Two people have died in wildfires in southern New Mexico that have burnt about 500 homes and triggered the evacuation of about 8,000 residents from the mountain resort community of Ruidoso.
The unidentified skeletal remains of a person were found in the driver's seat of a burnt out car, New Mexico State Police reported on Wednesday. Another victim was identified as 60-year-old Patrick Pearson.
New Mexico governor Michelle Lujan Grisham told reporters about 500 homes were thought to be among the more than 1,400 buildings razed by the two blazes, making it one of the most destructive wildfires in state history.
The forest area about 217km southeast of Albuquerque, New Mexico's largest city, has suffered a string of wildfires, including one that killed two people in 2022.
Lujan Grisham on Wednesday requested a major disaster declaration from President Joe Biden for the South Fork and Salt fires, which have burnt more than 9,308 hectares to the north and south of Ruidoso.
New Mexico is caught in a decades-long drought that has made wildfires more destructive and faster moving.
In 2022 the state suffered the largest blaze in the continental US which burnt more than 138,000ha.
Reuters
Two dead in New Mexico wildfires, 500 homes destroyed
Image: Adrees Latif
Two people have died in wildfires in southern New Mexico that have burnt about 500 homes and triggered the evacuation of about 8,000 residents from the mountain resort community of Ruidoso.
The unidentified skeletal remains of a person were found in the driver's seat of a burnt out car, New Mexico State Police reported on Wednesday. Another victim was identified as 60-year-old Patrick Pearson.
New Mexico governor Michelle Lujan Grisham told reporters about 500 homes were thought to be among the more than 1,400 buildings razed by the two blazes, making it one of the most destructive wildfires in state history.
The forest area about 217km southeast of Albuquerque, New Mexico's largest city, has suffered a string of wildfires, including one that killed two people in 2022.
Lujan Grisham on Wednesday requested a major disaster declaration from President Joe Biden for the South Fork and Salt fires, which have burnt more than 9,308 hectares to the north and south of Ruidoso.
New Mexico is caught in a decades-long drought that has made wildfires more destructive and faster moving.
In 2022 the state suffered the largest blaze in the continental US which burnt more than 138,000ha.
Reuters
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