ROSWELL, N.M. – While fire crews in Texas work hard to fight the fires, communities in southeastern New Mexico are doing what they can to help. 

Deputy Chief Albert Aldana with the Roswell Police Department, and a member of the Army Reserve, volunteered to make the trip to Texas this weekend. 

They wanted to take hygiene products and necessities to Fritch, Texas – a community hit hard by wildfires. 

Aldana says the community answered the call for help in a matter of hours.

“I was only looking for a couple of things, a couple of boxes. We made a couple phone calls and then other people as well got in and the next thing you know we end up having two truckloads of items that were donated,” said Aldana. 

With the help of Roswell Community Disaster Relief, and the community, they were able to fill a U-Haul with hygiene products, face masks, food, and a very important essential, water.  

“From what I understand, before I got there they started to boil water because they were running out of water,” said Aldana. 

Aldana says he and one other person drove from Roswell to Clovis, where the police department there had gathered more donations. They then left for Texas, a drive he says shouldn’t have taken as long. 

“It usually takes three hours, but this one took like four and a half hours because of how much stuff I had in the truck,” said Aldana. 

When they finally made it to Fritch, Aldana said the scene was devastating. 

“Some of the houses, some of the cars, I mean people kind of just got up and left. It looks like World War III happened,” said Aldana. 

Aldana says he will be back there in a couple of weeks and hopes the community can come together again to help families who have lost so much.