At least one dead in New Mexico village from wildfire that forced thousands flee their homes
At least one person has died as wildfires swept into a village in southern New Mexico, forcing thousands of people to flee their homes.
People left Ruidoso under evacuation orders with little time to rescue belongings as huge flames destroyed or damaged more than 500 structures, New Mexico governor Michelle Lujan Grisham said.
Her office confirmed the fire had killed one person, but not share any details.
She previously said that the village’s entire population of 7,000 people had been evacuated.
A message on the local government website for Rudioso read: “GO NOW: Do not attempt to gather belongings or protect your home. Evacuate immediately.”
Mrs Grisham declared a state of emergency in the south of New Mexico and deployed additional National Guard troops to the area.
The magnitude of the fires is beyond local control and requires immediate state intervention to protect public health, safety and welfare, the governor said in a statement on Tuesday afternoon.
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One of the wildfires, named the South Fork Fire, started on Monday on the Mescalero Apache Reservation in New Mexico, where the tribal president issued an executive order declaring a state of emergency. It was burning on tribal and US Forest Service land within areas surrounding Ruidoso.
A second fire, called the Salt Fire, also was burning on the Mescalero reservation and southwest of Ruidoso. It was more than 7.6 square miles (19.6 square kilometres) as of Tuesday morning with no containment, the forestry division said.
“The horrific South Fork Fire and Salt Fire have ravaged our lands and property, and forced thousands to flee their homes,” Mrs Grisham said. “We are deploying every available resource to control these fires.”
Thousands have to flee Rudioso. Pic: Reuters
Accountant Steve Jones said he and his wife fled overnight as emergency crews arrived at their doorstep and dense smoke filled the Ruidoso valley, making it difficult to breathe.
“We had a 40mph wind that was taking this fire all along the ridge, we could literally see 100ft flames,” said Mr Jones, who relocated in a camper. “That’s why it consumed so much acreage.”
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A burned out car is seen after wildfire swept through parts of southern New Mexico. Pic: Reuters
He said mobile and internet service failed with the evacuation underway, while villagers tuned into AM radio for updates, packed up belongings and drove from Ruidoso, which is about 130 miles south east of Albuquerque.
“The traffic became bumper-to-bumper, slow-moving, and people’s nerves became a little jangled,” he said.
Public Service Company of New Mexico shut off power to part of the village due to the fire, which was estimated to be about 22 square miles (56 square kilometres) with 0% containment, forestry and village officials said on Tuesday morning.
The state forestry division said multiple structures were threatened and a number have been lost. A portion of US Highway 70 was closed south of the village.
A firefighter tackles a wildfire in California. Pic: Reuters
The Village of Ruidoso is about 75 miles (121 kilometres) west of Roswell, where several evacuation centres were set up.
An air quality alert was issued for very unhealthy air in Ruidoso and surrounding areas due to smoke.
It comes as tens of millions of people were affected by stifling heat across the United States on Tuesday.
Extreme heat alerts stretched from Iowa to Ohio and even into the upper reaches of Michigan, with the National Weather Service saying a dangerous heat wave was expected to make its way across the country and into Maine until at least Friday.
In California, wildfires erupted east of San Francisco in the state’s historic Gold Country region and in the mountains of northern Los Angeles County after what had been a quiet start to fire season.
US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth has been linked to a second group chat about sensitive military operations, which he reportedly shared with his wife, brother and personal lawyer.
The messages sent via the Signal messaging app are again understood to have contained details of an attack on Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis in March.
The second chat group, initially reported by The New York Times, included about a dozen people. It revealed details of the schedule of the airstrikes, according to the Reuters news agency.
Two sources with knowledge of the matter told Sky News’ US partner network NBC News there were 13 people in the second chat group, and Mr Hegseth divulged the information despite an aide warning him about using an unsecure communications system.
Mr Hegseth’s wife, Jennifer, a former Fox News producer, has attended sensitive meetings with foreign military counterparts, while his brother was hired at the Pentagon as a Department of Homeland Security liaison and senior adviser.
Military details from the first chat group were revealed by a journalist from The Atlantic magazine who was accidentally added to the Signal app by national security adviser Mike Waltz.
Mr Hegseth then shared sensitive information with cabinet officials about last month’s airstrike on targets in Yemen, which was later leaked.
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Mike Waltz (left) and Pete Hegseth (right) have used Signal to discuss sensitive government matters. Pic: AP
‘A non-story,’ says White House
But the White House has consistently defended Mr Hegseth.
Donald Trump dismissed the original leak as “something that can happen”.
Responding to the latest chat group, White House deputy press secretary Anna Kelly said: “No matter how many times the legacy media tries to resurrect the same non-story, they can’t change the fact that no classified information was shared.
“Recently-fired ‘leakers’ are continuing to misrepresent the truth to soothe their shattered egos and undermine the President’s agenda, but the administration will continue to hold them accountable.”
The “leakers” referred to in the White House statement are four senior officials who were ousted from the Pentagon last week as part of an internal leak investigation.
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‘Hegseth put lives at risk’
The New York Times reported that the second chat – named “Defence | Team Huddle” – was created on Mr Hegseth’s private phone.
It detailed the same warplane launch times as the first chat.
Several former and current officials have said sharing those operational details before a strike would have certainly been classified, and their release could have put pilots in danger.
Democratic politicians have repeatedly called for Mr Hegseth to step down.
“We keep learning how Pete Hegseth put lives at risk,” Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer said in a post on X.
“But [Donald] Trump is still too weak to fire him. Pete Hegseth must be fired.”
The latest claims about Mr Hegseth emerged as Yemen’s Houthi rebels reported another wave of US airstrikes on Sunday, including on the capital Sanaa.
The Houthis said at least 12 people had been killed, with 30 more injured.
The US says its bombing campaign is in response to Houthi attacks on Red Sea shipping lanes.
DHL Express is suspending some shipments to the US as Donald Trump’s new tariff regime takes effect.
From 21 April, shipments worth more than $800 (£603) to US consumers from “any origin” will be temporarily suspended.
New rules that came into effect at the start of April made such shipments subject to increased customs checks.
“This change has caused a surge in formal customs clearances, which we are handling around the clock,” said the parcel delivery service.
Shipments going from business to business worth more than $800 aren’t affected by the suspension, but DHL warned they may also face delays.
Shipments under $800 to either businesses or consumers are not impacted, but one British cycle manufacturer suggested its US customers may need to split orders over $800 into “smaller shipments” to avoid the red tape.
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From May, shipments from China and Hong Kong that are worth less than $800 “will be subject to all applicable duties”, according to the White House.
“President Trump is targeting deceptive shipping practices by Chinese-based shippers, many of whom hide illicit substances, including synthetic opioids, in low-value packages,” it said in a statement.
Until now, deliveries worth less than $800 didn’t incur any duties, which allowed low-cost companies Chinese like Shein and Temu to make inroads in the US.
Both have warned their prices will now rise because of the rule changes, starting on 25 April.
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