Evacuees on the move as wildfire sweeps north

Correction appended.

Angie Padilla said she has heard her home is still standing where she left it when she evacuated Ledoux on April 22 as the state's largest wildfire closed in, but she doesn't have a clue where the five cows are that she "turned loose" before she left.

It's a common refrain among the evacuees, many of whom left pets and livestock behind as the Calf Canyon-Hermits Peak Fire has forced some Mora County residents to evacuate a second time this week as the perimeter of the blaze spread onto the Carson National Forest and closer to an unofficial shelter set up at Sipapu Ski and Summer Resort. 

"I didn't think it would get this far," Padilla said as she watched a massive plume of white and black smoke rise over the mountains just east of Sipapu, where she made a temporary home after evacuating Ledoux on April 22. "But we're ready. When they tell us to leave, all we gotta do is get a toothbrush, and boom — we're out. We're going to try Santa Fe, we know Las Vegas is full."

Our home is good, but we're stuck here in the middle," she said. "They won't let us back in, of course."

District 40 New Mexico Rep. Roger Montoya said about 3,500 people live in the Mora area. He estimated between 250-300 residents have elected to stay in their homes despite orders to evacuate.

Many residents still remain in harm's way, presumably to defend their homes and livelihoods, he said, saying that "a fierce commitment to an agrarian way of life fuels these convictions. I have grown to understand and respect these individuals and their motivations."

Like other Mora County evacuees the Taos News spoke with, Padilla has remained as close to home as possible. Many said they would now head for the big city instead of going to Red Cross shelters set up in Peñasco, Taos and Red River, where scores of beds are still available, albeit in a communal setting. 

Red Cross volunteers are seeing a rise in clients at those shelters over the past week, where only two-to-four evacuees were bedding down just two weeks ago. 

"There's 20 spending the night [of May 10], but Sipapu is close to getting evacuated so some who were staying there are parking their trailers here now," Emma Empey, Peñasco site manager for the Red Cross, said Tuesday night. There are about 120 beds set up inside the Peñasco High School gymnasium, where the school district and community have mobilized to donate supplies and help meet evacuees' needs. 

"Sen. Ben Ray Lujan was here [Tuesday], handing out gas cards," Empey added.

Sipapu staffer Amy Gaskins said that two-thirds of the Sipapu Ski and Summer Resort's apartments and cabins were filled with evacuees until Tuesday, when Sipapu was put in "Set" evacuation status, meaning people there were instructed to be packed and ready to leave at a moment's notice. Many of them didn't wait to hear the order to "Go!" 

Under the "Ready, Set, Go!" evacuation model, residents living in the possible path of a wildfire are notified by authorities via text, telephone, media or in person to be "Ready" to leave, indicating they should create or maintain defensible space on their property, "Set" to leave anytime, or instructed to "Go!" immediately. 

"We've had evacuees here for three weeks," said Gaskins, who on Tuesday evening was packing her own vehicle in order to be ready to evacuate. "People have been bringing supplies, contributing funds to help with accommodations, and we cut rates. Just yesterday afternoon we had a lot of people here." 

Despite concerns expressed by evacuees, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham said this week that "We're not seeing any looting and there are no police reports of that occurring anywhere. [Law enforcement] is in and around all these communities. I can't promise anywhere in the state there's not a bad actor somewhere, [but] I think that's a small risk that's being overblown." 

John Paul Bradley, Sipapu general manager, said the resort is doing everything possible to accommodate — on a sliding scale that equals "about a 90 percent discount" — evacuees from Mora County, who "are our neighbors, our employees, our fellow New Mexicans. I feel bad for these people who lost their homes, especially for those who don't have insurance."

Bradley said about 15 staff had shifted their focus from spring cleaning and maintenance tasks to making sure their impromptu guests have a comfortable place to sleep, bathe, wash their clothes and eat. Some of those employees also put concerted effort into clearing deadfall, brush and other fuels from the Carson National Forest land on which the resort operates. 

An interactive map with the latest evacuation information is available online at bit.ly/3wlYltR, and taosnews.com is posting evacuation statuses on the northern edge of the fire as they are updated.

In Taos, where the Juan I. Gonzales Agricultural Center and Taos County Sheriff's Posse Rodeo Grounds are stood up as evacuation centers, the Red Cross, Taos County and the Town of Taos, along with community volunteers have assisted hundreds of evacuees over the past several weeks. Horses and other livestock are being housed at the Rodeo Grounds, where people are welcome to park their RVs and trailers — but without utility hookups.

Red River RV Park is offering no-cost RV spots, 35 of which have hookups, while several other RV parks in Red River are offering fee sites to evacuees. The Red River Convention Center is also stood up as a shelter.

To volunteer, visit taosconnects.org or call Tony Struck at 575-613-0274. Monetary donations are being handled by the Taos Community Foundation, taoscf.org, and the Las Vegas Community Foundation, fundly.com/calf-canyon-hermits-peak-fire-relief-efforts.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency will have representatives at the Taos and Peñasco shelters this week, offering evacuees the opportunity to register for emergency services and eventual disaster relief payments. Call 1-800-621-3362 for more information on federal resources, or visit disasterassistance.gov. To report property damage, and for evacuee resources and sheltering needs, call 1-800-432-2080.

At the Agricultural Center, 14 evacuees prepared to spend Tuesday night sleeping on cots surrounded by food, water, donated clothes and sundries. 

Sitting with her neighbor and relative Emily Vigil outside the Agricultural Center Tuesday night, Grace Vigil praised a local law enforcement officer who took her number after turning her away from the roadblock on State Road 518 on Sunday. Both women have been staying at the Taos shelter since they left their homes in the Holman-Cleveland area 10 days ago. 

"He took my number and called me [Monday] to tell me he checked on my dogs," Grace Vigil said. "Before, I didn't even know they were still alive. I think the firefighters and police are doing a good job. They protected my home when the whole ridge above it was on fire."

Others haven't been so lucky, with more than 166 structures damaged or destroyed so far. An updated count hasn't been released for more than a week, and officials said they are wary of identifying property damage until owners can be notified. The Taos News witnessed innumerable recently-burned structures and some vehicles amidst miles of charred forest in an area west of Vallecitos last Friday (May 6).

Emily Vigil said that despite the "high anxiety" she and other evacuees are experiencing, there was really only one thing she was missing during her stay at the shelter: reading material. 

"Ask em if they'll donate us a couple of newspapers; someone should bring us the Taos paper," she said, adding that her prior pleas for print media fell on the deaf ears of non-local reporters. "We need stuff to read."

A prior version of this story prematurely stated that the Calf Canyon-Hermits Peak Fire was the largest wildfire in New Mexico's history. As of Monday, it is the largest in state history.