Not long after the first firefighting crews were called out to the

scene of the White Fire that broke out near Gavilan Canyon on Sunday

afternoon, Pastor Alan Stoddard and some of his fellow members of the

First Baptist Church of Ruidoso were welcoming those whose residences

were close to the path of the blaze and in need of a place to get away

for a while and possibly spend the night.

“We wanted to provide people with food and a place to stay warm,” said

Stoddard. “We were just looking to help out in any way that we could.”

Volunteers at Gateway Church of Christ, likewise, spent much of that

afternoon setting up tables with food and drinks, preparing to provide

displaced individuals with temporary shelter and a warm meal.

These are a couple of examples of how members of the Ruidoso and

Ruidoso Downs communities have offered their support during this most

recent calamity. And by no means was the outpouring limited to only

First Baptist Church and Gateway, both of which were designated by

Lincoln County as relief shelters.

The Angus Church of the Nazarene, for instance, provided shelter,

meals and security for the staff and residents of The Nest, a domestic

violence shelter in Ruidoso.

Hotels such as Comfort Inn and Hotel Ruidoso offered discounted room rates, and Whispering Pines chipped in

with complementary cabin stays. The Lodge at Sierra Blanca offered free rooms Sunday night for fire evacuees.

Restaurants like Circle J Bar-B-Que

and Robel Tacos brought food and drinks to firefighters and other

personnel. And ordinary people from across the area have offered their

assistance, too.

“We’ve had an abundance of individuals from the community asking what

they could do to help,” said Margo Whitt, a public information officer

for the Type II incident management team. “There’s no way I could

encompass a list because there have been just too many calls.”

The gymnasium inside the First Baptist campus, enough room to

accommodate 40 people, was transformed into a makeshift shelter with

cots and food. Nine people stayed overnight on Sunday, and though the

church was also prepared to house people the following night, Stoddard

said that no one stayed overnight on Monday.

Don Gibson, a service coordinator at Gateway, estimated that between

60 and 70 people showed up at his church by Sunday evening. The church

provided water, snacks and pizza.

“We had several people calling and asking if they could help

volunteer,” he said. “It was a little overwhelming.”

The hospitality was also extended to animals in area.

The Humane Society of Lincoln County office, located on Gavilan Canyon

Road, was told to evacuate their premises on Sunday afternoon. The

animals were transported to Bonita Park, a camping and conference

center located near the bottom of Angus Hill. Once there, the animals

were given food and water, and an RV was brought in to put up the

staff for the night.

Sharon Yocum, guest services director at Bonita Park, said that

between 10 and 20 people volunteered to help with the animals. By

Monday morning the animals returned to their kennels at the humane

society.

“(Bonita Park) was extremely accommodating and very helpful toward

us,” said Trish Watson, an assistant manager with the Humane Society

of Lincoln County.

Coleen Widell, executive director for The Nest, the domestic violence

shelter, said she and other from her organization reached out to

Pastor Rick Hutchinson of the Angus Church of the Nazarene last week

to talk about using the church’s facilities as an evacuation site in

the invent of a disaster. Residents and staff were uprooted to the

church’s gymnasium on Sunday night.

“With the conditions the way they have been, with the dry winter and

windy spring, we wanted to implement a route to take to an off-site

location in case a fire did break out,” said Widell. “Pastor Rick and

the others at Angus have been great with helping us out and we really

appreciate what they have done for us.”