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Ruidoso fire and flooding victims frustrated with FEMA

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Ruidoso fire and flooding victims frustrated with FEMA


It’s been over three months since the South Fork and Salt Fires devastated Ruidoso and the surrounding areas, causing more than $29 million in damage, and victims are frustrated with the federal government’s response.

RUIDOSO, N.M. – It’s been over three months since the South Fork and Salt Fires devastated Ruidoso area, causing more than $29 million in damage.

Since then, the community has also faced flood after flood. Luckily, they’ve gotten a break from Mother Nature, but they’re still picking up the pieces.

KOB 4 spoke to FEMA officials about how they’ve helped some fire and flooding victims. But there are residents who say they’ve been having trouble getting that help.

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“It has been a nightmare. I’m telling you because I’ve gone over there like 21 times, and they haven’t responded,” said Priscilla Aguilar, a wildfire evacuee. 

Aguilar and Abel Montelongo are trying to get their money back. They had to leave Ruidoso Downs because of the South Fork and Salt Fires.

According to Montelongo, FEMA was supposed to help with those costs. However, after trying to track them down several times, he never got his money back. He did get $291 in food stamps/EBT money.

But it was flooding, not the fires, that impacted Aguilar and Montelongo’s home.

“Since the rain and the water is coming into the yard and getting under the house, it’s going to ruin all the piping,” Aguilar said.

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Aguilar says they didn’t get the sandbags that officials promised them. At this point, they just want answers.

“At least they should have sent us a letter saying, ‘We’re not going to help you.’ Because that’s a promise that they made, not just to us, but to the whole community,” Aguilar said. 

They applied for flooding insurance after FEMA mentioned an exception with the National Flooding Insurance Program might expedite the process.

“Normally, when you buy a brand-new flood insurance policy, there is a 30-day waiting period,” said Roberto Ramirez, a director of FEMA’s hazard mitigation branch. “If you are in a post-wildfire situation, like we are in Ruidoso, those 30 days can change to one day.”

There are different qualifications. For example:

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  • If the fire happened on federal land
  • If you bought a flooding insurance policy within 60 days of the fire being fully contained
  • If the flooding results from, or was made worse by, a wildfire

“We’re still within at least those 60 days from fire containment,” Ramirez said. 

According to ArcGIS data, both fires were 100% contained Aug. 26. That means you have until Oct. 25 to apply.

“In Lincoln County, there’s only 252 policies. That’s the entire county. There’s a lot of people that don’t have flood insurance. Right now, we only had 73 claims since the disaster was declared,” Ramirez said. 

We reached out to FEMA on behalf of Aguilar and Montelongo. However, FEMA told us that they can’t discuss individual cases due to privacy.

KOB 4 was told that once someone receives a letter of denial, they can appeal it. Denials can also happen for a number of reasons.

FEMA sent KOB 4 the following statement:

“They have 60 days from the date that appears in the Determination Letter. That letter is not the last word.

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When someone applies with FEMA, we send an Inspector to verify losses and damages, ownership of property or rental contract and identity of the person. If the applicant don’t keep the appointment the system generates a Letter.

Many times survivors don’t present sufficient evidence and FEMA ask for more documentation such as hotel receipts with letterhead, and the dates have to match with the evacuation dates, food receipts, contractors estimates are verified. Every case is unique.”



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New Mexico

New Mexico Lottery Powerball, Pick 3 Day results for Dec. 15, 2025

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The New Mexico Lottery offers multiple draw games for those aiming to win big. Here’s a look at Dec. 15, 2025, results for each game:

Powerball

23-35-59-63-68, Powerball: 02, Power Play: 4

Check Powerball payouts and previous drawings here.

Pick 3

Day: 2-3-6

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Evening: 4-5-5

Check Pick 3 payouts and previous drawings here.

Lotto America

08-11-29-36-50, Star Ball: 07, ASB: 02

Check Lotto America payouts and previous drawings here.

Pick 4

Evening: 2-5-0-2

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Day: 7-2-1-6

Check Pick 4 payouts and previous drawings here.

Roadrunner Cash

01-12-17-26-29

Check Roadrunner Cash payouts and previous drawings here.

Powerball Double Play

20-23-38-42-65, Powerball: 19

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Feeling lucky? Explore the latest lottery news & results

This results page was generated automatically using information from TinBu and a template written and reviewed by a Las Cruces Sun-News editor. You can send feedback using this form.



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New Mexico expanding use of gun and bullet scanning technology to more easily link crimes

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New Mexico expanding use of gun and bullet scanning technology to more easily link crimes


NEW MEXICO (KRQE) – State-of-the-art tech, credited with cracking some of the metro’s highest profile gun crimes, is now getting deployed across the state. A handful of new bullet casing scanners are being deployed in four new regional hubs stretching from Farmington to Roswell. The goal is to link evidence from shooting cases across city and county lines in rural communities. “What makes this different is that we very intentionally distributed these machines and the personnel necessary to run the machines across the state, so that the state itself could conduct its own comprehensive analysis,” said New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez.

The New Mexico Department of Justice will be at the center of the effort with their new Crime Gun Intelligence Center. He said they’ll be the only AG’s office in the country managing a statewide program that scans bullet casings and guns found at crime scenes. Analysts will then figure out what crime scenes could be connected. The AG is deploying the scanning machines to Farmington, Gallup, Roswell, and Las Cruces. The scans get uploaded in the National Integrated Ballistic Information Network, or NIBIN database, to see if the same gun was used at different scenes.

It’s the same technology the Albuquerque Police Department used to figure out and arrest the people tied to shootings at elected officials’ homes in Albuquerque. “Instead of waiting weeks and months to connect discovery, investigators now can link shootings from firearms, shell casings, and suspects in a matter of hours or days, and cases that once appeared isolated can now quickly be connected, helping us identify repeat offenders and patterns of violent activity more quickly,” said San Juan County Sheriff Shane Ferrari.

Right now, almost every community outside the metro has to bring in its bullet casing evidence to Albuquerque in order to get it scanned and sent into the federal NIBIN system. The process can take six to 12 months. “Rural communities often cover large geographical areas with limited resources, and crime does not stop at the city limits,” said Sheriff Ferrari.

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The attorney general said the machines being deployed will be used as regional hubs, available for any New Mexico police agency to use.

The New Mexico Department of Justice got a million dollars from the feds, with the help of Senator Martin Heinrich, to stand up the system, which they said is ready to start on Tuesday. AG Torrez called out state lawmakers for not helping fund the initiative. “It is a system that is broken. It’s a system that can be fixed. and the only thing we lack at this moment is the political will to do so,” said AG Torrez.



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Event spreads holiday cheer and aims to stop spread of viruses

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Event spreads holiday cheer and aims to stop spread of viruses


An event allowed families and their kids to spread holiday cheer and prevent the spread of viruses and illnesses this season.

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — One could say that holiday cheer is usually infectious as you see pure joy on kids faces as they line up to see Santa Claus or light the menorah.

Unfortunately, this time of the year, that’s not the only thing that is infectious. Flu season is now in full swing but local organizations recently came together to spread the good and try to prevent the bad.

“We want to make sure that we’re there for the community as a destination point, not just for culture and celebration, but also for everyday needs, like health care,” Zackary Quintero, executive director of the National Hispanic Cultural Center.

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Families came to the National Hispanic Cultural Center on Sunday to meet Pancho Claus – or Santa Claus – and get their holiday fun on but many also came to get protected.

“The main goal is for all New Mexicans to be proactive in the prevention and not just when they have to go to the emergency room. We want them to be proactive in seeking medical care regardless of if they have insurance,” said Monica Toquinto, coordinator for Ventanilla de Salud.

Being proactive includes getting flu shots or glucose testing. These are services the Mexican Consulate’s Ventanilla de Salud (Window of Health) offers for free.

“In the day-to-day, the community may not go, because of work or other things, to the Consulate. We try to bring all these services we do along with our partners to the communities,” Head Consul Patricia Pinzón said.

According to Pinzón, people are coming to the Consulate in Albuquerque not just for the Ventanilla but because they’re scared as they see more and more immigration raids nationwide and locally.

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“It’s an opportunity to inform the community to let them know that they are not alone, that we are here,” Pinzón said.

The Mexican Consulate partners with University of New Mexico Health Science Services on Ventanilla de Salud. They see how the the fear of deportation or arrest is keeping people at home during a time when vaccine hesitancy is already high.

“In this particular administration, there’s even more fear among Latino populations for their relatives that are immigrants. That plays into interfacing with anywhere in the public. People have come to be afraid of what vaccines do and don’t do and we want to overcome that,” said Cosette Wheeler, executive director of Ventanilla de Salud.

Ventanilla de Salud is open Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. at the Consulate. They offer other services, like legal help, every weekday.

To learn more about services at the Consulate of Mexico in Albuquerque, click here. For information about the Ventanilla de Salud, click here.

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