By Dianne Stallings
The Ruidoso News
RUIDOSO, N.M. — When the call went out for all Ruidoso firefighters to battle the Swallow Fire on June 16, the assignment turned out to be especially stressful for John Herring, whose home was in the target area.
“It gives me goose bumps every time I think of it,” he said Wednesday. “Our house is right up the alley on Mockingbird and our neighbor’s house burned down. My daughter had a picture in her window and its edges were charred. That’s how close the fire was. I didn’t know that until days later. It was an eerie feeling.”
Herring, who’s been with the Ruidoso Fire Department five years and has lived on Mockingbird Lane for about three years, said when the captain gave orders to protect the houses on the west side and stop the fire, he followed them, even though he knew his own house was nearby.
“It was a gut check,” he said. “But I had orders I had to follow.”
His wife was at work and his children at a day care center, which relieved some anxiety for their safety. But his dog was tied up and he couldn’t get that out of his mind.
“Fortunately, animal control went around to the houses,” he said. “They picked up my dog and took it to the Humane Society shelter.”
While Herring was trying to save homes in one area, another firefighter, Jared Wilson, was ensuring Herring’s home was protected along with others on that block.
Interim Ruidoso Fire Chief Harlan Vincent said Wilson was working on another structure and noticed that some hay in the back of Herring’s pickup truck across the street in his driveway was burning.
"(Wilson) put out the fire (in the truck and moved it) and was in communication with a slurry plane and guided him in to drop retardant on the fire. On John’s street everybody’s house is red (from the slurry),” Vincent said. “One woman was cleaning her house after the fire and left one side red. Someone asked her why and she told them it was God’s reminder of how blessed she is.”
Nine houses burned within the first two hours, seven were second homes, but two were primary residences.
Herring said his house is red.
“It’s a nice color and cleaning it is nothing compared to the people who lost houses,” he said. “We were really lucky. Someone was looking out for us for sure.”
Investigators tied the origin of the fire to a homeless encampment and are asking help in locating similar camps in the village and Ruidoso Downs. Although the fire was contained relatively quickly, firefighters stayed on scene for days checking for hot spots. Four days after it began, it was declared extinguished.
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