FEMA settles 7 federal lawsuits in Calf Canyon/Hermits Peak Fire

A federal agency this week settled seven federal lawsuits filed by about 1,000 people damaged by the Calf Canyon/Hermits Peak Fire, agreeing to changes that will resolve claims more promptly, according to attorneys involved in the settlements.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency has agreed to add staff and meet more often with attorneys to speed up the claims process.

FEMA “basically agreed to staff as many meetings as we need,” Albuquerque attorney Antonia Roybal-Mack said. The agency previously held about one meeting a week, which limited the number of claims under consideration to about 30 a week, she said. Now, she said, “we’re getting multiple meetings a week.”

The settlements come more than two years after New Mexico’s largest wildfire blackened an estimated 341,000 acres and destroyed 900 structures in San Miguel, Mora and Taos counties between April 6, 2022, and late June of that year.

The U.S. Forest Service took responsibility for starting the blaze, which began as a prescribed burn but quickly spread out of control by high winds. Congress set aside nearly $4 billion to compensate victims.

“Congress already allocated the money,” Roybal-Mack said. “We’re not asking for additional financial settlements. We’re asking them to fix their policies and do what they’ve been mandated to do.”

FEMA’s Hermit’s Peak/Calf Canyon Claims Office announced Friday that disbursements to claimants had exceeded $1 billion.

The settlements approved on Monday settle seven of 13 federal lawsuits filed since 2023 by Roybal-Mack and Singleton Schreiber, a multi-state law firm that specializes in wildfire litigation.

The settlements affect only claimants represented by attorneys.

The six suits still pending in U.S. District Court for the District of New Mexico represent the “non-economic” issues such as emotional distress and pain and suffering by victims of the fires, Roybal-Mack said.

Those issues will be considered by U.S. District Judge James O. Browning at a hearing scheduled later this year.

As of Aug. 1, FEMA had paid $162.9 million to 318 claimants represented by attorneys, according to a statement issued by the FEMA claims office. That leaves 1,071 attorney-represented claims totaling $92 million, it said.

Brian Colón, managing partner of Singleton Schreiber’s New Mexico offices, credited new leadership at the FEMA’s New Mexico claims office that helped make the settlements possible.

On April 17, FEMA named Ret. Col. Jay Mitchell as the new claims office director. The announcement came three months after former director Angela Gladwell stepped down.

“Jay Mitchell is interested in doing everything he can to get the claimants from where they are, to where they need to be,” Colón said Friday.

“That doesn’t mean everything’s been resolved, obviously,” Colón said. “But there is a new approach, and he has made a big difference in a short period of time.”

Mitchell did not immediately respond Friday to the Journal’s request for an interview. In a written statement, Mitchell said the settlements will allow his office to process claims more efficiently.

“We support any resolution that enhances the claimant experience, provides the speed of payments, and increases transparency into our operations and claims process,” Mitchell said in the statement.

“The improving and positive relationship we maintain with attorneys plays a crucial role in enabling our mission and ensuring claimants receive timely and fair compensation,” he said.

Mitchell published a June 17 opinion column in the Journal acknowledging the “frustration and anger” of people affected by the fire and committing himself to “speeding up the recovery process from this horrific fire.”

Only a minority of claimants are represented by attorneys.

Mitchell estimated in June that the total number of claims had increased fourfold in seven months, from 3,300 in December 2023 to more than 13,000 in June.

FEMA is supposed to adjudicate claims within 180 days after the claim is filed, but historically the agency has more often missed that deadline, Roybal-Mack said.

“They’re behind that deadline on probably 90% of the submitted claims,” Roybal-Mack said. Under the settlements, FEMA has added personnel to speed the process.

“The claims were just sitting there because FEMA didn’t have the personnel to process them,” she said. “They agreed to add additional personnel to our claims, so that way we can get that 180-day deadline met.”

The settlement also requires attorneys to submit “organized and complete documentation” to FEMA no later than 60 days after a claim is filed, FEMA said in the statement.