Two people have died in a New Mexico wildfire that has grown to more than 5,300 acres, authorities said Wednesday.
The deaths in the village of Ruidoso amid the McBride Fire are under investigation, the state police said.
Firefighters responded Tuesday afternoon to a home on fire on Gavilan Canyon Road. Village police were later told that a couple had attempted to evacuate but was unaccounted for, the department said.
Investigators and firefighters found the remains of two people Wednesday at the home, it said.
Their identities have not been released. The medical examiner’s office will determine the cause of death, the department said.
The McBride Fire broke out Tuesday in Ruidoso, a village of around 7,600 in the Sacramento Mountains, around 130 miles southeast of Albuquerque, officials said.
As of 6 p.m. Wednesday, the fire covered 5,381 acres and was zero percent contained, the U.S. Forest Service said.
Around 150 homes and other structures have been destroyed, officials said. Firefighters were working to protect homes and other structures and to control the blaze Wednesday.
