Police investigators and firefighters found the remains of the elderly couple on Wednesday afternoon, after family members alerted police that the two had tried to flee but were missing. The fire has caused evacuation orders for 4,500 people and destroyed more than 200 homes on the edge of a mountain community in the southern part of the state. Kerry Gladden, a spokesman for Ruidoso police, said fire crews hoped to take advantage of a break in the relentless winds to fight the deadly blaze. The couple’s remains were found near the house but not inside, and no additional information was immediately available, Gladden said. Authorities were trying to confirm the identities of the two men. The fire spread to a more densely populated area on the northeast side of Ruidoso on Wednesday afternoon, causing more evacuations. Laura Rabon, a spokeswoman for Lincoln National Forest, cut short the fire and told people to get in their cars and leave after the flames hit a road where crews were trying to hold the line. During the night, crews prevented the flames from pushing further into the village, Rabon said. The fire has burned about 9 square miles (23 square kilometers) of forest and grass, and strong winds that hit the area have left behind felled trees and power lines. The crews continued to work on Thursday to restore electricity in parts of the village that have not been available since Monday. As the cause of the fire was being investigated, fire officials and meteorologists warned that persistent dry and stormy conditions had triggered another day of red-flag warnings for the eastern third of New Mexico and other southwestern regions. The commander of the incident, Dave Bales, said the strategy was “attack as much as we can”, noting that the winds were expected to increase on Thursday afternoon and again on Friday. “We try to keep this fire as small as possible, especially because it is in the community,” he said. “We have lost a lot of construction, so our crews are right there in front of the fire and they are going as fast as possible.” Six new wildfires were reported Wednesday: three in Texas, two in Colorado and one in Oklahoma. In all, wildlife firefighters and support staff were trying to contain 11 large wildfires that had engulfed more than 40 square miles (103 square kilometers) in five states. The National Fire Department said Thursday that since the beginning of the year, 18,550 fires have burned about 1,250 square miles. This is well above the 10-year average of 12,290 wildfires and 835 square miles burned. Warmer and drier weather combined with decades of firefighting have helped increase the number of acres burned by the fires, say firefighters. The problem is exacerbated by a 20-year Western blizzard that studies have linked to man-made climate change. Elsewhere in New Mexico, fires were burning northwest of Ruidoso, along the Rio Grande south of the Albuquerque, in mountains northwest of the Las Vegas community, and in meadows along the Pecos River near Roswell.
