FEMA

After a long wait, the Federal Emergency Management Agency has announced a final set of rules for New Mexicans claiming compensation after the Calf Canyon/Hermit's Peak fire.

Although nearly $4 billion was appropriated by Congress for the compensation program, only a small percentage of that has been paid out. The Legislative Finance Committee got an update on Tuesday from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, or FEMA.

Victims of last year's Calf Canyon/Hermit's Peak fire will now be eligible for five years of flood insurance, with premiums paid for by the federal government.

The federal agency is putting the money towards fixing infrastructure damage and reimbursing mutual aid used to support evacuated residents just after the fire.

Hundreds of victims of the Calf Canyon/Hermit's Peak fire have engaged the services of a local lawyer as they navigate a complex path to promised federally-funded compensation.

One year ago today, a prescribed burn by the US Forest Service escaped and was declared to be the Hermit's Peak wildfire.

Six months after Congress passed legislation promising compensation to victims of the Calf Canyon/Hermit's Peak fire, a claims office run by FEMA has hired local workers and set up a Facebook page and hotline.

An initial $2.5 billion was allocated to the compensation program. That could revitalize an impoverished region. However, the agency tasked with executing the legislation is FEMA, and many are frustrated with the agency based on its initial response to the fire.

Victims of the Calf Canyon/Hermit’s Peak fire can now begin applying for compensation for losses caused by the largest blaze in state history. The fire charred almost 350,000 acres in Northern New Mexico last spring and summer after U.S. Forest Service prescribed burns got out of control. The federal government has accepted responsibility and Monday the Federal Emergency Management Agency opened the claims process.

President Joe Biden is due to visit Santa Fe for a briefing on the state's unprecedented fire season. Homes and livelihoods have been destroyed, and there is deep resentment of the U.S. Forest Service's role in starting the fire. Those affected by the fire are also worried the federal response isn't robust or fast enough