Wood Artist in Ruidoso reflects on wildfire devastations on 1-year anniversary

RUIDOSO, NM (KVIA) --ABC-7 anchor Paul Cicala spent several days covering the devastation caused by those fires, and is in Ruidoso today to report tonight live in the 4, 5 & 6 p.m. newscasts & as the popular tourist town continues its recovery.

"We're all in trouble," said Ruidoso resident Michael Free in June of 2024, as the wildfires swept through this region of New Mexico popular with El Pasoans. Free owns and runs "Artistic Wood-Carved Bears." He continued that day, saying: "We're gonna come back, it's gonna come back a long time. There's gonna' be a lot of people closed."

Michael Free was right, as hundreds of business had to close during the busy summer tourism season. However, business has been steadily picking up over the last year.

"It's recovering quickly. Bouncing back good.  It's been good to me," said Free, who moved his business to a more central location in Ruidoso that's also less prone to flooding. After initially losing thousands of dollars during the fires and closures in Ruidoso, now his business is "Phenomenal. It's phenomenal. There's people here every day from all over. El Paso, Albuquerque, Las Cruces, and all over Texas," said Free, as he carved up a beautiful wood-chiseled bear from the trunk of a pine tree.

When asked about what emotions run through his head on the one year anniversary of the fires, Free said "Oh, just losing some friends that lost their homes and everything and had to move away, and that's sad, that saddens me more than anything."

Bittersweet memories, and the recovery continues and optimism remains high in Ruidoso.

Paul Cicala will air this story, and several others on ABC-7 at 4, 5, 6 and 10 p.m. from Ruidoso, NM during the one-year anniversary of the start of the wildfires.