An auto-paint shop and a woodworking shop off N.M. Hwy. 28 south of Mesilla caught fire Monday morning, resulting in heavy damage to both structures.
The cause of the fire, located in the small neighborhood of San Pablo, hasn't been specified. But neighbors said they heard a loud explosion. Then, smoke and fire erupted from the back of the property, where the auto paint shop was located.
Armando Reyes, who lives about a half a block from the site of the fire, said he was at home at the time. He said his first thought was that White Sands Missile Range was carrying out some sort of experiment. But he soon learned otherwise.
"It was a loud bang," he said. "It was really loud."
Reyes ran toward the vicinity of the fire to find out whether any of his friends who live in the vicinity of the fire were OK. They were. And he warned a woman in a nearby mobile home to leave the area.
A thick black plume of smoke arose from the fire, as crews began arriving. Though the blaze was in the unincorporated area, large fire trucks from the Las Cruces Fire Department, including a truck with a ladder, were called in to help. Crews focused a lot of attention on a building with a storefront that read: "San Pablo Wood Work."