New Mexico: 2 dead, 200 homes destroyed, 5,000 evacuate as wildfire rages
- Fire broke out on Tuesday near village of Ruidoso, a popular vacation spot, thought to have been started by a downed power line
- US firefighters have also been battling large blazes this week in Texas, Oklahoma and Colorado, as more wildfires arise, linked to climate change
Douglas Siddens’ mother was among those who made it out with just the clothes on her back when a deadly, wind-fuelled wildfire ripped through a mountain community in southern New Mexico.
The RV park where she lived was reduced to “metal frame rails and steel wheels,” said Siddens, who managed the site
“I had, like, 10 people displaced. They lost their homes and everything, including my mom,” he said.
The fire has destroyed more than 200 homes and killed two people since it broke out on Tuesday near the village Ruidoso, a vacation spot that draws thousands of tourists and horse racing fans every summer.
Hundreds of homes and summer cabins dot the surrounding mountainsides. The RV park that Siddens managed is close to where an elderly couple was found dead this week outside their charred residence.
Elsewhere in the US, crews have been battling large fires this week in Texas, Oklahoma and Colorado, where a new blaze forced evacuations on Friday along the Rocky Mountain’s eastern front near Lyons about 29km (18 miles) north of Boulder.
That fire was burning in the Blue Mountains near the Larimer-Boulder county line about 32km southeast of Estes Park, the east entrance to Rocky Mountain National Park.