As residents return to a fire-ravaged village in the mountains of southern New Mexico , the mayor on Monday warned them that some parts of Ruidoso remain off limits as special search and rescue teams comb the charred rubble along the hardest-hit streets.

Theyre looking for the remains of people who are still unaccounted for after the South Fork and Salt fires ripped through the area just days ago , killing at least two people, forcing thousands to flee and destroying more than 1,500 structures.

Mayor Lynn Crawford put the number of missing at 29. Village officials said in a Sunday night update that the search teams have identified potential additional fatalities, but any confirmation will have to be made by investigators.

The search and rescue teams are in there and theyre with canines and so theyre still going property to property to property, Crawford said during his Monday morning radio address.

With cell service going down during the evacuations last week, it made communication nearly impossible. While service slowly is being restored, some residents said Monday they are still having a difficult time connecting.

The 29 people on the list have not been in touch with friends or family since last Monday. The list was larger just a day ago, but village officials have been using social media and working with the American Red Cross to mark evacuees as safe as soon as they are heard from.

Authorities have blocked traffic into so-called exclusion zones to ensure these areas remain undisturbed until they are officially cleared. The FBI also is investigating, offering up to $10,000 for information leading to the arrests and convictions of those responsible for the human-caused fires.

The flames were first reported June 17. Within hours, the fires moved through tinder-dry parts of the Sacramento Mountains from Mescalero Apache tribal land toward Ruidoso. Evacuation orders included thousands of homes, businesses and the Ruidoso Downs horse track, prompting traffic jams as people dropped everything and fled .