Firefighters battled flames Tuesday at a home in the village of Ruidoso, about 180 miles southeast of Albuquerque, the statement said. That evening, local police learned that an elderly couple trying to evacuate the fire were “untraceable by family members”, according to the statement. Authorities located the remains of two people at the home the next day, state police said.
“He said, ‘Honey, everything is burning around us, I have to get out of here,'” Mary Smith told the affiliate. She added that someone from their church called her husband and woke him up, saying that otherwise “my husband would have slept again”.
On Saturday, evacuation orders remained for Gavilan Canyon — from Highway 70 to Lower Eagle Creek — and Homestead Acres/Lower Eagle Creek, Rancho Ruidoso Valley Estates, Deer Valley, Deer Park and Alto East of Flute Player, announced authorities.
The cause of the fire remains under investigation.
Several fires worry
The McBride fire isn’t the only one burning parts of the state.
A red flag advisory – indicating an increased fire risk – was in place all night, officials said.
The fires have created air quality issues, the state’s top health and environment officials said Friday, urging residents to protect themselves and educate themselves on ways to keep the area safe. air quality, such as by “setting home air conditioning units to ‘recirculate’ during fires,” the state health and environment departments said in a joint news release. .
“There are air quality conditions that can be harmful to the health of at-risk populations and can create unsafe driving conditions in areas directly affected by the fires,” said David R. Scrase, Cabinet Secretary. of the New Mexico Department of Health. statement.
“Exposure to smoke can worsen conditions such as asthma, chronic lung disease or cardiovascular disease,” Scrase added.
CNN’s Chris Boyette and Paradise Afshar contributed to this report.
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