New Mexico, April 13: A wind-driven wildfire swept through neighbourhoods in a mountain community in drought-stricken south-central New Mexico, burning at least 150 structures and forcing the evacuations of schools with 1,700 students, officials said on Wednesday.

Homes were among the structures that burned but officials did not have a count of how many were destroyed in the blaze that torched at least 6.4 square miles of forest, brush and grass on the east side of the community of Ruidoso, said Laura Rabon, spokesperson for the Lincoln National Forest. Wildfire Burns Homes, Triggers Evacuations in New Mexico Town.

No deaths or injuries were reported from the fire fanned by winds gusting between 80 kph and 155 kph, Rabon said. The cause of the fire was under investigation. Ruidoso's high school and middle school were evacuated but the schools didn't burn, Rabon said.

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