Biden faces anger over New Mexico wildfire
2 Min Read
The US President visited the state to review efforts to fight its biggest blaze in recorded history.
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One resident said, "It’s a mess, just a big mess that will take generations to recover from."
Amid anger and frustration from wildfires, US President Joe Biden landed in New Mexico in an effort to review the state’s plans to contain the biggest blaze recorded in history. The fire, allegedly started by federal officials, blazed through the state, and residents were evacuated from farming villages where residents live off of firewood and hay.
Ella Arellano, whose family lost hundreds of acres of forest around the village of Holman, said, “This is not a natural disaster, this was man-made by a government entity.” Furthermore, “It’s a mess, just a big mess that will take generations to recover from.”
This tragedy will result in further environmental tragedies. 320,000 acres of mountains have been burned leaving the surroundings to deal with the inevitable mudslides, ash flows, and flooding.
Biden said he backed full federal funding to compensate for the firefighting cost but noted that congressional approval is required.
“I can’t commit that on my own,” Biden said.
The amount of more than $3m was given to more than 900 households by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (Fema); however, maximum Fema payouts of approximately $40,000 for ruined houses are sometimes not enough to cover the loss of farm tools.
The second-largest fire in state history, which took place in southwest New Mexico, is proof that climate change is intensifying fires that are becoming too much for firefighters to handle and are threatening to destroy most forests in the US southwest.
