Evacuations have displaced thousands of residents from rural villages with Spanish-colonial roots and high poverty rates.
MORA, NM- MAY 13: A firefighter works on putting out a hotspot from a wildfire on Friday May 13, 2022 in Mora, NM. The Calf Canyon and Hermits Peak fires have been burning in the region. The Hermits Peak fire started as a prescribed burn. President Joe Biden said Saturday he was escalating federal assistance for New Mexico as it faces its largest wildfire in recorded state history.that were set by the U.S. Forest Service, a standard practice that’s intended to clear out combustible underbrush.
Biden said he also supports having Washington foot the bill for damages caused by the fire, but such a step would require congressional action.Thick smoke plumes billowed into the sky above northern New Mexico as the Midnight Fire continued to grow. Ralph Arellanes of Las Vegas, New Mexico, said many ranchers of modest means appear unlikely to receive compensation for uninsured cabins, barns and sheds that were razed by the fire.
On Thursday, the Biden administration extended eligible financial relief to the repair of water facilities, irrigation ditches, bridges and roads. Proposed legislation from U.S. Rep. Teresa Leger Fernández, D-N.M., would offer full compensation for nearly all lost property and income linked to the wildfire.
She said matters are worse in many hardscrabble communities across fire-scarred Mora County, where the median household income is roughly $28,000 — less than half the national average.