Hometown News

The federal claims office is accepting initial claims, known as “notices of loss,” on its website and in-person at three public offices. It’s the first step for compensation, and additional details about losses can be submitted later, officials have stressed.

Congress in late 2022 approved $3.95 billion, with promises to “fully compensate” victims of the wildfire that began as two escaped prescribed burns ignited by the U.S. Forest Service. The two blazes later merged and went on to burn through a 534-square-mile area in northern New Mexico, destroying several hundred homes and upending life in small communities in and around Mora, Taos, and Las Vegas, N.M.

The application period will close Friday, December 20th, after being open more than two years.

It is also possible that Congress could extend it again, but members of the state’s congressional delegation have urged New Mexicans to apply by Dec. 20 in case that doesn’t happen.

The deadline arrives as Congress is considering a request for $1.5 billion in additional funding for the claims office, which is overseen by the Federal Emergency Management Agency. That would bring the total compensation awarded to $5.45 billion and is part of a nearly $100 billion request by President Joe Biden to fund nationwide disaster response amid ongoing expensive and destructive natural disasters across the country.

State and federal officials, along with members of Congress, have been reminding the public about the important deadline for months. Ali Rye, deputy director of the state’s emergency management department, urged those affected by the fire to file a claim and get what they’re owed.

“I cannot stress this enough,” she wrote in a recent letter published in the Las Vegas Optic. “Do. Not. Miss. This. Deadline.”