RUIDOSO, N.M. – New federal documents show the Salt Fire near Ruidoso may have been human caused. 

The documents reveal the Salt Fire started about two hours after the South Fork Fire was already reported. It appears to be the last in a string of fires set in that area over the course of several weeks.

“Who would do this to their own people? How could you do this to your own people?” said Thora Padilla, president of Mescalero Apache Tribe. 

Padilla is trying to wrap her head around a major update in the Salt Fire investigation. New federal court documents reveal the FBI has two persons of interest in the Salt Fire investigation. 

The two people are not formally charged or in custody, so we’re not naming them. 

Padilla says the news is bitter sweet. 

“It’s good to hear, but it’s still troubling to hear that it may have been tribal members. And so, and we were prepared for that, but still it’s a troubling thing to hear,” said Padilla. 

The documents say one of the persons claims to be a wildland firefighter. 

“That part, too, is very troubling, you know, that we would have people that are trained as wildland firefighters, that might be doing these kind of things. I don’t even know how to respond to that,” said Padilla. 

Search warrants say investigators identified at least 16 different fires started between May and June. All close to each other on the Mescalero Apache Reservation, including the Salt Fire. 

“We did request early on a fire investigator. I mean, like when we were in the single digits of fires that had occurred, that right away we did worry about that, and it took all of this time to actually get investigators here,” Padilla said. 

The documents say agents linked the persons of interest to at least six fires so far. 

According to investigators, matching Vans shoe prints linked one person to the fire scenes. The distinct shoe pattern was found at multiple fires.

Witnesses and law enforcement also say a dark-colored Jeep was seen leaving the scene of multiple fires and heading toward some of the fires. 

Padilla says now she wants justice. 

“I have a hard time with people that do things and think that there are no consequences. There’s always consequences for your actions, you know, and at this level of what’s happened. We can’t just let it lie,” said Padilla. 

Padillla says right now the tribe is just trying to pick up the pieces after the fires and the continuing threat of flooding. 

A high priority right now is trying to get federal and state relief funds in place.