Hermits Peak Calf Canyon wildfire victims in legal battle with FEMA
MORA COUNTY, N.M. (KRQE) – More than two years since a government-sparked wildfire took everything from victims in northern New Mexico, hundreds of those victims say the federal government is still failing them. KRQE Investigates visited the burn scar where families say they’re fighting another battle, this time with FEMA.
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There are some things you can’t put a price on. “It was just a really beautiful piece of property,” Toby Dolan explained, as he walked around the empty lot where his home used to stand. “Both of our boys’ bedrooms were over here, our oldest son was in this corner,” he pointed. “Our younger son was in this corner.”
Dolan showed KRQE News 13 what was his three-generation family property in northern New Mexico near Mora. “Through the gap in the trees, you could see Hermit’s Peak real clearly,” he pointed. “That’s where it all started right there.”
Dolan is one of hundreds of victims still left with an empty lot two years since the government-sparked wildfire. “Now we’ve got elk tracks coming through the house,” he pointed to wildlife tracks where his living room used to be.
His house and everything in it burned two years ago in the Hermits Peak-Calf Canyon wildfire, the state’s largest, most destructive fire, sparked by the U.S. Forest Service. The wildfire burned through more than 341,000 acres and destroyed hundreds of homes.
“I mean this was going to be retirement for all of us,” Dolan explained. “And then with the intentions of passing it down to our kids as well.”
The retired New Mexico State Police Captain and his wife raised two sons there. “They had good times here,” he said, pointing to a large rock his boys used to play on near the house.
His sons are now grown men, too heartbroken to visit the ashes of their childhood home, their mom explained. “I mean, you lose, you lose things that just can’t be replaced,” said Dolan. “You can’t attach a dollar sign to it or anything like that.”
But he has to try. In order for thousands of victims like him to rebuild, the federal government set aside nearly $4 billion to repay them.
President Joe Biden sat next to Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham in June of 2022 when he vowed to “Fully compensate survivors for their total loss.”
But today, Dolan says he hasn’t seen a dime yet from the government. And he’s not alone. “That’s been a process that’s been very aggravating,” he said.
Wildfire victims are suing FEMA
“So currently, we have over 1,500 individual plaintiffs that we represent,” explained Brian Colón. Colón is a former state auditor, now managing partner for Singleton Schreiber, attorneys representing victims of the Hermits Peak-Calf Canyon wildfire who are now in a lawsuit against the Federal Emergency Management Agency, better known as FEMA.
“They have failed to recognize all the damages to fully compensate those victims of the federal government’s negligence,” said Colón. “Under New Mexico law, they deserve to be fully compensated. That means loss of enjoyment and use of their property, the inconvenience of having to be evacuated, the distress of going back and not having what was once theirs.”
FEMA set up a local claims office to process payments. And while Colón credits New Mexico’s federal delegation with a Fire Assistance Act, directing the claims office to “Provide victims compensation,” Colón says FEMA is failing to meet a 180-day deadline, and failing to account for non-economic damages.
“Twenty-five weeks would have been acceptable, but 25 months?” Colón said. “These folks essentially have been retraumatized by FEMA.”
Three generations displaced
Aside from the actual structures the Hermits Peak Calf Canyon fire took from their family, it also took the proximity Dolan had to his elderly mother who used to live just a few steps away from him and his wife. Today, she’s renting an apartment more than an hour away from where he’s currently staying.
KRQE took the drive to their “weekender” rental, meant for visitors staying for a weekend in the mountains. “We thought it was temporary but,” Tangee Dolan shrugged.
Tangee is Toby’s mom and cares for her 99-year-old mother in the weekender apartment rental. “To be homeless at that age is pretty disturbing,” Tangee said. “You know, I trust God. I know he’s gonna take care of us, but there’s a level of anxiety for sure,” she said through tears.
Why has the claims process taken so long?
“Like with any new program, there have been challenges,” explained Deborah Martinez, spokeswoman for the FEMA Hermits Peak Calf Canyon Claims Office. “With programs, with, you know, the software that we had, with our capacity, we had limited space, and limited people.”
Martinez explained things are moving faster this year with a new director and more staff. She also claims, “We were disturbed to find that not all law firms are presenting the offers that we’re giving them for significant amounts of money for their clients.”
She told KRQE “They’re [attorneys are] not sharing those with them.” When asked how she knew those offers were not shared with clients, Martinez replied, “We just know.”
When asked if she’d tell KRQE which attorneys are allegedly not sharing offers, Martinez replied, “I can’t.”
“FEMA’s allegation that attorneys are not sharing offers with their clients is preposterous,” said Colón. “Under our rules as attorneys, we have an obligation to extend and share those offers and then give our legal advice as to whether or not those offers are acceptable.”
And many of FEMA’s offers aren’t acceptable, Colón claims. “But secondarily, what interest do I have in withholding an offer to a client from the FEMA claims office? That’s ridiculous,” he added.
For its part, FEMA’s paid out hundreds of millions of dollars so far, nearly $632 million, Martinez said. “We’re staffing up, we’re speeding up. And, you know, I think that that’s really happening in a very good, positive way in the community,” she said. Martinez also wanted KRQE News 13 to talk to Jerry Gomez.
“I’ve been here all my life,” Gomez said. He didn’t hire an attorney, and with a partial payment from FEMA, he’s started to rebuild.
“Everybody had to start from scratch,” Gomez explained. “And as a somebody that lost everything, it was it was kind of hard to remember everything.”
Gomez said his case manager has been helpful through the recovery process. Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham also visited his property since the wildfire, and Gomez was featured in political ads with Democratic Rep. Teresa Leger Fernandez.
However, Gomez denies any notion political relationships give him a leg up. “I find myself, hopefully, anything that I say or anything that I can do, it’s for everybody. Not for me,” Gomez told KRQE.
“Yes, I lost everything. But, on the other hand, this world is a lot older than we are,” said Gomez. “So let’s not give up on it.” Like his neighbors, he still has a long way to go and a lot of rebuilding. He also hasn’t been paid in full by the government.
“We don’t play favorites,” said Martinez. “We take every case in the queue as they are put into our system,” she assured.
A generational loss
For now, Dolan and his wife are living with their employer. His family is leaning on the generosity of landlords and friends, worried about overstaying their welcome.
“You never know, they might want it to be a weekender again,” said Tangee. So how do you put a price on a generational loss?
“What we were gonna pass on to kids and grandkids and great-grandkids,” Tangee trailed off, and put up her hands, “There’s nothing left to pass on.”
“Those folks of northern New Mexico will never be made whole,” said Colón. “You can’t give them back what the federal government took away.”
In their lawsuit against FEMA, Colón is seeking payment for losses you can’t see, the ‘non-economic damages.’ “If we don’t get these claims resolved in the next 180 days, we will see them in federal court,” he said.
After our interviews with the Dolan family, Toby received a partial payment offer from FEMA that he and his attorneys are reviewing. Things like reforestation, erosion, road damage, and diminution of property values, are some of the topics yet to be considered, Dolan said.
FEMA’s new Director of Operations, Jay Mitchell, took the helm this month. The local claims office says it expects the office will be around for years. November 14th is the deadline for people to file a claim with FEMA.
According to Martinez, FEMA has currently paid out $631.9 million. “We are still seeing many third-party or attorney-represented claimants who have pending offers – close to 80% of the total pending amount at last count,” Martinez said in an email.
Under the Fire Assistance Act, FEMA cannot duplicate certain payments covered by insurance. However, in cases like Dolan’s mother’s home, many homes didn’t have insurance policies. And many of the pending offers from FEMA are for partial payments.
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