Red Cross Helping New Mexico Wildfire Evacuees

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The Red Cross Damage Assessment team starts early in the morning to head out to the areas affected by the wildfires in New Mexico. They spend hours going from home to home to assess the damage that’s been done in the hopes of getting the residents financial assistance when they get to come back home and start their recovery process. Photo by Marko Kokic/American Red Cross

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“We got up at 1:30 a.m. to evacuate. It wasn’t mandatory then, but the fire was in the area next to us. We went to my brothers on the other side of Las Vegas, but the fire spread there too.” Irene tells Red Cross volunteers about how she came to stay at a shelter where she comes to pick up supplies she needs to help with her recovery. “It’s been devastating, so sad for all the people who have lost their homes but we’re so thankful for you guys being here. God bless you.” Photo by Marko Kokic/American Red Cross

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Ava, her husband and daughter were in Montezuma when they fled the Hermits Peak-Calf Canyon Fire. Over a 1000-piece puzzle, Ava and Red Cross volunteer Doreen chat about how to keep busy in a shelter. With her husband teaching at United World College-USA, Ava remarked that this shelter “has been a very nice place to shelter with other teachers and their kids, school is still in session here.” Photo by Marko Kokic/American Red Cross

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Bruce was badly injured shoveling snow back in January and still recovering from getting an emergency heart pump when the Hermits Peak-Calf Canyon Fire started. Fearing the terrible air-quality and its effect on his recovery, he thought it best to go to a shelter. At the shelter he’s been provided with everything he needs and was relaxing in the Glorieta shelter lobby when talking with Red Cross volunteer Raahima. Photo by Marko Kokic/American Red Cross

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“The fire was at our back door, basically in our backyard. It’s safe as of now but we just don’t know”, Donovan tells Red Cross volunteers Doreen and Chris. “We got up and it was just orange outside. When you’re home looking at that orange glow on the horizon, it’s so scary” his wife Misty mentioned. Donovan and Misty have been at the shelter for 3 weeks. Photo by Marko Kokic/American Red Cross

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Leto will celebrate his 7th birthday soon and all he wants is to see a movie. He visited the Red Cross shelter in Glorieta, New Mexico with his grandmother, Carmen, and caretaker, Juan to collect much-needed supplies for the night. Photo by Marko Kokic/American Red Cross

May 16, 2022

The American Red Cross is providing comfort and aid to hundreds of New Mexico residents forced to leave their homes as one of the largest wildfires in the state’s history burns out of control. Driven by high winds, low humidity and exceptionally dry conditions, the Calf Canyon-Hermits Peak Fire has already burned more than 298,000 acres with no clear end in sight.

More than 130 trained Red Cross disaster workers are working with local response officials to provide safe shelter, warm meals and critical relief supplies, including hygiene items, to the thousands of people impacted by these historic wildfires. Thousands of people have sought safety since the fires broke out, with more than 600 people still in Red Cross and partner shelters. With partners, the Red Cross has also provided more than 6,000 meals and snacks, more than 2,200 relief items and is providing individual care to help people with medical or disability needs, as well as emotional and spiritual support during these challenging times.

Responding to a disaster of this size is a team effort, and we will continue to work closely with the entire response community — government agencies, community groups and others — to coordinate emergency relief and recovery efforts in the days and weeks to come.
We encourage people affected by these wildfires to apply for federal support — including financial or housing assistance — at disasterassistance.gov or by calling 800-621-3362 (TTY 1-200-462-7585).

HOW TO FIND A SHELTER The Red Cross welcomes everyone into our shelters. Anyone in the affected areas that needs a safe place to stay should visit redcross.org, call 1-800-RED CROSS (800-733-2767) or download the free Red Cross Emergency app for shelter locations.

Red Cross shelters are open to everyone in need regardless of race, religion, gender identity, sexual orientation or citizenship status. We don’t require people to show any kind of identification to enter a shelter, just their name and where they were living before the disaster.

Our workers strive to treat everyone who comes to us with dignity and respect. The Red Cross helps people with a wide range of needs, including those with disabilities, mental illnesses, chronic health concerns and seniors. To help keep everyone safe, we’re using COVID safety precautions including masks, health screenings, enhanced cleaning procedures and encouraging social distancing.

Pet and animal owners are encouraged to visit nmdog.org for a list of resources and additional information.

With the 2022 wildfire season off to an early start in New Mexico, it is essential to know what steps you and your loved ones should take to help keep you safe. Find information on wildfire safety here.

HOW YOU CAN HELP You can help people affected by disasters like fires and countless other crises by making a donation to support Red Cross Disaster Relief. Your gift enables the Red Cross to prepare for, respond to and help people recover from disasters big and small.

Visit redcross.org, call 800-RED-CROSS or text the word REDCROSS to 90999 to make a $10 donation. For those interested in helping people specifically affected by wildfires across the west, we ask that they write “western wildfires” in the memo line of a check and mail it with a completed donation form to the address on the form or to their local Red Cross chapter.

CORPORATIONS AND ORGANIZATIONS HELP The generous donations from members of the Red Cross Annual Disaster Giving Program (ADGP) and the Disaster Responder Program enable the American Red Cross to prepare communities for disasters big and small, respond whenever and wherever disasters occur and help families during the recovery process.

ADGP $1 Million members are: Amazon; American Airlines; Anheuser-Busch Foundation; Anthem Foundation; Bank of America; Best Buy; Caterpillar Foundation; Costco Wholesale; Delta Air Lines; Enterprise Rent-A-Car Foundation; FedEx; The Home Depot Foundation; Latter-day Saint Charities; Lilly Endowment Inc.; Lowe's Companies, Inc.; McDonald’s Corporation; Microsoft Corp.; Nationwide Foundation; PetSmart Charities; The Starbucks Foundation; State Farm; Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited; Truist Foundation; VSP Vision; Walmart and the Walmart Foundation; and Wells Fargo.

ADGP $500,000 members are: Altria Group; Aon; Bread Financial; Calmoseptine, Inc.; Capital One; CarMax; Citi; The Clorox Company; Darden Foundation; Delta Dental Community Care Foundation; Edison International; Energy Transfer/Sunoco Foundation; Ford Motor Company Fund; Fox Corporation; General Motors; HCA Healthcare; International Paper; The J.M. Smucker Company; Johnson Controls Foundation; The Kroger Co. Foundation; Liberty Mutual Insurance; Lockheed Martin Corporation; Mastercard; Merck; Mondelēz International Foundation; New Balance Foundation; Organon; PayPal; PepsiCo Foundation; Salesforce; Southeastern Grocers Gives Foundation & Southeastern Grocers, home of Fresco y Más, Harveys Supermarket and Winn-Dixie; Stanley Black & Decker; Target; The TJX Companies, Inc.; Toyota; United Airlines; UPS; USAA; Visa Foundation; The Walt Disney Company; and The Wawa Foundation.

Disaster Responder Program members are: 7-Eleven Cares Foundation; Adobe; The AES Corporation; American Express; Ameriprise Financial; Assurant; AT&T; AvalonBay Communities, Inc.; Avangrid Foundation; Barclays; Big 5 Sporting Goods; Choice Hotels International; Cisco Foundation; CNA Insurance; The Coca-Cola Company; CSX; The DICK’S Sporting Goods Foundation; Discover; Dollar General; Duke Energy; Dutch Bros Foundation; Equitable; FirstEnergy Corporation; Gopuff; Harbor Freight Tools Foundation, LLC; Hewlett Packard Enterprise Foundation; HP Foundation; Humble Bundle; Kaiser Permanente; Kimberly-Clark Corporation; The Kraft Heinz Company Foundation; The Labcorp Charitable Foundation; Lenovo Foundation; LHC Group; Major League Baseball; Marathon Petroleum Foundation, Inc.; Martin Marietta; Mattress Firm; McKesson; MetLife Foundation; Neiman Marcus Group; NextEra Energy, Inc.; Northrop Grumman; Northwestern Mutual and the Northwestern Mutual Foundation; Old Dominion Freight Line; Pacific Life Foundation; Procter & Gamble; Prudential Financial; Raytheon Technologies; Reckitt; Rodan + Fields Prescription for Change Project; Ross Stores Foundation; Ryder System, Inc.; San Manuel Band of Mission Indians; Security Finance’s Lending Hand Foundation; ServiceNow; Southwest Airlines; Tata Consultancy Services; U-Haul International; and U.S. Bank Foundation.

About the American Red Cross:

The American Red Cross shelters, feeds and provides comfort to victims of disasters; supplies about 40% of the nation’s blood; teaches skills that save lives; distributes international humanitarian aid; and supports veterans, military members and their families. The Red Cross is a nonprofit organization that depends on volunteers and the generosity of the American public to deliver its mission. For more information, please visit redcross.org or CruzRojaAmericana.org, or follow us on social media.