Seven wildfires are burning in New Mexico – the most in each state, according to the National Interdepartmental Fire Center.
New Mexico is targeting dollars for firefighting emergencies, but that’s not enough, Lujan Grisham said Wednesday.
“I have 6,000 people evacuated. I have families who don’t know what the next day looks like. I have families who are trying to orient their children, their own health resources, to understand their livelihood and they are in every small community, “she said.
A presidential declaration of disaster will unlock resources “to restore the watershed, restore all these wild lands and personal direct financial reparations and assistance before the fire goes out,” said Lucan Grisham.
“The president is very clear that this is imminent and we have all indications that we will be the first state to be able to move this demand and unlock these resources for the new Mexicans,” said Governor Michel Lujan Grisham.
CNN turned to the White House for comment.
More than 15,000 homes could be threatened this week if the Hermits Peak / Calf Canyon combined fire continues to grow, a spokesman for the Southwest West Incident Management Team said.
The area includes the city of Las Vegas, New Mexico, about 85 miles northeast of Albuquerque, plus surrounding communities in San Miguel and Mora counties, said Andy Lyon, a spokesman for the management team.
About 172 homes were destroyed in Mora County and San Miguel County, and more than 6,000 homes were evacuated.
“One house lost by a family in New Mexico is too much,” the governor said. “We are very grateful for the work of firefighters and firefighters.
With more than 160,000 acres burned, the combined hell in Hermits Peak / Calf Canyon is the second largest fire in New Mexico in at least 30 years.
About 300,000 acres have been burned in New Mexico so far this year. That’s more than the last two full years combined, said CNN meteorologist Brandon Miller.
Like much of southwestern New Mexico, it has suffered a prolonged, severe drought that has helped create critical fire conditions. Fire weather conditions in April were the worst the state has seen in more than a decade.
The situation is a “long-term event”, San Miguel and Mora counties said in a joint statement on Tuesday. “We do not expect to have” control “over this fire any time soon.
CNN’s Gregory Lemos, Teresa Waldrop, Nicki Carvajal and Monique Smith contributed to this report
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