Getting lights back on in New Mexico's fire zone won't be automatic

May 6—Electric power and internet service for some in Northern New Mexico's fire zone may remain out for days, if not weeks, in the wake of the Hermits Peak and Calf Canyon blaze.

And for those who have chosen to stay behind in otherwise evacuated counties affected by the fire, the long-term loss of such staples could make for many uncertain, if not difficult, days ahead.

"Some people live off the grid and, in some cases, people are running their homes off of generators and they do not have cellphone service or internet," said Ron Doss, owner of DesertGate Internet in Las Vegas, N.M., which provides internet service to about 3,500 people in the area.

"That continues to cut them off from being in the know," he said. "It's having a profound impact and really complicates the desperation."

He estimates some 800 of his customers in the Mora Valley and surrounding regions are without internet service. The fire took out seven of the company's internet relay stations, he said. His company has since rebuilt two.

Still, it will take time and money to fully reconstruct that network, he said. He said his agency won't be able to start restoring service until firefighting officials give the word that the areas in question are "cold" — meaning no longer under a threat of fire.

For his customers in the Mora Valley, it could be weeks before they get internet service again, he said.

The fire — started in part by a prescribed burn gone awry and now raging across more than 165,000 acres in a huge area from Las Vegas in the south to Mora in the north — has moved through rural communities that are, to some degree, already cut off from the rest of New Mexico.

Many in rural Mora County, home to about 4,200 residents, stayed behind to tend to a place they have long called home, despite widespread mandatory evacuations.

With local power sources either cut off or destroyed by the fire and internet relay stations also burning, some people are mostly operating in the dark, via battery-charged generators and without a way to tell the outside world how they're holding on.

Many pull up in their vehicles and park outside the offices of the La Jicarita Rural Telephone Cooperative to snatch a few minutes of connection.

There, they can at least connect to the Wi-Fi provided by the cooperative, which is still open for business in a town that is otherwise closed, said Danny Gray, CEO and general manager of the cooperative.

"We're in here; we're doing our best; we have a small crew trying to keep communications going the best we can," Gray said in between keeping watch on the smoke and fire flare-ups to the west.

"We feel we have to stay here to keep this power going for our people," he said.

His cooperative provides internet and phone connections for about 1,600 people. He estimated at least 600 were still without service as of Thursday afternoon.

Talking via a landline phone, Gray said there was almost no cell service in Mora — perhaps the main reason efforts to reach others for comment in the area, including representatives and board members of the Mora-San Miguel Electric Cooperative, were unsuccessful Thursday.

Gray's cooperative was planning to have a mobile unit up and running by the end of Thursday to get internet and phone service to many more people in the valley, he said.

Not being connected to power or internet, he said, makes it seem "you're still locked in here."

Fires can be counted on to play havoc with electric and telecommunications systems.

Ray Sandoval, spokesman for the Public Service Company of New Mexico — which handles power for Las Vegas but not the rural communities around it — said the utility created a contingency plan to cut off power if the fire advances into the city.

He said he believes the danger to the power system in the city has diminished as firefighters continue to keep the blaze at bay, though with another round of big winds expected, there are no sure bets.

State officials continue to urge residents who live in evacuation zones to leave for their safety and for those fighting the fires.

"Safety is the number one priority for emergency responders, not only for the public but for their teams as well — agencies are not able to provide resources in areas under mandatory evacuation," the New Mexico State Police and Department of Homeland Security & Emergency Management said in a joint news release. "The state asks New Mexicans to please remember that mandatory evacuations are not a suggestion — people refusing to evacuate are putting their lives and the safety of first responders at risk."

Water appears to be another challenge for those who have ignored evacuation orders. Bill Conner, executive director of the New Mexico Rural Water Cooperative, said when Mora lost power a few days ago, the community still had a "tank and a half" of well water stored up. But fire crews using that water to battle that blaze helped use it up sooner than expected, he added.

"Even if there was not a fire, there's not enough bottled water in these small communities to make up for public water systems," Conner said. "When they don't have water ... they are pretty much on their own unless somebody comes in to help them. They have to go to Las Vegas to buy bottled water — and I'm guessing that's hard to find right now because of the fires."

He said a lack of water impacts the ability to drink, cook, clean and tend to any animals or livestock.

"It makes it extremely difficult for these small communities," Conner said.

The New Mexico National Guard has hauled in over 100,000 gallons of water to firefighters, said Joe Vigil, spokesman for the guard. He said he knows of a number of fire departments and agencies already delivering drinking water to communities hit by the fire, and if if called upon, the guard is ready to assist as needed.

Gray, general manager of the internet cooperative, said he and his small staff of four plan to stick it out for as long as they can. He said he has not yet heard from local officials or anyone else about when power might be restored to the area.

For now, he said, the people pulling into his parking lot to get temporary internet and cell service are "happy as heck to let their loved ones know they're alright."