29 unaccounted for as residents of fire-ravaged New Mexico town allowed to return
Twenty-nine people were unaccounted for as residents of Ruidoso, which was evacuated last week in advance of two wildfires, were allowed back Monday to see if their homes were still standing.
Residents of the New Mexico town of Ruidoso, which was totally evacuated last week in advance of two fast-moving wildfires, were allowed back Monday to see whether their homes are still standing.
New Mexico State Police have confirmed two fire-related deaths in the South Fork and Salt fires, “with potential additional fatalities identified,” the town has said.
Mayor Lynn Crawford said in a weekly radio program Monday that 29 people are unaccounted-for.
Houses destroyed by the South Fork Fire in the mountain village of Ruidoso, N.M., on June 22. Andres Leighton / APSearchers were going into “exclusion zones," areas where homes have burned and which have been badly damaged, and were “looking for individuals,” Crawford said.
“That means there is so severe damage that there are the potential to have victims in there, that we’re looking for,” said Crawford, the mayor of the community of around 7,700. “We’re still looking for 29 people.”
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