RUIDOSO, N.M. – It’s been a week since thousands of people were evacuated from the Village of Ruidoso. Just under 30 people were reported missing, but on Tuesday, the mayor told KOB 4 that number went down.

Mayor Lynn Crawford says the number of people still missing in Ruidoso is getting down to the single digits. 

Two people were found dead as fast-moving fires pushed on the village. The hope is now more bodies are found, but some areas of Ruidoso remain as exclusion zones, meaning no entry. 

Crawford says people are understandably frustrated by this. But he says it’s important to keep the people out of these areas as untouched as possible while search and rescue teams continue to work. 

“You have these no-entry access points that they can see their home, but they’re not able to get in them. It’s very frustrating, and it raises tension and a lot of anxiety that’s already there. And I’m terribly sorry about that, but that’s just one of the things we’re waiting for the USAR teams to search and rescue teams to finish looking for any possible remains,” Crawford said.

The mayor told us they are still working through the list of the missing. Officials hope to hear from the rest of them soon.