New fire erupts in Valencia County as crews continue to battle Cotton Fire

LOS LUNAS, N.M. — The Valencia County Fire Department reported that a new fire has broken out along the northeast side of the Main Street bridge Sunday morning.

VCFD and State Forestry units were responding with other resources from the nearby Cotton Fire. VCFD posted that residents on Peach Blossom Rd, Orange Blossom St and Mountain Laurel Rd, all just east of the where the fire started, are now in “GO” status and should evacuate immediately.

“If you see anyone suspicious in the Bosque area please call law enforcement and get a description of any persons seen,” said the VCFD post.

In a later update, the Bosque Farms Police Department called for evacuations of all residences south of Forgotten Promise Ln in Peralta. Resources and additional information will be available at Daniel Fernandez Park in Los Lunas.

This afternoon, another series of updates were shared by officials on the two fires. One firefighter was injured Sunday, in addition to 10 on Saturday. The Cotton 2 Fire, as the new one has been named, was man-made, but it was unclear if it was intentional or not. No homes have been lost to the Cotton 2 Fire, while 15 homes were lost to the Cotton Fire.

As for the Cotton Fire, it continued to burn this morning, though overnight crews were able to make good progress in reinforcing fire lines and identifying hot spots. Evacuations were lifted, but the damaged homes are now marked as a crime scene, so entry will be blocked from those affected areas.

Investigators from the New Mexico State Police and New Mexico State Fire Marshal’s Office are leading the investigation into this possible case of arson.

There will be firefighting aircraft above the Cotton Fire Sunday, so officials reiterated that flying drones in the area of a fire is illegal.

Stay tuned to KOB 4 News and kob.com for further updates.

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