Ruidoso files suit against PNM alleging 2022 McBride Fire caused by negligence

A deadly fire that destroyed 200 homes in Ruidoso in 2022 has spawned a lawsuit against the state’s largest utility alleging negligence by the company caused costly damage to the mountainous New Mexico village.

The lawsuit, filed by the Village of Ruidoso, alleges that Public Service Company of New Mexico failed to properly maintain vegetation along the company’s powerlines, creating conditions that led to the McBride Fire.

On April 12, 2022, “high winds foreseeably pushed over a tall pine tree” that fell against PNM utility lines, causing an electrical spark that ignited dry vegetation and debris on the ground, the suit alleges.

“The fire quickly ripped through neighborhoods destroying everything in its path, including residences, structures, businesses, trees and vegetation in the Village (of Ruidoso),” the suit contends.

A PNM spokesman said the company is aware of the lawsuit but can’t comment on the litigation.

“One of the reasons we have a legal process is for all issues to be brought forth,” PNM spokesman Shannon Jackson said Tuesday in a written statement. “None of us should get ahead of the process.”

The rare urban wildfire killed two elderly Ruidoso residents and blackened 6,200 acres across Lincoln County in April 2022, reducing many homes and businesses to piles of charred rubble.

The lawsuit asks a 2nd Judicial District Court judge to award unspecified damages to the Village of Ruidoso.

Jacob Payne, an Albuquerque attorney who filed the lawsuit on behalf of the village, said experts have yet to calculate the total damages Ruidoso experienced from the McBride Fire.

“Ruidoso is such a unique and beautiful area with trees and forest all around,” Payne said Tuesday. “That’s what was really devastating. It’s an urban area that has mountain landscape around it.”

In the months following the fire, flooding occurred in the burn scar and caused further damage, the suit alleges.

A state investigator last year found that the McBride Fire was started by a tree falling on power lines.

Strong, gusty winds toppled a drought-stressed tree in a steep incline, causing electrical lines to arc and igniting the fire, according to a report issued by the New Mexico Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Department.

The lawsuit cites a list of ways the McBride Fire damaged the village financially, including fire suppression costs, overtime labor, evacuation expenses, loss of tax revenues, debris removal, damage to roads and infrastructure, and reduced business activity.

The suit also cites damage to Ruidoso’s water supply, including loss of water storage, drinking water contamination associated with soil erosion and “loss of aesthetic value.”