New Mexico
‘My staff is spent’: New Mexico emergency management leader reflects on year of disasters
‘That house … is gonna be gone’: A drive through the McBride Fire
McBride Fire in Ruidoso, NM
Chris Bennett, For the Sun-News
This article was originally published by Source New Mexico.
President Joe Biden issued two major disaster declarations in New Mexico in 2024, the first time since 2014 that pronouncement has been made twice in the same year, according to federal data.
First, two wildfires erupted in the Ruidoso area in June. The South Fork and Salt fires and ensuing floods destroyed more than 1,500 homes and caused the deaths of two people. Then, in October, heavy rains caused devastating flooding in Roswell, a disaster that resulted in at least two deaths, as well.
In both instances, and for smaller emergencies before and in-between them, the state Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management responded.
Disasters of that severity require a multi-faceted response and coordination between numerous officials and local and state agencies. Emergency Management was at the center of all that, running into disaster zones, marshaling resources and fielding questions at angry town halls.
Recently, Deputy Secretary Ali Rye reflected on a year of disasters in an interview with Source New Mexico. She described a tiring year and a small-but-mighty agency that is struggling to keep up with the “before,” “during” and “after” disasters because there have been so many.
“I mean, my staff is spent. I think New Mexicans are spent,” Rye said. “I think everyone is just, they’re tired, and they’re constantly in this response or recovery mode.”
Before 2022, the state had a reprieve of nearly a decade from major disaster declarations, according to Federal Emergency Management Agency data, excluding the COVID-19 pandemic. (Rye doesn’t really count the pandemic she said, “Because everybody got impacted by COVID.”)
The 2022 federally declared disaster was a series of wildfires burning throughout the state simultaneously. On a single spring day in 2022, 20 wildfires were burning at the same time.
That’s the same year that the state experienced the two biggest fires in its history – the Hermits Peak-Calf Canyon Fire in northern New Mexico and the Black Fire in southern New Mexico. Both burned more than 300,000 acres.
The trial by fires, while devastating for communities and exhausting for staff, has at least been educational, Rye said.
“I will tell you, though, we have learned a lot over the last two years,” she said. “And I think it showed this year with us being very proactive in areas that we knew were going to get hit, or us planning ahead for fire season, for monsoon season in a more proactive way.”
That meant meeting with residents and local officials in disaster-prone areas, purchasing needed equipment and staging it there in advance, Rye said.
The ongoing fallout from the Hermits Peak-Calf Canyon Fire shows the long tail – and cumulative nature – of disasters. More than two years later, even as disasters unfolded in southern New Mexico, staff was still driving all over the state, offering state case managers to help northern fire victims navigate a tangle of bureaucracy and support to local officials still trying to rebuild roads or mitigate against future floods.
“The same staff that help in Roswell and in Ruidoso are also the same staff that help in Hermits Peak-Calf Canyon,” Rye said. “And so my staff, I mean, they travel all over the state to be able to provide the assistance and the resources to these individuals who are still in these communities that are still recovering.”
Rye’s core staff is two people, she said, though the office does employ others with the help of federal grants. “So, yeah, it’s a lot,” she said.
But it’s rewarding and vital work, she said, helping people on the worst days of their lives. The office is hiring, and Rye is hoping to convince lawmakers to increase its operating budget from about $3.2 million to about $5.6 million at the upcoming 60-day session. The extra funding would help attract and retain staff, many of whom are lured away by federal disaster response agencies or elsewhere.
As it stands, the skeleton crew can’t take as much time as needed to help a community recover or prepare before another flood, snowstorm or wildfire.
“We’re going so much that we cannot put in those mitigation efforts the way we really, truly would like to,” she said. “We’re kind of just putting Band-aids on situations to keep the state afloat.”
Patrick Lohmann has been a reporter since 2007, when he wrote stories for $15 apiece at a now-defunct tabloid in Gallup, his hometown. Since then, he’s worked at UNM’s Daily Lobo, the Albuquerque Journal and the Syracuse Post-Standard.
LAS ANIMAS COUNTY, Colo. (KKTV) – A 4.0 magnitude earthquake struck in southern Colorado near the New Mexico border Thursday, according to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), with shocks felt as far as Pueblo.
According to the USGS, around 10:45 a.m., an earthquake struck near Weston at a depth of 8.7 km.
USGS said weak shaking could be felt as far as southern Pueblo and Monte Vista, with the shaking measured at an intensity level 3.
USGS said it estimates a 28% chance that an aftershock greater than 3.0 can be felt again within the next week.
Copyright 2026 KKTV. All rights reserved.
The All-American Rejects played a pop-up show in a former alfalfa field in the South Valley after telling fans the location just hours before the concert.
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – A former alfalfa field in the South Valley served as the venue for one of the most highly-anticipated concerts of the year in New Mexico Wednesday night, although no one knew exactly where it would take place until a few hours before showtime.
The All-American Rejects, the band behind hits such as “Move Along” and “Dirty Little Secret” said they were coming to the Albuquerque area for a concert, but only fans who signed up for an alert received the exact location, and that didn’t come down until 5:55 p.m. Wednesday.
It’s part of the band’s free “House Party” concert series, which features performances in barns and backyards instead of more traditional venues in an effort to fight back against rising concert ticket prices.
“The whole tour, the message we’re trying to get across is what’s happened with concerts in general. It’s become a one-percenters club to have access to the one commodity we need for togetherness, which is music,” said Tyson Ritter, the lead singer and bassist for the band.
The owners of the property couldn’t believe their luck when they were selected. Jackeline and Thomas Ingham told KOB 4 their family’s properties in the South Valley have been used for weddings in the past, but certainly never for a major concert.
“And I thought it was a scam, so I hung up,” said Jackeline Ingham when asked about how the band’s manager reached out to her to set up the concert. “So, [my husband] is like, ‘Call her back!’ So, he ended up talking the rest of the way with her.”
Throughout the day, many fans of the All-American Rejects across New Mexico were trying to guess where the band might show up later in the evening.
“I thought it was either gonna be at Ex Novo, New Mexico United, or just somewhere in the South Valley because that’s what Reddit said all day,” said Brooke Palmer.
Fans within a 124-mile (200 km) radius were able to receive the band’s concert alert.
It ended with thousands of fans flocking to the area, and just before 8:30 p.m., an announcement was made saying the venue was at capacity, forcing many to leave.
Others remained outside the main gate trying to get the best view they could from afar.
But the band was ultimately happy with the former alfalfa field that was quickly turned into a concert stage.
“Well, this is number four. And this feels like this is the example,” said Ritter ahead of the show. “This is what a house party is. Right here, man. We’ve got a beautiful field, an incredibly generous host, the weather is with us.”
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