A charred road sign still stands recently in front of El Porvenir Campground near Hermits Peak. The bridge was one of many damaged or destroyed by the Hermits Peak-Calf Canyon wildfire or subsequent flooding. (Photo by Patrick Lohmann / Source NM)
The stopgap spending bill the U.S. House passed late Friday included an additional $1.5 billion for Hermits Peak-Calf Canyon Fire victims.
The short-term spending bill contained the additional funding, meant to compensate victims of the largest wildfire in New Mexico history caused by two botched prescribed burns in San Miguel County in early 2022.
It passed following a 366-34 vote with one Democrat voting “present.” The bill now goes to the Senate, where leadership will likely try to pass it before a midnight funding deadline, though that will take the agreement of all 100 lawmakers, or at least the ones still around Capitol Hill with the holidays nearing.
The bill would also extend the deadline for victims to file an initial claim, which is called a “notice of loss” until March 14, New Mexico congressional U.S Rep. Teresa Leger Fernández said in posts to social media.
Congress has so far awarded a federal claims office $3.95 billion to pay to victims, including families, businesses, nonprofits and local governments. The additional $1.5 billion would mean $5.45 billion in total compensation, minus administrative costs.
The extra money in the bill is necessary to fully compensate thousands of people, some of whom lost their homes or livelihoods, according to an independent actuarial study released earlier this month.
The actuarial report calculated about $1.9 billion is necessary for reforestation and landscape restoration alone, along with $1.6 billion for smoke and ash cleaning and $771 million for rebuilding burned structures, among other costs.
A federal judge on Tuesday ordered the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which oversees the claims process, to start awarding so-called “noneconomic” damages to victims. That money, which is estimated to be several hundred million dollars, could go to low-income victims who suffered from the fire but didn’t have much in the way of property to claim compensation for.
States Newsroom reporter Jennifer Shutt contributed to this report.
GET THE MORNING HEADLINES.