Benito Sanchez has been living in an Albuquerque hotel room with his ailing, 100-year-old grandmother for the past year after the state’s largest wildfire burned their modular home to the ground.
The homeowner’s insurance claim paid Sanchez $70,000, enough for groceries but not enough to buy a second home.
Sanchez, 49, and his grandmother Tommy Carter, who breathes with the aid of an oxygen device, were among about 100 residents of Mora County who were displaced, some of whom were descendants of indigenous people who were forced off the land. Lived and there were settlers who took root there. Northern New Mexico in the 1800s.
“Suppose everything you’ve saved is suddenly gone in one day because someone lit a match and it wasn’t an accident,” said Sanchez, a government worker who helps people find jobs.
The fire ignited on April 6, when a controlled burn flared up and became the Hermits Peak Fire. That fire later merged with the Calf Canyon Fire, which began when smoldering roots from a previous controlled burn spontaneously rekindled.
All told, the Hermits Peak/Calf Valley fire chewed up more than 341,000 acres, burned nearly 62 million trees in the Santa Fe National Forest and private lands, and burned 220 structures.
Mora County in northwestern New Mexico bore the brunt of the damage, with the remains clearly visible. In the neighborhood of Real de la Casa, blackened trees, barren peaks and scorched hills mark the landscape amid an eerie silence. Dirty, brown water flows in streams, and beetles search for sap in tree trunks. Stones and rocks glittering from the heat of the fire are scattered here and there.
“All the aesthetics have changed,” said Mora County road supervisor John Romero. “All the fish died ashore.”
Officials said millions of dead trees could be felled and re-ignited. State Forester Laura McCarthy said trees that pose a danger near roads will be cut down.
Lost a way of life
The massive wildfire extinguished a way of life rich in traditions that had been carried on for generations in the remote Sangre de Cristo Mountains, 2,000 square miles of forested land spread across northern New Mexico.
Indigenous people and settlers lived on the land, hunting deer and turkey for food, collecting water from natural springs, and building mud-brick homes that were passed down from family members over the decades.
State historian Rob Martinez said that they developed a sacred relationship with the land in the belief that if they took care of the sacred grounds, the mountains and woods would take care of them.
Once-abundant wildlife such as bears, buffalo, foxes, and rabbits, which local hunters relied on for food or to sell, have fled the burned area. Woodcutters, cattle herders, and farmers also saw their livelihoods being burnt.
Mora County officials said they are still trying to determine how much financial damage the fire caused, but about 75 businesses were forced to close and an estimated 100 residents had to relocate.
Early data compiled by the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the New Mexico Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management estimated Mora County at $29 million in damages, and statewide losses at $189 million.
Officials said more than half the homes in the county relied on firewood for heating and some for cooking, and had to convert to electricity or gas for those needs.
US The Forest Service conducted controlled burns to rid the forest of dry undergrowth that could fuel wildfires.
A lawsuit seeking unspecified damages was filed in June against the US Forest Service in US District Court in Albuquerque. Originally, about 50 plaintiffs were parties, but hundreds more later joined. The lawsuit was dismissed after the Hermits Peak Fire Assistance Act was passed, which would help compensate those who suffered losses.
“It was a real devastating loss in an area that is really difficult to rebuild,” said Antonia Roybal-Mac, an advocate for the families. “They didn’t ask for it. It was generational land. It’s gone now. The federal government started a fire in one day of wind and burned 341,000 acres.”
The act, signed by President Joe Biden in September, provides $2.5 billion in compensation to New Mexican and tribal nations affected by the fires. Another $1.45 billion was included in the Consolidated Appropriations Act, a spending package that partly helps rural housing loans, rental assistance, and infrastructure.
Some residents who lost their homes received up to $37,900 in disaster relief funds from FEMA.
‘No one is coming to our rescue’
For 51 years, Mora County resident Tito Naranjo, 85, and his wife lived in their adobe home on 100 acres with four natural springs and two creeks that connect below their home. Deer, bears, and rabbits lived among the pines and aspens, and eagles soared above, hunting for prey.
“There were flocks of turkeys, up to 100 of them,” said Naranjo, who has been living with her son near Santa Fe since their home burned down. He said that FEMA denied his application for emergency assistance after concluding that he did not live at the home permanently.
Although Naranjo never received a formal explanation, a FEMA official said that claims can be denied for a variety of reasons, including lack of proper documentation.
“We got absolutely nothing from FEMA,” Naranjo said. “Not even a penny.”
Patrick Grego, 63, lost 400 acres and 72,000 trees, putting a financial strain on his business selling logs to flooring companies.
He estimates that his company, Grigo Logging LLC, will lose up to $700,000 every year he remains in business because if he replants, the trees will not be large enough to harvest in his lifetime.
Kathryn Uehlein, 65, lived in an unsecured yurt on 36 acres of land, but both the land and the dome-shaped tent were destroyed in a wildfire. She now sleeps in a recreational vehicle donated by a local woman and uses solar power for electricity. He said he received $2,000 from FEMA.
“It was in pieces,” Uehlein said. “I don’t have money. No one is coming to our rescue and the government has opened fire.”
Tina Grin-Martinez, 69, said she received $300,000 in homeowner’s insurance after living in the home she inherited from her father.
“We are much better off than we were a few months ago,” she said, adding that she has not replaced the spiral staircase her father built using a chainsaw, hammer, and nails.
“All the memories were there,” she said. “It’s really heartbreaking.”