PUERTO VALLARTA — The day started just like any other Sunday in this idyllic tourist hot spot along the Pacific coast. But by 9 a.m., plumes of acrid smoke bloomed in the blue sky, and fires were visible in some of the city’s most popular areas. It quickly became an unprecedented day of fear, and, in some cases, terror for both locals and visitors.
Then word quickly spread that the Mexican military had killed Nemesio Rubén Oseguera Cervantes, known by his nickname “El Mencho,” the head of the New Generation drug cartel, in a shootout 180 miles east of Puerto Vallarta in the same state of Jalisco. In a show of resistance, the cartel began setting Puerto Vallarta on fire and littering the highway with spikes, making roads impassable.
From my hotel, about a 15-minute walk from the airport, I could see a bus fully engulfed in flames. The same scene was playing out across the city. Cars and buses were burning along with dozens of OXXO stores, a popular convenience store chain located on many corners here. Roads that are normally filled with cars were eerily quiet.
We were told to shelter in place as we waited for law enforcement or the military to respond to the situation. Meanwhile, popping tires sounded like gunfire, adding to the tension. Airlines canceled or diverted flights from Puerto Vallarta and nearby Guadalajara. Misinformation ran rampant about the level of destruction and the threat to tourists and residents.
I began to see AI-generated images of the fires, doctored to make the situation look far worse than it actually was, along with shaky videos of passengers fleeing the airport that had been embellished. This in no way minimized the tension and fear, but the misinformation did not help. Sensationalized headlines, such as “Tourists trapped in hell,” began showing up online.
I was worried, even fearful, about what might happen next. Airports were scenes of confusion with no flights arriving or departing. Bostonian Don Hamel, who was staying in the Zona Romántica area of Puerto Vallarta, saw a convenience store go up in flames across the street from his hotel.
“We did feel in a bit of danger at noon when the gangs torched the Kiosko directly across from our hotel,” Hamel said in a Facebook message. “It was so close, and we did see nearby transformers explode. We packed a travel bag, put passports in our pockets, and scoped alternative exits in case our hotel caught fire.”
Nearby, Bostonians Bryan Barbieri and his husband, Lewis Rieley, said they felt nervous during the initial outbreak of fires.
“By [Sunday] afternoon, things seemed quieter,” Rieley said. “We were definitely grateful for the hotel staff who were clearly overwhelmed but still kept the hotel secure and guests fed.”
Mexican officials reported there were more than 70 casualties on Sunday, both among National Guard and cartel members. There were no tourists injured or killed, but looting broke out along with the fires.
At my hotel, there was a quick sense of camaraderie. I was in Puerto Vallarta on assignment, following a group of Americans who are contemplating moving here or are in the process of buying real estate. I received most of my updates from the woman leading the tours and from locals broadcasting live on Facebook and Instagram.
I was not supposed to be here. I was scheduled to leave on an early-morning Sunday flight back to Boston, but the blizzard stranded me here, and then I found myself stranded at the Holiday Inn while the fires burned around me.
On the pool deck here at the hotel, guests lounged, swam, and lunched through the chaos, while also keeping a careful eye on the events unfolding on the highway directly below and sharing whatever information they had. The sky, which had been clear and blue, slowly turned an ominous shade of gray from the smoky fires. By midafternoon, it looked like a cloudy day.
Around that time, military helicopters began circling overhead, and camouflage jeeps filled with soldiers began patrolling the streets. As evening set in and the fires seemed to die down, there was a sense that things were returning to normal. The fear was that under the cover of night, the cartel might begin another show of force against the government. Thankfully, that did not happen.
Monday morning began with some optimism that the city could return to normalcy, or at least operate on a limited basis. The shelter-in-place order stood, but the government issued a caveat that anyone worried about food supplies could venture out. After hearing that my hotel was running low on certain foods, I headed to the supermarket across the street, where long, orderly lines of customers were waiting to get inside. With the exception of bread, the shelves were well-stocked. I waited two hours to get inside the supermarket. It took another hour to check out. It was surprisingly orderly.
Schools were closed, and public transport was still not operating, but the fires had stopped, and the airports were slowly beginning operations. From my room, I could see flights begin to trickle into the airport. As of late Monday afternoon, the shelter-in-place order had yet to be lifted, and roads were relatively quiet, but beyond the day-to-day operations of the city, this event will have lasting implications for its reputation as a safe vacation destination in Mexico. The area is particularly popular with LGBTQ+ tourists.
The city resumed its normal tempo on Tuesday as cleanup continued. I was touched when readers began offering to help me get out of Puerto Vallarta or, at least, find me a place to stay if I was stranded. I found a flight out on Tuesday morning and was optimistic I would soon be out of Mexico.
The Puerto Vallarta airport was crowded with Americans and Canadians who had yet to score a flight, pleading their cases to gate agents in hopes of nabbing a seat. I breathed a sigh of relief when my plane lifted off the runway. Several hours later, I touched down in Antigua, Guatemala, where I was ready for a much-needed vacation to soothe my frazzled nerves.
Christopher Muther can be reached at christopher.muther@globe.com. Follow him @Chris_Muther and Instagram @chris_muther.