Rain and hail fell on Ruidoso, a village that was evacuated as two separate wildfires closed in on it earlier this week, giving firefighters some hope of bringing under control the blazes that have burned more than 23,000 acres, destroyed 1,400 structures and are blamed for the deaths of two people, CBS News reports.
Largely still uncontrolled, the South Fork Fire grew to 16,600 acres and the Salt Fire stood at 7,000 acres. The 8,000 citizens of Ruidoso will remain under the evacuation order as officials check the area for spotfires and other dangers.