NEWS
Seven Cabins Fire near Ruidoso triples in size in a day
Blaze in Capitan Mountains that started after medical flight crashed, killing four, had burned almost 9,000 acres as of Sunday night
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A southern New Mexico wildfire that started after a medical plane crashed near Ruidoso Thursday has more than tripled in size since Saturday, authorities say.
The Seven Cabins Fire in the Capitan Mountains Wilderness area had burned 8,971 acres as of Sunday evening, according to the U.S. Forest Service.
The fire is 0% contained, and 276 responders have been dispatched, officials said. Evacuations have been ordered for areas north of the blaze.
Just a day prior, the fire covered 2,645 acres.
Forest Service officials said crews kept the fire south of N.M. 246 and worked to slow the spread as the fire grew toward the northeast Sunday. The communications towers at Summit Peak remain undamaged, officials said.
Responders had difficulty extinguishing the initial blaze safely due to the area鈥檚 steep and rocky terrain, officials said.
The fire started on Thursday after a plane crashed, killing the two nurses and two pilots onboard. Lincoln County officials said the aircraft, a Beechcraft King Air 90, was traveling from Roswell to the Sierra Blanca Regional Airport 鈥� roughly 15 miles from Ruidoso 鈥� for a medical transport and did not arrive as scheduled.
The cause of the crash is under investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board and the Federal Aviation Administration.
The four on board the plane were Generation Jets pilots Keelan Clark and Ali Kawsara and Trans Aero MedEvac flight nurses Sarah Clark and Jamie Novick, according to a joint statement from both companies.
A spokesperson for Trans Aero told the Journal Saturday some of the crew members were from New Mexico, while others lived out of state.
Natalie Robbins covers education for the Journal. You can reach her at nrobbins@abqjournal.com.
