TAOS, NM, May 27 (Reuters) – Two fires that became the largest forest fire in New Mexico’s history were started by the US Forest Service (USFS), the agency said on Friday. which caused the governor of the state to demand that the federal government assume full responsibility. by disaster.
Forest Service investigators determined the Calf Canyon fire was caused by a “lot of burns” to branches that the agency thought were removed but re-ignited on April 19, he said. the Santa Fe National Forest in a statement.
The April 22 fire merged with the Hermits Peak Fire, which the USFS started with a controlled burning that went out of control on April 6, the agency previously reported.
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The combined fire has so far set fire to more than 312,320 acres (126,319 hectares) of forests and mountain valleys, an area the size of Greater London, and has destroyed hundreds of homes.
“The pain and suffering of new Mexicans caused by the actions of the U.S. Forest Service, an agency that claims to be an administrator of our lands, is unfathomable,” New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham said in a statement. .
Lujan Grisham said the USFS investigation was a stepping stone for the federal government to take full responsibility for the destruction of property, the displacement of tens of thousands of residents and millions of state spending caused by the fire.
“Santa Fe National Forest is 100 percent focused on putting out these fires,” SFNF Supervisor Debbie Cress said in a statement.
The fire has destroyed a 40-mile (64 km) long road through the Blood Mountains of Christ, and destroyed watersheds and forests used for centuries by Indo-Hispanic farming peoples and Native American communities.
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Andrew Hay’s report in Taos, New Mexico; Editing by Sandra Maler
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