Latest news with #CalfCanyon
Yahoo
12-05-2025
- Climate
- Yahoo
2022 Jemez-area fire spurs lawsuit, allegations of cover-up
May 11—By the time criminal investigators from the U.S. Forest Service arrived in early June 2022, the Cerro Pelado wildfire in the Jemez Mountains had been burning for weeks. A cover-up had been alleged as to the fire's cause, but more than a year elapsed before the truth became public. The Cerro Pelado blaze was the third major wildfire to strike New Mexico in the spring of 2022 and was overshadowed by two bigger fires that joined up in northeast New Mexico to become the massive Calf Canyon/Hermits Peak wildfire, the state's largest and most destructive. Ultimately, the evidence showed all three wildfires began as Forest Service prescribed burns, which are intended to reduce an area's wildfire risk. But back in May 2022, a wildfire investigator from Washington state initially concluded the cause of the Cerro Pelado blaze couldn't be determined, according to investigative reports reviewed by the Journal. A new lawsuit contends Forest Service employees hid the fact that they hadn't been visually monitoring numerous burn piles of forest debris the agency ignited months earlier. They also failed to report that the piles hadn't been fully extinguished when high spring winds caught the burning embers, sparking an uncontrolled wildfire on April 22, 2022, that eventually consumed nearly 46,000 acres of forest, according to the lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Albuquerque. After a whistleblower at the Forest Service's District Office took issue with the "inconclusive" conclusion, along with other employees, a top Forest Service manager called in Forest Service Law Enforcement and Investigations agents to conduct a second investigation. Their final report released in the summer of 2023 concluded the cause to be a "holdover fire" from pile burns set in late January and February 2022. But by then, it was too late for victims who lost property and possessions and sustained other damages in the Cerro Pelado blaze, states the lawsuit filed by the Pueblo of Jemez, Jemez Mountains Electric Cooperative Inc., TC Company and 18 property owners in the southern Jemez Mountains. "The USFS's cover-up of the actual cause and origin of the wildfire resulted in the victims of the fire being left out of the Hermit's Peak Calf Canyon Fire Assistance Act," the lawsuit states. Congress approved more than $3.5 billion for victims of the bigger New Mexico wildfire in late 2022 — more than six months before the Forest Service released its final report on the Cerro Pelado fire's origin. The lawsuit states that the fire and resulting flash flooding of the burn scar damaged or destroyed thousands of acres and residential and commercial structures and culturally significant and sacred spaces and artifacts. The plaintiffs allege negligence and are seeking all damages "allowable under federal law." But the Forest Service has "yet to take responsibility for its misconduct," the lawsuit states. Attorney Christopher Bauman, whose firm filed the lawsuit, said he believes the alleged cover-up of how the fire started "is basically an acknowledgment that they did violate their own policies and procedures and so they were trying to cover it up." Claudia Brookshire, public affairs officer for the Santa Fe National Forest, declined to comment about the allegations. She told the Journal in an email that the agency doesn't comment about ongoing litigation. She also wouldn't say whether any employees were disciplined as a result of the alleged cover-up. A July 24, 2023, public statement by USDA Forest Service Southwestern Regional Forester Michiko Martin stated that "despite being covered by wet snow, this holdover fire remained dormant for considerable time with no visible sign of smoke or heat. This investigation adds to the considerable evidence of how severely the Santa Fe National Forest was affected by extreme environmental conditions caused by historic drought in 2022." How the fire started The Forest Service's prescribed burn in the Santa Fe National Forest near Jemez Springs called for the ignition of numerous burn piles that were covered in snow between Jan. 19, 2022, and Feb. 19, 2022. They called them the Pino West pile burns. "These smoldering burn piles were then left completely unattended and unmonitored during the ensuing weeks while quickly changing weather conditions, including high temperatures, abnormally dry conditions, and numerous red flag (extreme wind warnings) days, caused the snow cover to rapidly dissipate and disappear." The "lynchpin" requirement of snow cover was so critical to the (burn plan) that it is mentioned no less than 35 times (in the document), the lawsuit states. By mid-to-late March 2022, the required continuous snow cover had disappeared, according to satellite images, the lawsuit states. By April 18 of that year, other burn piles in the area had escaped their containment and the Forest Service immediately dispatched a crew to regain control of the fire. That spurred a check of the Pino West pile burns on April 20, 2022. What the fire crew found "was ominous smoke rising from the still burning and smoldering pile burns," the lawsuit states. The crew attempted to extinguish the burning and smoldering embers by scattering them using hand tools. But that allowed high winds to fan the embers into flames, the lawsuit states, and on April 22, 2022, the Cerro Pelado Fire began "its uncontrolled devastation until it was finally extinguished on June 15, 2022." The lawsuit contends that Forest Service employees "intentionally misrepresented" to the Washington state investigator that the pile burns were fully extinguished as of April 20, 2022, just days before the blaze erupted. Investigation reports included a statement from a Forest Service employee who said the piles had been checked "multiple times" in March 2022, but he couldn't give specifics about what days they were checked "due to my obligations with trainings, hiring, etc." The employee's name was redacted. But the lawsuit contends there were no checks done. "There is evidence that USFS employees did not perform any visual monitoring at any time between ignition of the pile burns and April 20, 2022," the lawsuit states. It also faults the agency for failing to make "immediate required notifications and initiate suppression after finding the smoldering burn piles."
Yahoo
23-04-2025
- Yahoo
New Mexico Highlands University sues FEMA over HPCC Fire compensation
LAS VEGAS, N.M. (KRQE) – It's been just over three years since the most destructive wildfire in New Mexico's history. The Federal Emergency Management Agency, known as FEMA, promised to compensate those impacted by the Hermits Peak Calf Canyon Fire. But some say they're taking too long. 'One hundred percent. This is about accountability,' said Brian Colón, Former New Mexico State Auditor and Managing Partner at Singleton Schreiber. Story continues below Trending: ABQ family defies all odds after their fetus received a rare diagnosis Breaking: Pope Francis dies at 88 Crime: Repeat International District murder suspect facing new charges In April 2022, the U.S Forestry Division conducted a prescribed burn outside of Las Vegas. But a combination of windy weather and a spark from a sleeper fire quickly became what is now known as the Hermits Peak Calf Canyon fire. 'Three years and two weeks ago, the federal government committed acts of negligence in the way that it executed on a controlled burn in northern New Mexico. As a result, hundreds of thousands of acres were lost in northern New Mexico. People lost their homes,' said Colón. The federal government took responsibility for the destruction, and New Mexico's Congressional delegation led the charge in creating the Hermit's Peak Calf Canyon Fire Act, which appropriated over $5 billion to compensate victims. 'And they did so with an intent that the victims of the Herman's Peak Calf Canyon Fire Act would quickly be compensated for what they'd been through. Unfortunately, this process, because of FEMA, has been anything but quick,' said Colón. In the most recent lawsuit against FEMA, New Mexico Highlands University, located in Las Vegas, claims the agency is making them jump through unnecessary hoops. 'FEMA, their agency, is actually saying, no, no, you have to use this different process first,' said Colón. FEMA is asking the university to submit its claims through the Stafford Act, which pre-dates the fires and works as a public assistance program. 'That act actually requires entities to actually advance funds and then be reimbursed. That was never contemplated under the Hermits Peak Calf Canyon Fire Act,' said Colón. 'FEMA has set forth some arbitrary rules about what has to happen before New Mexico Highlands can be compensated. And we're done,' said Colón. They're choosing to let a judge make the decision, 'No one is going to be personally enriched by this claim. It's straightforward. It ought to be processed by FEMA, and it should be paid.' Under the Hermits Peak Calf Canyon Act, FEMA is required to pay out victims within 180 days, but attorney Brian Colón said he has other clients who are still waiting to see any of that money. 'Three years is too long. People who've been waiting on determinations for more than 360 days, it's embarrassing,' said Colón. While FEMA does not comment on pending litigation, it did report that it paid out roughly $2.25 billion for over 16,000 claims. As of the March 14 deadline, FEMA has received roughly 20,000 claims. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
01-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Senate approves bill creating new state fund for emergency disaster loans
Feb. 28—SANTA FE — After recent wildfires burned large swaths of New Mexico, lawmakers authorized hefty zero-interest loans to help local governments with rebuilding efforts. Such a natural disaster loan program would be made permanent in state law with a recurring balance of $150 million, under a bill approved Friday by the state Senate via a 37-0 vote. "For the last two or three years, we've been reactive to fires in New Mexico," Sen. George Muñoz, D-Gallup, the chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, said during Friday's debate. "This is really a proactive response to how we set ourselves up for the future," he added. The issuance of state loans for disaster relief efforts is intended to jumpstart recovery efforts of roads, bridges, culverts and other public infrastructure while the state waits — sometimes for extended periods of time — for federal emergency funds to be distributed. The loans are then paid back to the state. Lawmakers last summer approved up to $70 million in zero-interest loans to fund repair work in the Ruidoso area, following a devastating fire and subsequent flooding. A year earlier, legislators approved $100 million to expedite recovery efforts in the burn scar of the Calf Canyon/Hermits Peak Fire — the largest in state history. Nearly all of the $100 million in loans authorized for repair projects connected to that northern New Mexico fire were ultimately issued, though it took the state Department of Finance and Administration more than a year to finish distributing the money. In large part, that's because qualifying projects must first receive approval from the Federal Emergency Management Agency before the state can issue a loan, a process that can take longer than many local officials would prefer. Under the bill that now advances to the House of Representatives, Senate Bill 31, the new fund would be created to provide zero-interest loans following federally declared natural disasters. The fund would get money from a separate reserve account in the state treasury over the next three years, with the aim of keeping a $150 million balance available. The two state agencies that would be tasked with implementing the fund — the state Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management and the Department of Finance and Administration — both indicated Friday they support the legislation. The state currently has about $2 billion worth of eligible projects from previous natural disasters, said DHSEM spokeswoman Danielle Silva. "We can't stop disasters from happening, but we can and should do as much as possible to prepare for them," Silva told the Journal.
