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SILVER CITY - The Quail Ridge Fire, which destroyed 13 homes in Silver Acres just south of Silver City and burned almost 2,000 acres, was started by a faulty catalytic converter from a vehicle, the state Forestry Division confirmed Wednesday evening.
Dan Ware, spokesman for the state agency, said investigators found bits and pieces of a catalytic converter, small enough to fit into a jar, at the location where the blaze is believed to have started.
Every volunteer fire department in Grant County, along with the Silver City Fire Department, the state Forestry Department and the U.S. Forestry Service, responded to the fire, which had burned nearly three miles of land just south of Silver City.
No casualties or serious injuries were reported.
Residents were evacuated but were allowed to return home Tuesday night.
The state Forestry Division has reported that the fire started east of Highway 90 near mile marker 38 just north of the Tyrone town site.
The confirmation of the cause of the fire came shortly after Gov. Susana Martinez toured the Silver Acres neighborhood with Grant County's legislative delegation, Silver City Mayor James Marshall, Grant County Commissioner Gabriel Ramos, Grant County Manager Jon Saari and firefighters who had fought the blaze.
Silver City Fire Department Capt. Gabriel Gutierrez, one of the first firefighters on scene and an incident commander in the Ridge Road area, said the tour began where the fire is believed to have started and
Martinez, who visited with some families who had lost their homes, summed up her reaction after seeing the devastation in two words.
"It's shocking," Martinez said.
Martinez said she hopes to see a one-stop shop set up at the Grant County Business and Convention Center to help victims of the fire with insurance issues and assistance in recovering documents, such as birth certificates and social security cards. She said the American Red Cross would serve as facilitating agency to assist those who need help.
Martinez said the image that sticks out in her mind from the tour is seeing three adult brothers sitting on a rock wall as firefighters continued to spray down the site that used to be their father and stepmother's home.
"They had lived there for about 30 years and they lost everything," Martinez said. "You see a pile of rubble that used to be someone's home and then there is a house still standing next door. It makes you wonder."
State Sen. Howie Morales said the tour was hard because "people grew up in these neighborhoods, these are neighborhoods you ran around in, and now it's gone.
"My main concern is that the families have the support that they need," Morales said. "We have prevailed over adversity and we will again."
State Rep. Rudy Martinez said it's hard to imagine "going home and finding out it's not there."
"It's one thing to watch it on a video, it's another to step out on the ground and see what used to be a person's home," the state representative said.
The members of the legislative delegation and the governor complimented the firefighters and the coordinated efforts of local, state and federal agencies in fighting and suppressing the blaze.
On Tuesday, the Federal Emergency Management Agency approved the state's request for assistance early Wednesday morning. Under the terms of the grant, the federal government picks up 75 percent of the share of firefighting costs, including equipment and supplies; emergency work and operations centers; personal comfort and safety items for firefighter health and safety; mobilization and demobilization costs; and temporary repair of damage caused by firefighting activities.
Silver City Mayor James Marshall said the coordinated effort was a response to an emergency that "we've never seen before."
"I know it's really painful right now but we are working to make sure the process of recovery works as smooth as possible," Marshall said.
Gov. Martinez said the effort between agencies should be considered a model throughout the state.
Gutierrez, who also was on the tour, said it was emotional to go through the neighborhood again, still seeing his fellow firefighters putting out hot spots and making sure the flames didn't erupt again.
"I remember hearing on the radio when we lost the first structure, and it was like, everything we train for, this is it," Gutierrez said. "And when we lose a structure like that, every firefighter takes it personally."
Terrance Vestal can be reached at (575) 538-5893, ext. 5803.
