Government officials, nonprofits helping wildfire evacuees with food, water

May 4—With raging wildfires forcing thousands of residents in Northern New Mexico to flee their homes, government officials, nonprofits and an army of volunteers are working to provide evacuees shelter, food and other necessities.

Their efforts may be critical in a crisis that has no defined end date — and continues to change as winds push the fires in different directions.

Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham said at a news conference Wednesday most evacuees from the Hermits Peak and Calf Canyon Fire are staying primarily with friends or relatives while others are staying in shelters in Las Vegas, N.M., Taos and Peñasco. As many as 6,000 households may have been displaced in San Miguel and Mora counties.

"We've got 500 people, nearly, who are sheltering at [Glorieta Adventure Camps]," she said. "We have room for about another 100-plus."

The state made arrangements for a shelter in Santa Rosa for people who need medical support, such as the elderly and people who were in assisted living or similar housing situations.

"More is being made available," the governor said. "We continue to identify locations and supports statewide to make sure that people have safe housing, access to food and day-to-day supplies."

A coordinated relief effort, which has appeared scattered at times, is no easy task, according to Nora Meyers Sackett, the governor's press secretary.

"It goes without saying that this is a very dynamic situation with numerous levels of government involved," she wrote in an email.

"We are striving, every minute of every day, to meet the needs of every single wildfire evacuee, recognizing that the situation is rapidly evolving," she added. "These are New Mexicans who may not have homes to go to, who may have lost everything they own in a terrible and traumatic way; words truly cannot express what these individuals and families are going through."

The state is working in close partnership with county emergency managers, local governments, federal partners, community organizations and nonprofits to try to meet the needs of evacuees, Sackett wrote.

"Typically, efforts like emergency shelters are coordinated at the local level, with state and other partners contributing to all aspects of operation and management," she wrote.

In addition to shelter and food and water, evacuees are receiving laundry and shower services, clothing, toiletries, mental health services, transportation to shelters and pet boarding, Sackett wrote.

Marshal Wilson, director of biosecurity at the state Department of Agriculture, said during a Zoom meeting with volunteers working to provide resources to displaced residents the state's Emergency Operations Center is "still actively responding to requests" from livestock owners.

"So far, they have assisted with evacuating over 500 head of cattle, 67 horses and then

66 [other animals] that include yaks, goats, sheep, chickens, et cetera," he said.

"They are also providing food and water within the evacuated areas for an additional

100 chickens and ducks, 30 pigs, approximately 100 head of cattle, 20 horses and numerous dogs and cats that were not taken when people evacuated," he said.

Wilson said the "primary" shelter for livestock and pets is the Santa Fe rodeo grounds, which is available to house livestock and what he called small companion animals. The Santa Fe Downs can house large animals.

"Expo New Mexico in Albuquerque has indicated that they can take small companion animals, livestock and they also have the capacity to house people there as well for people who don't want to be separated from their animals," he said.

U.S. Rep. Teresa Leger Fernández said New Mexicans have stepped up to help their neighbors but the need will be long-term.

"What we now need to do is make sure that we get people housed if they are evacuated," she said. "We need to make sure that people have access to the food and the supplies ... they and their pets or their animals need, and what you're seeing is the different agencies and volunteer groups making that happen."

Leger Fernández said one of the issues she's raised at the federal level is what resources are available to house more people in Glorieta.

"The other problem that we've had is that people have been evacuated from one place to somewhere else," she said. "We now have people who've been moved twice, and we want to get them somewhere where they don't have to keep moving until we get the fire under control, until we know who can go back in and whose house is still standing and whose house isn't there."

Follow Daniel J. Chacón on Twitter @danieljchacon.