At least one person has died as wildfires swept into a village in southern New Mexico, forcing thousands of people to flee their homes.
People left Ruidoso under evacuation orders with little time to rescue belongings as huge flames destroyed or damaged more than 500 structures, New Mexico governor Michelle Lujan Grisham said.
Her office confirmed the fire had killed one person, but not share any details.
She previously said that the village’s entire population of 7,000 people had been evacuated.
A message on the local government website for Rudioso read: “GO NOW: Do not attempt to gather belongings or protect your home. Evacuate immediately.”
Mrs Grisham declared a state of emergency in the south of New Mexico and deployed additional National Guard troops to the area.
The magnitude of the fires is beyond local control and requires immediate state intervention to protect public health, safety and welfare, the governor said in a statement on Tuesday afternoon.
One of the wildfires, named the South Fork Fire, started on Monday on the Mescalero Apache Reservation in New Mexico, where the tribal president issued an executive order declaring a state of emergency. It was burning on tribal and US Forest Service land within areas surrounding Ruidoso.
A second fire, called the Salt Fire, also was burning on the Mescalero reservation and southwest of Ruidoso. It was more than 7.6 square miles (19.6 square kilometres) as of Tuesday morning with no containment, the forestry division said.
“The horrific South Fork Fire and Salt Fire have ravaged our lands and property, and forced thousands to flee their homes,” Mrs Grisham said. “We are deploying every available resource to control these fires.”
The New Mexico wildfire death underscores the ongoing challenges in wildfire-prone areas.
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