SANTA FE (N.M.) — President Joe Biden will focus on his administration’s efforts in fighting wildfires during Saturday’s visit to New Mexico. Residents are angry that federal officials let planned burns spread out of control, leading the state to its largest ever recorded blaze.
Although the fire was contained from several sides, it is still burning. Federal officials claim that it has destroyed more than 435 homes in 500-miles of land since April 1.
Evacuations have caused untold environmental damage and displacement of thousands of people from villages with Spanish-colonial roots. The fear of fire is being replaced by concern about erosion and mudslides at locations where superheated flames penetrated soil or roots.
Biden’s concerns about wildfires and how they can strain resources to combat them are reaffirmed by the blaze.
After stops in Idaho, California and Washington last year, Biden stated that “these fires are blinking code red” for the nation. They’re growing in frequency and ferocity.”
Investigators in New Mexico have traced the source fires to burns that were started by federal forest managers as preventative steps. In an attempt to learn more about the government’s role, a group of residents from Mora County sued the U.S. Forest Service.
Ralph Arellanes, a Las Vegas rancher, New Mexico said that many ranchers with modest means are unlikely to be compensated for their uninsured sheds, barns, and cabins that were destroyed by the fire.
They have their day job, their ranch, and farm life. They don’t have a huge house or hacienda. It could be a very basic residence, with no running water,” Arellanes, an ex-wildland firefighter who is now the chairman of a confederation for Hispanic community advocacy organizations, said. They use it to keep the cattle fed and watered on weekends. Maybe they camp in a tent. However, a lot of it was destroyed.”
The Federal Emergency Management Agency approved 890 disaster relief claims totaling $2.7 million for households and individuals.
The Biden administration granted eligible financial relief on Thursday to repair water facilities, irrigation ditches bridges, and roads. U.S. Rep. Teresa Leger Fernandez (D-N.M.), proposed legislation that would provide full compensation for almost all income and property lost due to wildfire.
Jennifer Carbajal claims she evacuated two times from the imminent wildfire at Pandaries, a family home in the foothills Sangre de Cristo Mountains. The house survived, while 50 nearby homes were destroyed by the fires.
Carbajal stated that there is currently no long-term plan for northern New Mexico’s water infrastructure.
She stated that the situation is worse in many communities of hard-working people in fire-scarred Mora County where the median household income is $28,000, less than half of the national average.
She said that they trade a lot and have never had to depend on outside resources. The idea of applying to FEMA for a loan is a turnoff for most of the population.
George Fernandez, a Las Vegas resident, New Mexico, believes that his family will not be compensated for a fire-gutted, uninsured house in the remote Mineral Hills region. He also claims it is unlikely that his grandparents built a companion cabin nearly 100 years ago.
Fernandez claimed that his brother had moved out of the house to a nursing facility before the fire broke through. Federal compensation is unlikely because the house is no longer considered a primary residence.
