Julia Goldberg
News
NM Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, accompanied by Deputy Chief of Staff Diego Arencon, signs a request for a presidential disaster declaration for the state amid catastrophic wildfires burning in six counties.
Approximately 15,500 homes have been evacuated as a result of the Hermits Peak/Calf Canyon Fire, and officials believe 166 homes have been destroyed—a number certain to rise as authorities are able to make assessments.
“We are clear that this is what we know as confirmed,” Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham announced during an afternoon briefing today. “One house lost to one New Mexico family is too many.”
Fire managers today reported the blaze has grown to 145,854 acres, 20% contained, as a red flag warning remains in effect due to high winds and low humidity. In addition to the Hermits Peak/Calf Canyon Fire—the largest in the US—New Mexico also has four other active fires, resulting in six counties grappling with an early and overwhelming start to the wildfire season. The fire activity, nonetheless, represents a vast reduction from April 23, when 20 fires were burning in half the state.
The governor said many of the evacuees—who primarily are from San Miguel and Mora counties—have been sheltering with friends and families, while others are staying in evacuation shelters throughout Northern New Mexico.
She and Deputy Chief of Staff Diego Arencon also acknowledged that some residents living in evacuation areas designated as “go,” aka mandatory evacuation, have instead stayed, and some are living without electricity. Arencon said while he didn’t have an exact number, it is “probably in the hundreds.” The governor said mandatory evacuations do not mean officials will evict people from their homes. Rather, “we’ve made the decisions based on the local calls from local experts…that it’s no longer safe…that means an ambulance can’t get to you when power is either lost because of the winds or cut off.”
The governor said officials discuss residents who have not evacuated “every single day” and “what we can do. And it is very extremely limited. And in fact, I have no doubt that we have people without power who are on oxygen. I have no doubt we have individuals who are running out of food and water. And it is a terrible tragedy. And the second it’s safe, we will go back in and assess and support those individuals, no matter their decision. But while it’s unsafe, we are not in a position to do that.”
The Cooks Peak Fire in Colfax County stands at close to 60,000 acres and 72% containment, with 800 homes evacuated, the governor said, and no known losses of structures. That fire had “minimal” growth yesterday, she noted. “All good news again,” Lujan Grisham said, adding that “one burst of terrible wind or weather and that could shift. These are all high-risk fires.”
The Cerro Pelado Fire, burning east of Jemez Springs, is at about 25,000 acres and 10% containment. Three homes have been lost in that fire, which is burning approximately six miles from Los Alamos National Laboratory, and 200 homes are evacuated.
While typically federal disaster declarations follow the end of crises and a full assessment of damages, the governor signed a request for such designation during today’s news conference. Doing so, she said, will “unlock nearly unlimited resources to make states and communities and individuals whole.” She said she was unwilling to wait to make the request after the fact given the number of evacuated families:
“I have families who don’t know what the next day looks like,” she said. “And it must feel to them like they are out there on their own. Well, you’re not.”
In addition to federal dollars, the governor said she anticipates some type of “reparations” to the state for the federal government’s role in the Hermits Peak/Calf Canyon Fire. The first fire began April 6 from an intentional prescribed burn. The Calf Canyon Fire ignited nearby on April 19. The two fires merged April 22 during the extreme wind event.
“I have no doubt that in addition to the declaration, and early investments by the feds, we should expect what I’m calling reparation, restitution, direct investments by the feds,” the governor said, noting “this isn’t our first situation where the federal government put us in real harm’s way” in reference to the 2000 Cerro Grande Fire, which also began as a prescribed burn, has been estimated to have cost $1 billion in damages and prompted Congress to pass a compensation act in its wake.
But the current wildfires also demonstrate, she added, the threat climate change poses to the state.
“We have to be so much more aware of the risks that we have in this beautiful state of ours,” Lujan Grisham said. “We’re going to have a whole new normal about these risks and about these fires.” But for now: “My focus is getting the fire out, not letting us lose a single New Mexican and then holding the federal government accountable.”
Editor’s note: During the governor’s news conference at 12:45 pm May 3, she reported 6,000 homes had been evacuated in the Hermits Peak/Calf Canyon fire. Her office updated that number to 15,500 later that night. This story has been reflected to include the most recent figures.
Correction: This story perpetuated an error from a previous story attributing the prescribed burn on Hermits Peak to the Bureau of Land Management. SFR has corrected both and regrets the error.
