Loud booms in El Paso heard before vacant NM country club building destroyed by fire
El Paso booms heard before fire destroys NM country club
The FBI and bomb squad are investigating an early morning fire that leveled the vacant New Mexico country club after mysterious loud booms shook the El Paso area.
EL PASO, Texas - Federal and local investigators are investigating an early morning fire that destroyed a vacant country club building in Santa Teresa, NM while working to determine whether the fire is linked to reports of mysterious loud booms heard across the region hours earlier.
El Paso booms
What we know:
First responders dispatched around 4:55 a.m. found the vacant Santa Teresa Country Club clubhouse engulfed in flames, according to the Doña Ana County Sheriff’s Office. Firefighters from Doña Ana County and the Sunland Park Fire Department contained the blaze within 45 minutes, keeping it from spreading to the surrounding golf course. No injuries were reported.
The incident sparked intense interest across the Upper Valley and nearby West El Paso, Texas, where residents reported hearing loud booms and feeling ground vibrations around 11:30 p.m. the previous night.
Investigators are treating the loud booms and the clubhouse fire as part of a single, comprehensive investigation, though officials noted they cannot yet confirm a definitive link between the two events.
What they're saying:
"I’m not 100% ruling out that they are unrelated, but I can’t also with 100% confidence say that they’re related at this point in time," Doña Ana County spokesperson Ariana Parra said during a press briefing Wednesday. "The investigation is ongoing and we are working on the incident as a whole including both the fire and the booms."
Deputies initially patrolled the area overnight following widespread reports of the noises but found nothing unusual at the time. Authorities confirmed the incident is completely unrelated to Project Jupiter, a nearby facility that had been speculated about on social media.
What's next:
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has joined local fire investigators and the sheriff’s office bomb squad at the scene. The entrance to the property remains cordoned off while federal and local teams process the site.
The cause of the fire remains under investigation, as officials look into how the blaze started and why it spread so rapidly through the vacant structure.
Authorities urge residents to remain clear of the active scene and to continue reporting any life-safety concerns or emergencies directly to 911.
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