- The remains of the couple found at their burned home.
- Around 5,000 residents have fled their homes in the resort town.
- Firefighters successfully held the fire from moving further into the town of Ruidoso.
Local officials reported an elderly couple died in their home while attempting to flee a wildfire in Ruidoso, New Mexico, that has destroyed hundreds of homes and caused thousands to abandon the mountain town.
The couple's remains were discovered on Thursday at their destroyed home in northeast Ruidoso after family members told authorities they attempted to evacuate but were unable to do so, according to a statement from New Mexico State Police.
According to local officials, the couple were the first known casualties of the so-called McBride Fire, which has destroyed 207 homes and burned 5,736 acres (2,321 hectares) since it began on Tuesday.
The fire has ripped through forested canyons littered with residences, fanned by spring winds reaching up to 90 mph (144 kmph).
According to social media posts, flames engulfed the town's middle school on three sides on Tuesday, forcing teachers and parents to evacuate pupils.
Before firefighters were able to put out the fire on Wednesday, it had burnt within a few hundred feet of Ruidoso's main thoroughfare and half a mile of the county hospital.
According to local officials, some 5,000 people have evacuated their houses in the resort town in the Sierra Blanca mountains, around 135 miles (217 kilometres) southeast of Albuquerque.
"At this time, firefighters have effectively kept the fire from spreading farther towards Ruidoso," said Laura Rabon, a spokeswoman for the Lincoln National Forest.
On Thursday, flames crept northeast over largely unpopulated slopes and canyons. Wind gusts were forecast to drop to 20 miles per hour, making air strikes easier. Six houses were destroyed by a fire 10 miles (16 kilometres) to the northwest known as the Nogal Fire.
New Mexico, like other southwestern states affected by climate change, is experiencing an early start to its fire season, with blazes tearing over grassland, and tree-ring study in New Mexico's Jemez Mountains revealing the state's woods had seen their worst drought in 500 years.
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