The state of New Mexico has become a blazing inferno, forcing the governor to beg for federal help. She asked for a “presidential disaster declaration” on Wednesday, “to help get more money into her state” as it grapples with the largest wildfire currently burning in America.
Seven New Mexico fires
Right now, there are a total of seven separate wildfires scorching across New Mexico. The National Inter-agency Fire Center says that’s the “most in any state.” So far, they’ve torched over 223,979 acres.
Two weeks ago, the Hermits Peak and Calf Canyon fires merged into one big blaze which counts for more than 160,000 of those charred acres.
The New Mexico treasury is pumping out dollars to fight the fires but it’s not nearly enough to make a difference. As Governor Lujan Grisham explained on May 4, “I have 6,000 people evacuated. I have families who don’t know what the next day looks like.”
“I have families who are trying to navigate their children, their own health care resources, figure out their livelihoods, and they’re in every single little community.“
Joe Biden could help New Mexico quite a bit with a disaster declaration.
That would unlock a flood of resources dedicated to “watershed recovery, restoration of all of those wildlands and personal direct financial reparation and assistance before the fire is out.”
The check’s in the mail
Grisham is confidant that the imperial palace will come across with the paperwork. His Wisdom has been “very clear that that is coming, and we have every indication that we will be the first state to be able to advance this request and unlock these resources.”
The citizens of New Mexico will love him, she insists. They might even vote Democrat in November.
Up to the minute updates from the Southwest Incident Management Team note that if the Hermits Peak/Calf Canyon Fire continues to grow, more than “15,000 homes could be threatened this week.”
New Mexico has it’s very own city of Las Vegas, which sits about 85 miles northeast of Albuquerque. According to management team spokesperson Andy Lyon, “it’s at big risk, along with surrounding communities in San Miguel and Mora counties.”
They have already seen 172 homes destroyed in Mora County and San Miguel County. On top of that, “more than 6,000 homes have been evacuated.” To Grisham, “one house lost to one New Mexico family is too many. We are very grateful for the work of the firefighters and fire responders.”
This year, nearly 300,000 acres have burned in the state, CNN meteorologist “Let’s Go” Brandon Miller explains. “That’s more than the past two full years combined.“
