Black Fire growth prompts state of emergency in Sierra County
GILA NATIONAL FOREST – Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham declared a state of emergency in Sierra County Friday as the Black Fire continues to grow.
The governor's emergency order makes more resources and funding available to help affected communities and address inflicted damage.
The Black Fire, in a mostly uninhabited area of the Gila National Forest, has scorched 300,336 acres and is officially the second largest fire in state history — just behind the Calf Canyon-Hermits Peak Fire, which is currently burning in northern New Mexico.
Officials report the Black Fire started May 13 and was "human caused," but haven't released more specific information.
More: Biden to visit New Mexico in wake of historic wildfire season. A look at this year's blazes.
New Mexico experienced preliminary monsoonal weather this week with multiple thunderstorms, lightning, flash flood warnings and outflow winds. All of which are another concern as the wildfire continues to burn because more fires can potentially ignite, and flooding will be much more of a concern.
Growth at this point has exceeded the boundaries of the Gila National Forest in some areas. Multiple nearby communities in Sierra, Grant and Catron counties are on evacuation watch or have already been evacuated from their homes.
“As the Black Fire continues to grow, it now threatens additional communities in Sierra County. Ranchers, farmers, producers and residents of Sierra County have been directly affected along with critical watersheds that flow into the Rio Grande Valley. Monsoon season is around the corner and Sierra County is anticipating flooding events that will impact private property and homes, agricultural lands, irrigation systems, roadways, and infrastructure,” said Ryan Williams, Sierra County emergency manager, in a news release. “Our goal is to lessen the recovery time and prevent additional damages to our businesses and communities.”
More: Kingston-area residents advised to 'safeguard properties' as Black Fire creeps closer
The governor’s latest executive order gives the Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management access to $750,000 in funds to help the county to repair infrastructure, prevent additional damage and other emergency measures. Also, the state's national guard could be activated to support emergency efforts.
New Mexico Legal Aid also announced Friday that they have partnered with the Federal Emergency Management Agency and local nonprofit organizations to offer help to victims of wildfires in the state. A hotline is available for those in qualifying counties to connect with free legal services by calling 888-985-5141 anytime from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Monday through Friday.
“We will assist with FEMA applications, appeals of denials, document replacement and litigation related to FEMA/disaster issues,” said NMLA Executive Director Lewis Creekmore. “We will also assist legal non-FEMA issues that arise because of the fire impact, including D-SNAP and disaster unemployment assistance. These deadlines are days away.”
Help is available for legal issues such as:
FEMA and SBA financial benefits
Home repair contracts and property insurance claims
Proof of ownership
Price gouging, scams, or identity theft
Landlord and tenant problems, or threats of foreclosure
Disability-related access to federal, state, and local disaster programs
More fire coverage:
Black Fire exceeds Whitewater-Baldy to become second largest fire in New Mexico history
Kingston-area residents advised to 'safeguard properties' as Black Fire creeps closer
Leah Romero is the trending reporter at the Las Cruces Sun-News and can be reached at 575-418-3442, LRomero@lcsun-news.com or @rromero_leah on Twitter.
This article originally appeared on Silver City Sun-News: Black Fire growth prompts state of emergency in Sierra County
