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A prescribed burn went wrong in New Mexico

Fire rages east of highway 518 near the Taos County line as firefighters from all over the country converge on Northern New Mexico to battle the Hermit’s Peak and Calf Canyon fires on May 13, 2022.
Fire rages east of highway 518 near the Taos County line as firefighters from all over the country converge on Northern New Mexico to battle the Hermit’s Peak and Calf Canyon fires on May 13, 2022. Photo: Jim Weber/Santa Fe New Mexican (AP)

The Calf Canyon/Hermits Peak fire that blazed across New Mexico this spring was the result of a prescribed fire in early April. The Hermits Peak fire, intentionally set by the Forest Service, merged with the Calf Canyon fire by the end of April. In early May, tens of thousands of people in northern New Mexico had to evacuate their homes as the fire grew. And by mid-May, the fire was only 27% contained, Axios reported.

Around that time, the fire was declared the largest fire in New Mexico’s history. It burned over 341,000 acres, which is an area larger than the city of Los Angeles, the New York Times reported.

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