Kanishka Singh
(Reuters) – Wildfires in New Mexico have killed at least one person, forced thousands to evacuate and damaged hundreds of buildings, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham’s office said on Wednesday. .
“We don’t have any additional details,” a spokesman for the governor’s office told the outlet. “Only one person died as a result of the fire.”
As of Tuesday evening, about 1,400 homes and other buildings had been destroyed. Officials added that the entire village of Ruidoso, New Mexico, with a population of 7,000, had been evacuated.
The governor told reporters Tuesday that at least two people were injured in the wildfires.
The governor also declared a state of emergency in Lincoln County and the Mescalero Apache Reservation due to two wildfires, the South Fork Fire and the Salt Fire.
The South Fork Fire is estimated at 15,276 acres (61.82 square kilometers) and has zero containment, while the Salt Fire has burned at least 5,557 acres, according to the latest update from the governor’s office.
“The ash falling was really scary. Maybe like snow falling, it was really bad. It was scary,” Ruidoso evacuee Karen Sandoval told KOB 4 media station.
Rain is forecast for New Mexico this week.
Separately, California firefighters are battling high temperatures, low humidity and strong winds as they try to control a wildfire that started Saturday northwest of Los Angeles and has burned at least 12,000 acres.
U.S. cities broke decades-long temperature records this week as a heat wave spread from the central United States to the East, the National Weather Service said, and officials warned it could become a deadly weather event.
