The wind-fueled wildfire has ripped through the mountain community of Ruidoso. The flames have destroyed more than 200 homes and killed two people since the wildfire broke out Tuesday. Authorities said they suspect the fire was sparked by a downed power line.
Elsewhere in the US, crews have been battling large fires this week in Texas, Oklahoma and Colorado, where a new blaze forced evacuations Friday along the Rocky Mountain’s eastern front near Lyons about 18 miles north of Boulder.
That fire was burning in the Blue Mountains near the Larimer-Boulder county line about 20 miles (32 kilometers) southeast of Estes Park, the east entrance to Rocky Mountain National Park.
In New Mexico, power was restored to all but a few hundred customers, but evacuation orders for close to 5,000 people remained in place.
Donations poured in from surrounding communities all too familiar with just how devastating wildfires can be.
It was a decade ago that fire ripped through part of the village of Ruidoso, putting the vacation spot on the map with the most destructive wildfire in New Mexico’s recorded history when more than 240 homes burned and nearly 70 square miles (181 square kilometers) of forest were blackened by a lightning-sparked blaze.
ZZ/PR