they have not been charged.
Because the fire started on Native American land, FBI investigators took over.
The two people could face up to five years in prison, as well as a fine, according to federal law.
"From about May 3, 2024, to June 18, 2024, there have been 16 suspicious wildland fires started on the Mescalero Apache Indian Reservation," the FBI investigator explained in one court document.
Court documents explain that investigators first started looking into the multiple human-caused fires in early May.
"The investigation intensified with the investigative participation of Special Agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI)... Bureau of Land Management (BLM), and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (ATF) on or about June 18, 2024, after more than 7,000 acres of forest on the Mescalero Apache Reservation was damaged or destroyed by a fire referred to as the Salt Fire," the investigator added.
There was a second fire, called the South Fork Fire, burning on the other side of Ruidoso at the same time as the Salt Fire. Earlier this month, officials announced the South Fork Fire was started by lightning.
Federal investigators say they have linked the two suspects with six of the human-caused fires started May 3 through June 18.
An officer who responded to the May 3 Fire spoke with one of the suspects at the scene, who identified him or herself as a wildland firefighter. The person told the officer they had tried to put out the fire, then told the officer, without being asked, that they had not started the fire.
At the May 3 Fire, several witnesses described seeing a dark colored Jeep driving away from the fire. A similar vehicle was spotted by an officer both leaving and returning to the May 7 Fire, court documents state. Again, at the May 20 Fire, the same officer spoke to nearby homeowners who described seeing a dark colored Jeep leaving the scene of the fire.
At both the May 7 Fire and the June 17 Carrizo Fire, investigators found Vans shoe prints in the dirt.
"It should be noted that the shoe impressions were observed to be on top of the tire impressions that the fire department vehicles had made the night before, while responding and exiting the June 16 fire," the FBI investigator explained in one court document. The June 16 Fire started just 0.3 miles away from the June 17 Carrizo Fire, the investigator explained.
Later the same day, after fire crews put out the June 17 Penn Scott Fire, an officer saw tire tracks believed to belong to the Jeep at this new scene. The Jeep has distinctive tire, the investigator explained.
Later on June 17, 2024, officers stopped the Jeep leaving the place where the Salt Fire started. The Jeep, with the two suspects inside, were stopped less than a mile from the Salt Fire, court documents state.
During the traffic stop, officers took photos of one of the suspects' shoes, as well as the Jeep's tire treads. Court documents state that investigators found similarities between the shoe pattern and the prints left at the fire, as well as the tire tread and the marks left at the fire.
