NEWS
Gov. directs $3.5M in emergency funding to fight wildfires
More than 500 wildfires have sparked this year across New Mexico, with 16 still burning this week
Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham signed a raft of executive orders early this week, directing a total of $3.5 million in emergency funding to help fight at least 16 wildfires currently burning across the state.
鈥淭hese wildland fires are of such magnitude as to be beyond local control and require state resources,鈥� the governor wrote in four of the orders, which allocate up to $3 million to the New Mexico Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Department to fund firefighting efforts through the state Forestry Division.
An order the governor signed on Monday earmarked an additional $500,000 for the state鈥檚 Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management. That order made special mention of the McCauley Springs Fire, which has burned more than 700 acres in Sandoval County and was 43% contained as of Tuesday.
At least 500 wildfires have sparked across New Mexico this year, according to the Governor鈥檚 Office, leading to evacuations in several cases, including the McCauley Springs Fire burning south of the town of La Cueva in the Jemez Mountains.
The Beehive Fire, a suspected lightning-caused fire burning between Tres Piedras and the Colorado border, remained the state鈥檚 largest wildfire as of Tuesday at more than 4,000 acres.
Wildfire activity this year has been exacerbated by low-water conditions following a second-consecutive warm, dry winter. Even as the state鈥檚 monsoon season sets in this month, bringing needed rain to New Mexico, lightning strikes from thunderstorms present concerns of additional fire starts on the state鈥檚 private and public lands.
Red flag warnings, issued by the National Weather Service when high winds and low relative humidity present heightened fire danger, have continued this week, hampering efforts by fire crews to rein in blazes still burning around the state.
Stage 2 fire restrictions have been enacted in both the Santa Fe and Carson national forests,
The set of governor鈥檚 orders come as the nation鈥檚 largest wildfire, the Cottonwood Fire, has burned more than 93,000 acres in Beaver County, Utah,
John Miller is the 近距离内射合集鈥檚 northern New Mexico correspondent. He can be reached at jmiller@abqjournal.com.
