Sinkhole forces home evacuation

On Regal Ridge Street, in a neighborhood on the east side of Las Cruces, a sinkhole collapsed the front yard of a home on Monday night, forcing the evacuation of three homes, the city reported.

Firefighters were dispatched to the 1700 block of Regal Ridge Street at about 9:30 p.m. on May 6, where there found a sinkhole estimated at 30 feet in both width and depth. Two vehicles  that had been parked in a driveway had fallen into the sinkhole which continued to settle while responders were on scene.

No injuries were reported and the evacuation of three homes was undertaken “as a precautionary measure,” the city said. The affected residents were assisted by the American Red Cross and the street has been closed to traffic to allow engineers and city work crews to determine the cause of the sinkhole and gauge the safety of the road itself. Las Cruces Utilities and El Paso Electric were contacted to inspect service lines and secure utilities.

“Intermittent closure of the road and utility services are anticipated in the coming days when it’s determined how best to backfill the sinkhole,” the city stated in a news release.

Sinkholes occasionally develop beneath yards and roads in Las Cruces, often in response to flooding from weather or burst pipes.