The Turkey Feather Fire and the Chicken Fire could merge after burning thousands of acres already in the Gila Wilderness.

Flash flooding from torrential rain killed at least three people Tuesday afternoon and prompted dozens of rescues in the Ruidoso area of southern New Mexico, officials said — the same area devastated by two wildfires last year. A house was seen being carried downstream by the fast-moving water.

The Turkeyfeather Fire is burning 22 miles from Reserve, NM, and began on June 30, 2025. It was ignited by lightning and was followed by the nearby Chicken Fire, which started on July 8. The two wildfires merged.

Flash flooding hit a New Mexico town devastated by wildfires last year, washing away at least one home and causing gas leaks, city officials said Tuesday.

Multiple rescue missions were underway at Gavilan Trailer Park in Ruidoso, and another person was also trapped in high water, the NWS said in its local storm report at 5:50 p.m. ET. Some people are unaccounted for but the number is unclear, Kerry Gladden, a spokesperson for the village of Ruidoso, told CBS News.

Fire restrictions are now lifted in the Gila National Forest – and on Bureau of Land Management public lands in nearly half of New Mexico's counties.

Two fires are now burning in the Gila National Forest, north of Silver City, New Mexico. The larger Trout Fire, which has been burning for more than three weeks now,

New Mexico will see both heat and flooding concerns in the coming days following last week’s rainfall, which brought slight improvements to the drought in the southern part of the state. Meteorologist Carter Greulich with the National Weather Service’s Albuquerque office described the coming days as “a rinse-and-repeat-type week” during a weather briefing Monday.