The remains of a home burned by the Calf Canyon/Hermits Peak Fire in El Porvenir on Tuesday, June 21, 2022. (Eddie Moore/Albuquerque Journal)
Remnants of a home burned by the Calf Canyon/Hermits Peak Fire remains in Gallinas Canyon on Tuesday, June 21, 2022. (Eddie Moore/Albuquerque Journal)
Alyssa Sanchez, a special education teacher at Mora Independent School, and her boyfriend Chase Perez, a custodian at the Mora School, look around what is left of their home in Abuelo, Thursday June 9, 2022. Their home was burned when the Calf Canyon/Hermits Peak Fire swept through the area. (Eddie Moore/Albuquerque Journal)
Chase Perez, a custodian at the Mora Independent School, looks what is left of his home and his dad's '74 AMC Javelin in Abuelo, Thursday June 9, 2022. His home and belongings was burned when the Calf Canyon/Hermits Peak Fire swept through the area. (Eddie Moore/Albuquerque Journal)
Alyssa Sanchez, a special education teacher at Mora Independent School, stands in what is left of her home in Abuelo, Thursday June 9, 2022. Her home was burned when the Calf Canyon/Hermits Peak Fire swept through the area. (Eddie Moore/Albuquerque Journal)
Kit MacDonald, a soil scientist with the National Forest Service, along with other members of the BAER team assessing the flood potential after the Calf Canyan/Hermits Peak Fire, demonstrate how they examine the burned forest floor. They were demonstrating at the Mora National Fish Hatchery Tuesday June 7, 2022. (Eddie Moore/Albuquerque Journal)
Much of the steep terrain above the Mora Valley was burned by the Calf Canyon/Hermits Peak Fire. Officials are worried that water and debris from the burned slopes could flood into the valley. (Eddie Moore/Albuquerque Journal)
Much of the steep terrain above the Mora Valley was burned by the Calf Canyon/Hermits Peak Fire. Officials are worried that water and debris from the burned slopes could flood into the valley. (Eddie Moore/Albuquerque Journal)
Sawyer for the Carson Hot Shots Tyler Freeman digs a hole to keep a burning log from rolling down a slope, Monday May 23, 2022. He and his co-workers are working on hot spots from the Calf Canyon/Hermits Peak Fire in the Carson National Forest west of Chacon. (Eddie Moore/Albuquerque Journal)
Smoke from the Calf Canyon/ Hermits Peak Fire rises to join with clouds behind an old church in Llano, near Peñasco, Wednesday May 18, 2022. (Eddie Moore/Albuquerque Journal)
Forest along NM518 in Mora County burned by the Calf Canyon/Hermits Peak Fire on Monday May 23, 2022. (Eddie Moore/Albuquerque Journal)
The Calf Canyon/Hermit Peak Fire burns near the San Miguel and Mora County line north of Sapello, N,M., on Wednesday, April 26, 2022. (Eddie Moore/Albuquerque Journal)
Sawyers for the Carson Hot Shots Henry Hornberger, left, and Tyler Freeman cut up a hollow tree that was burring on the inside, Monday May 23, 2022. They and their co-workers are working on hot spots from the Calf Canyon/Hermits Peak Fire in the Carson National Forest west of Chacon. (Eddie Moore/Albuquerque Journal)
The Calf Caynon Hermit Peak Fire burned fields and forest along NM 283 near Las Vegas, Thursday May 5, 2022. Firefighters are trying to hold the fire at the road and not let it cross. (Eddie Moore/Albuquerque Journal)
Hannah Kligman, squad boss assistant for the Carson Hot Shots, leads her team putting out hot spots from the Calf Canyon/Hermits Peak Fire in the Carson National Forest west of Chacon on May 23, 2022. (Eddie Moore/Albuquerque Journal)
A burning log from the Calf Canyon/Hermits Peak Fire burns in the Carson National Forest west of Chacon on May 23, 2022. (Eddie Moore/Albuquerque Journal)
William Sandoval and his dogs Copper and Marissa sit in the evacuation center set up at Peñasco High School on May 9. Sandoval and his dogs were forced to leave their home in Chacon due to the Calf Canyon/Hermits Peak Fire. (Eddie Moore/Albuquerque Journal)
Firefighters continue to battle the Calf Canyon/Hermits Peak Fire burning in Mora and San Miguel County, Monday May 9, 2022. (Eddie Moore/Albuquerque Journal)
Elizabeth Esquibel, left, with her granddaughter Titiana Orozco, 18, and other family members, look through the ashes and twisted metal that was once their home along NM94 near Tierra Monte in San Miguel County, Tuesday May 10, 2022. (Eddie Moore/Albuquerque Journal)
Nathan Sandoval, from Espanola, walks by his great-uncle's '57 Chevy 2-door that was destroyed when the Calf Canyon Hermits Peak Fire burned through Tierra Monte, north of Las Vegas, N.M. He and his dad were helping his great-uncle, Andrew Sandoval, secure his property on Friday May 13, 2022. (Eddie Moore/Albuquerque Journal)
Andrew Vigil, 63, center, talks with Sgt. David Jaramillo, right, and other members of the New Mexico National Guard who are helping at the evacuation center at the Memorial Middle School in Las Vegas, Thursday May 5, 2022. Vigil fell while helping unload water at the center, and the National Guard members patched him up. Vigil lost his home in Tierra Monte to the fire. (Eddie Moore/Albuquerque Journal)
Eric Sandoval of Española on May 13 walks by his great-uncle’s property that was destroyed when the Calf Canyon/Hermits Peak Fire burned through Tierra Monte, north of Las Vegas, N.M.. (Eddie Moore/Albuquerque Journal)
A melted child's swing set remains outside a home destroyed when the Calf Canyon Hermits Peak Fire burned through Tierra Monte north of Las Vegas, N.M. (Eddie Moore/Albuquerque Journal)
Firefighters from several agencies wait along State Road 283 to be sent into the Calf Canyon/Hermits Peak fire burning just west of Las Vegas, New Mexico.
(Roberto E. Rosales/Albuquerque Journal)
Ledoux Volunteer Firefighter Eric Garcia surveys a home burned by the Calf Canyon/Hermits Peak Fire in the Morphy Canyon area as a plume of smoke from the largest fire in state history rages. (Adolphe Pierre-Louis/Albuquerque Journal)
A home that was spared by the Calf Canyon/Hermits Peak Fire in the Morphy Canyon area in northern New Mexico is seen on Tuesday, May 17, 2022. (Adolphe Pierre-Louis/Albuquerque Journal)
Tents for firefighters can be seen in the town of Mora as firefighters continue to battle the Calf Canyon/ Hermits Peak Fire in northern New Mexico on Thursday, May 12, 2022. (Chancey Bush/ Albuquerque Journal)
Charred remains of a vehicle on N.M. 94 in northern New Mexico on Thursday, May 12, 2022. Firefighters continue to battle the Calf Canyon/ Hermits Peak Fire. (Chancey Bush/ Albuquerque Journal)
Calf Canyon/ Hermits Peak Fire continues to burn on Thursday, Thursday, May 12, 2022. (Chancey Bush/ Albuquerque Journal)
Kylee Moberg tries to get through a road block on NM94 to get to her horses on Friday April 22, 2022. Police blocked the road because of the Calf Fire burning near the area of the Hermit Peak Fire. She was evacuated for a week after the Hermit Peak Fire started, then got to go home Monday and is now evacuated again. (Eddie Moore/Albuquerque Journal)
San Miguel County Sheriff's Officers patrol NM 94 near Penasco Blanco as the Calf Fire burns nearby on Friday, April 22, 2022. (Eddie Moore/Albuquerque Journal)
The Calf Fire burns northwest of Las Vegas in San Miguel County on Friday, April 22, 2022. (Eddie Moore/Albuquerque Journal)
Gary Morton, from Las Tusas, sits in a Comfort Inn Motel room in Las Vegas, Monday April 25, 2022. The Calf Canyon Fire has forced the evacuation of many residents of San Miguel and Mora County. (Eddie Moore/Albuquerque Journal)
The Calf Canyon/Hermits Peak Fire burned north of Las Vegas near the San Miguel and Mora County line in April. (Eddie Moore/Albuquerque Journal)
A helicopter flies past Hemit Peak to fight the Calf Canyon/Hermit Peak Fire buring near the San Miguel and Mora County line Tuesday, April 26, 2022. (Eddie Moore/Albuquerque Journal)
The Calf Canyon/Hermits Peak Fire burning in Gallinas Canyon near Las Vegas, Friday, April 29, 2022. (Eddie Moore/Albuquerque Journal)
The sky in Las Vegas is dark due to the smoke from the Calf Canyon/Hermits Peak Fire burning in Gallinas Canyon in April. (Eddie Moore/Albuquerque Journal)
Debbie Vigil wets her home on Melinda Lane in Las Vegas, as the Calf Canyon/Hermit Peak Fire gets closer to the city, Monday May 2, 2022. Evacuations were ordered for area two blocks from her home. (Eddie Moore/Albuquerque Journal)
Brianna Valencia-Encinias and her son Lucas Encinias, 8, walk their 4H goats in a field in Las Vegas as the Calf Canyon/Hermit Peak Fire burns southwest of town, Tuesday May 3, 2022. Their family had been evacuated from Rociada and are were staying at her grandparent's farm along with their chickens, goats, horses, dogs and other animals. (Eddie Moore/Albuquerque Journal)
A slurry bomber dumps fire retardant between the Calf Canyon/Hermit Peak Fire and homes on the west side of Las Vegas, Tuesday May 3, 2022. Several types of aircraft joined the fight to keep the fire away for the Northern New Mexico town. (Eddie Moore/Albuquerque Journal)
A firefighters put out a juniper that erupted along NM 283 near Las Vegas, Thursday May 5, 2022. Firefighters are trying to hold the Calf Canyon/ Hermit Peak Fire at the road and not let it cross. (Eddie Moore/Albuquerque Journal)
A juniper erupted in flames along NM 283 near Las Vegas on Thursday May 5, 2022. Firefighters are trying to hold the Calf Canyon/ Hermit Peak Fire at the road and not let it cross. (Eddie Moore/Albuquerque Journal)
Jeff Franco, left, and other wildland firefighters from Apple Valley Ca., mop up hot spots along NM 283 near Las Vegas, Thursday May 5, 2022. (Eddie Moore/Albuquerque Journal)
The Canyon/Hermits Peak Fire burns south of Las Vegas, N.M. in May. (Robert Browman/Albuquerque Journal)
Smoke from the Calf Canyon/Hermits Peak Fire drifts over Las Vegas, N.M., on May 7, 2022. (Robert Browman/Albuquerque Journal)
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As the Hermits Peak Fire was closing in on homes in Pendaries Village and San Ignacio in early April, fire managers made a fateful call.
Nearby, fire crews were monitoring the 1.5-acre Calf Canyon Fire, which stemmed from a pile burn started by the U.S. Forest Service months earlier that had reignited. Supervisors called them away from the small blaze to protect structures in the path of the growing Hermits Peak Fire.
“Fire managers were comfortable with conditions on the ground and felt the resources could be a big help on the Hermits Peak Fire,” a Forest Service spokeswoman said.
But, within days, the unmonitored Calf Canyon Fire escaped containment lines and exploded, merging with the Hermits Peak Fire.
The wildfire has since become the largest in state history, burning hundreds of homes in northeast New Mexico and sending thousands fleeing.
The Forest Service has acknowledged that it initially started both fires as prescribed burns – a way to mitigate the kind of uncontrolled burning and destruction that ironically has come to pass.
“The pain and suffering of New Mexicans caused by the actions of the U.S. Forest Service – an agency that is intended to be a steward of our lands – is unfathomable,” Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham said in a statement on Friday in reaction to the Forest Service announcement.
— Matthew Reisen and Theresa Davis
