N.M.: 3 dead and 18 first responders quarantined after exposure to ‘unknown substance’
OAN Staff Jenna Lee
5:15 PM – Thursday, May 21, 2026
New Mexico authorities announced that three people have died and 18 first responders were quarantined on Wednesday after being exposed to an “unidentified substance” at a rural residence in the state.
Police responded at around 11 a.m. local time to a home in Mountainair, New Mexico, to assist the Torrance County Sheriff’s office with a suspected drug overdose involving unknown material.
First responders discovered four unresponsive individuals inside the home. Three were pronounced dead at the scene, and the fourth was rushed to an Albuquerque hospital.
Antonette Alguire, a volunteer firefighter in Mountainair who helped perform CPR on a woman outside the home, witnessed the terrifying secondary effects firsthand. She recalled seeing EMTs and firefighters suddenly begin coughing, vomiting, and becoming dizzy at the designated medical heliport.
https://www.oann.com/newsroom/n-m-3-dead-and-18-first-responders-quarantined-after-exposure-to-unknown-substance/
