CNN —Two fast-growing fires are tearing across a southern New Mexico tribal reservation and converging on a village “like a pair of tongs,” prompting thousands of residents to evacuate, officials say. An estimated 5,000 residents were ordered to evacuate the village area due to the approaching South Fork Fire, New Mexico Forestry spokesperson George Ducker told CNN. A second blaze, the Salt Fire, is also burning on tribal land south of Ruidoso and has scorched 2,000 acres. The South Fork Fire has burned more than 5,000 acres and is zero percent contained, according to an overnight update from the New Mexico Forestry Division. Both fires are acting like “a pair of tongs, and Ruidoso is in the middle,” Ducker said.

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Persons: George Ducker, Ducker, ” Ducker, Jesus Figueroa, Ruidoso, Rebecca Dennis, ” Dennis, Roswell –, Ruidoso –, ” PNM, CNN’s Melissa Alonso, Dave Alsup, Amanda Jackson, Robert Shackelford Organizations: CNN, New Mexico Forestry, Mescalero Apache, New, New Mexico Forestry Division, New Mexico State Police, Facebook, Apache Summit, Eastern New Mexico University, New Mexico State Fairgrounds, Storm, US Drought Monitor Locations: New Mexico, Ruidoso, Snow, Whitetail, Chihuahua, Lane, Summit, Los Angeles County, Northern California’s Sonoma County, Oklahoma, Sudderth, Roswell, lockstep, Lincoln County