PHOTOS: Heinrich Remains Committed to Hermit’s Peak/Calf Canyon Fire and Flooding Recovery

LAS VEGAS, N.M. – Today, U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) met with local leaders in Las Vegas, N.M. to discuss the continuing impacts to the City of Las Vegas’s water treatment plant and water system due to recent floods and the ongoing fallout from the 2022 Hermit’s Peak/Calf Canyon Fire. He also sat down with local families and small business owners in Mora, N.M. to discuss their experiences with the Hermit’s Peak/Calf Canyon Claims Office.

PHOTO: U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich meets with local leaders in Las Vegas, N.M. to discuss the community’s recent floods and water crisis and the ongoing fallout from the 2022 Hermit’s Peak/Calf Canyon Fire, June 28, 2024.

PHOTO: U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich meets with families and small business owners in Mora, N.M. impacted by the Hermit’s Peak/Calf Canyon Fire, June 28, 2024.

“It’s been more than two years since the Hermit’s Peak/Calf Canyon Fire began, and families and communities in Northern New Mexico are still grappling with its aftermath. As a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, I fought to secure the resources and support Northern New Mexicans needed to recover and rebuild, and I won’t stop fighting until that funding reaches them,” said Heinrich. “Our conversations today made clear the everyday, continuing impacts of the destruction from the fire and floods in the burn scar, including the ongoing water crisis impacting families and businesses in Las Vegas over this last week.”

Heinrich continued, “The HPCC Claims Office has made significant improvements since I called on them to expedite the claims process, getting more than $840 million out the door, much of that in the past three months. As I heard clearly today, however, many families and businesses are still facing challenges with the claims process. I will keep working to demand solutions to make sure the Claims Office is responsive to our communities."

New Mexicans affected by the Hermit’s Peak/Calf Canyon Fire and subsequent flooding can visit the Hermit’s Peak/Calf Canyon Claims Office to speak with Navigators and Claims Reviewers, pick up or submit Notices of Loss, Proofs of Loss, and other forms, ask about the claims process, or make an appointment to meet with staff. 

To contact the HPCC Claims Office, click here. 

For information and updates regarding the Claims Office, visit the Hermit’s Peak/Calf Canyon Claims Office website here. Para obtener información en español, haga clic aquí.

Background:

Heinrich has fought tirelessly to ensure New Mexicans receive the resources and support necessary to recover and rebuild from the Hermit’s Peak/Calf Canyon Fire, pressing top Senate leaders and Biden Administration officials to ensure investments reach those in need. 

In April 2024, on the two-year anniversary of the official start of the Hermit’s Peak/Calf Canyon Fire, Heinrich wrote a column in the Las Vegas Opticabout his ongoing work to help New Mexico families, communities, and businesses recover from the fire and the floods that have followed.

Heinrich and the N.M. Congressional Delegation have secured a total of $3.95 billion to help New Mexicans recover and rebuild. The funding established the Hermit’s Peak/Calf Canyon Fire Claim’s Office at FEMA. 

In April 2024, Heinrich, U.S. Senator Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.), and U.S. Representatives Teresa Leger Fernández (D-N.M.), Melanie Stansbury (D-N.M.), and Gabe Vasquez (D-N.M.) welcomed the expansion of the FEMA Hermit’s Peak/Calf Canyon Claims Office in Mora. This announcement came after a January letter from the Delegation calling on FEMA to expedite the claims process for those impacted by the Hermit’s Peak/Calf Canyon Fire and immediately address the backlog of claims. The new facility with expanded operations opened to the public Monday, April 1. The new space consists of two accessible buildings and a parking lot, all located behind the Mora County Courthouse, 1 Courthouse Dr., Mora, N.M.

In March 2024, the N.M. Congressional Delegation welcomed nearly $2 million from FEMA to fund the development of a comprehensive Watershed Restoration Plan for the areas directly impacted by the 2022 Hermit's Peak/Calf Canyon fire. The investment is funded through the Hermit’s Peak/Calf Canyon Fire Assistance Act, secured by the New Mexico Congressional Delegation.   

In October 2023, Heinrich, Luján, and Leger Fernández introduced the Hermit’s Peak/Calf Canyon Claims Extension Act to extend the period a victim can file a claim with the Hermit’s Peak Claims Office. Under the new bill, the Hermit’s Peak/Calf Canyon Claims Office would remain open until the end of 2027. 

In August 2023, Heinrich, Luján, and Leger Fernández welcomed over $6.5 million in federal funding to San Miguel County for reimbursement for county road repairs as a result of the Hermit’s Peak/Calf Canyon Fire. That same month, Heinrich welcomed final regulations for the Hermit’s Peak/Calf Canyon Fire Assistance Act to speed the relief process. 

In May 2023, Heinrich, Luján, and Leger Fernández sent a letter to DHS Secretary Mayorkas and FEMA Administrator Criswell expressing concern over the prolonged delay in finalizing the regulations for the Hermit’s Peak/Calf Canyon Fire Claims Office.  

In December 2022, Heinrich, a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee and a member of the Senate Agriculture Committee, secured funding in the Omnibus Appropriations Agreement for Fiscal Year 2023 (FY23) to support critical U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) emergency disaster programs. Heinrich and Luján also garnered additional support from U.S. Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Director Shalanda Young, who included these programs in OMB’s disaster supplemental request. 

In November 2022, Heinrich and Luján called on then Senate Appropriations Chair Patrick Leahy and Ranking Member Richard Shelby to prioritize supplemental funding for the Emergency Watershed Protection Program and the Emergency Forest Restoration Program at levels that meet USDA estimates. N.M. Congressional Democrats successfully increased funding for these important programs. 

While the fire was still ongoing, N.M. Congressional Democrats secured 100 percent coverage of the Emergency Watershed Protection (EWP) program. Heinrich requested that USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack take this action during a key Senate Appropriations Committee hearing in May 2022 and Leger Fernandez spoke to President Biden about it on his trip to New Mexico and reiterated her request in a letter.