The US Forest Service (USFS) sparked two fires that expanded into New Mexico’s largest-ever wildfire, the agency claimed on Friday, prompting the state’s governor to demand the federal government take full responsibility for the disaster.
The Calf Canyon Fire was started by a “burn pile” of branches that the Forest Service assumed was extinguished but restarted on April 19, according to a statement from the Santa Fe National Forest.
On April 22, the fire merged with the Hermits Peak Fire, which was started by the USFS with a controlled burn that got out of control on April 6, according to previous reports.
Hundreds of homes have been destroyed by the combined fires, which have burned over 312,320 acres (126,319 hectares) of mountain forests and valleys, an area almost the size of Greater London.
In a statement, New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham said, “The grief and suffering of New Mexicans caused by the actions of the United States Forest Service – an institution that is supposed to be a custodian of our lands – is unimaginable.”
The USFS probe, according to Lujan Grisham, is a step toward the federal government accepting full responsibility for the fire’s loss of property, displacement of tens of thousands of inhabitants, and millions in state spending.
