Residents rebuild in the aftermath of the Little Bear Fire

Sifting through the ash and debris Wednesday of the two-story redwood home they built 30 years ago on a mountaintop between Ruidoso and Capitan, Linda Jameson found pieces of her mother's dishes. They were about all the Little Bear Fire left them. One of the 254 house or business owners in Lincoln County who lost their structures, she's angry that the lightning-strike blaze wasn't extinguished when it stood at a quarter of an acre. But she's thankful for the work of the firefighters and grateful that she and her husband, L.J., escaped unharmed, along with what they were able to pack and that they were insured. "We packed all day while we were watching the fire move closer," Linda said. "We packed photo albums, my mother's dolls, two items of my grandmother's, but a lot was left and can't ever be replaced. When your parents are gone, all that is left is their stuff." From the time a New Mexico state police officer arrived at their home, they had about 30 minutes to leave. "It sounded like a freight train," Linda said of the fire that roared through the property, melting steel beams and storage buildings. "It was snowing ash."...more