(Reuters) - Firefighters in central New Mexico held the line on Wednesday against flames that roared through mountains and canyons near the resort village of Ruidoso after more than 200 homes on the outskirts of town were destroyed, officials said.
About 2,500 people forced from nine neighborhoods along the southern flank of the blaze in recent days waited for evacuation orders to be lifted. They awaited news about the fate of their homes -- while some 9,000 residents of Ruidoso, just a few miles beyond the fire's edge, wondered whether they might be next.