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In a harrowing scene set in the rural expanses of New Mexico, over a dozen first responders found themselves grappling with an unidentified substance after arriving at a deadly incident site. This mysterious material is now under investigation as a potential factor in the tragic deaths of three individuals.
In Washington, authorities are racing to uncover the nature of this enigmatic substance. The incident, which unfolded in the small town of Mountainair, located east of Albuquerque, has left two people hospitalized, one of whom was discovered unresponsive at the residence where the fatalities occurred.
The initial call to the home on Wednesday was regarding a suspected drug overdose, prompting authorities to respond swiftly. However, upon entering the premises, several first responders experienced distressing symptoms such as coughing, vomiting, and dizziness. These alarming reactions necessitated immediate medical evaluations for nearly two dozen individuals who might have been exposed to the substance, according to reports from the University of New Mexico Hospital.
Authorities went to the home Wednesday after being called about a suspected drug overdose.
Some first responders began coughing, vomiting and experiencing dizziness, authorities said. As a result, medical workers checked nearly two dozen people who may have come into contact with the mysterious substance, the University of New Mexico Hospital said.
It was not clear what the substance was, how the people in the home died, what caused some first responders to become sick or exactly how many experienced symptoms. Autopsies will be conducted and authorities said they were testing to determine what substances were in the home.
Here’s what to know about deaths and the investigation.
First responders were decontaminated
Antonette Alguire, a volunteer firefighter in Mountainair, said Wednesday that she saw some EMTs and firefighters coughing, and vomiting after they were outside the house.
Medical workers decontaminated nearly two dozen people, most of them first responders, the University of New Mexico Hospital said. Most of the people had no symptoms, hospital officials said.
Three people were admitted to the hospital Wednesday. One — an emergency medical services official — has since been released, the mayor of Mountainair said Thursday.
Audio reveals some at the home weren’t breathing
Audio archives from the Torrance County Fire Dispatch channel on the site Broadcastify reveal that dispatchers went to the home Wednesday morning, responding to a report of a 60-year-old man who was unconscious but breathing. It was unclear who had made the report.
Within minutes, a dispatcher is heard saying there were three people at the home and two might not be breathing. Then came a call for naloxone, the opioid-overdose antidote.
Torrance County Sheriff David Frazee told The Santa Fe New Mexican that one person was revived using naloxone, which only reverses overdoses in people who have opiates in their systems.
Less than an hour after the initial call, the dispatch center relays that there have been multiple exposures, but there’s no clarity about what substance they were exposed to at the house.
Drugs were found in New Mexico home
Mountainair Mayor Peter Nieto said he spotted drugs at the home, but did not say what type of drugs.
He dismissed carbon monoxide or natural gas exposure as possible causes for the health issues that the first responders experienced.
New Mexico State Police spokesperson Wilson Silver said there was no threat to the public and that investigators do not believe the mysterious substance was airborne.
New Mexico has a high number of overdoses
New Mexico had the fourth-highest rate of drug overdose deaths of any U.S. state in 2024, with 775 deaths, according to the most recent data available by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Residents around Mountainair, a town with less than 1,000 people, have voiced frustration about drug use in the community and elsewhere.
The mayor posted on social media that the town’s law enforcement officers and first responders work daily to protect the community and respond to difficult situations.
Montoya Bryan reported from Albuquerque. Associated Press writers Claudia Lauer in Philadelphia and John Seewer in Toledo, Ohio, contributed.