Voluntary evacuation center opens in Los Lunas after gas odor report

A strong gas odor in Valencia County prompted a voluntary evacuation response centered on Los Lunas, and officials opened the Fernandez gym as a place for residents to gather, get information and move away from the smell. Fire crews said the odor appeared to originate from Rio Communities, turning the incident into a countywide safety concern rather than a single-neighborhood nuisance.

Los Lunas Fire Chief John Gabaldon said village leaders were ready to expand the response if conditions worsened. “Right now, what we are doing, we are prepared to open up three gyms if need be,” Gabaldon said. He added that the middle school and high school could also be used as resources, giving emergency managers multiple backup options if more people needed shelter.

The order was voluntary, not mandatory, but the response still signaled that officials were treating the odor seriously. Residents in Los Lunas, Rio Communities and nearby areas were told to stay alert to official updates and not assume the smell was harmless, since gas odors can point to a utility leak, an industrial release or another hazardous condition. The evacuation center at Fernandez gym gave families a specific place to go while crews assessed the situation.

By Friday night, the odor had been reported across Valencia County, and the source had not yet been identified. Fire crews were still working to locate it, and the uncertainty left local officials balancing caution with the reality that a smell strong enough to trigger evacuation planning can quickly affect multiple communities at once.

Longtime residents also pointed to a nearby oil processing facility as a possible source, adding another layer of concern about industrial activity in the area. For households in Los Lunas, Rio Communities and the unincorporated stretches in between, the immediate issue was not just where the odor came from, but whether they had been given timely, specific guidance about the risk and what to do next.