Firefighting taps state emergency fund

SANTA FE (KRQE) - It's safe to say this fire season is the worst ever in New Mexico. With the state already cutting everything it can -- even education -- this does not help.

The price tag for fighting all these fires is already huge, and it's only getting bigger by the day.

As the fire burns and the wind blows it's another busy day for Gov. Susana Martinez freeing up more money to pay for more fires burning in New Mexico.

"This has been a terrible year," she said. "Over 1,000 reported fires. Over 722,000 acres burned."

On Thursday alone the governor signed five executive orders, each one worth $750,000 in emergency funding.

That's nearly $4 million to pay for supplies, firefighters and emergency personnel.

Martinez has signed a total of 27 executive orders to pay for New Mexico's wildfires so far this year.

Combined they're worth more than $20 million.

No one in state government expected fighting wildfires would cost this much.

"In fiscal year 11 the budget was $16 million," Keith Gardner, Martinez's chief of staff, said.

The 2011 fiscal year 11 ends at midnight Thursday.

Throw in $1.5 million spent on fires in the last six months of last year, and the gap is more than $5 million.

According to Gardner, covering the gap is not a problem. The state has a contingency reserve fund of more than $250 million to pay for emergencies.

"Those contingencies are placed in the budget every year," he said. "It's a plan-for-the-worst-and-hope-for-the-best philosophy."

Much of what the state is spending is coming back. The federal government reimburses the state 100 percent of the cost of fighting fires on federal land like the Las Conchas Fire burning now just outside los Alamos.

And for exceptionally difficult fires on state land, the feds reimburse up to 75 percent of the cost.

As each day passes the costs go up.

State cabinet secretaries have been meeting every day to discuss the ever-changing game plan and the growing expense.

"We want to put our heads together and say, 'How do we make this the best situation for them under the worst conditions?'" the governor said. "We have to concentrate on the entire state."

After the feds reimburse New Mexico, the state could still be out millions. By law that $250 million emergency fund needs to be replenished.

The governor's office believes there will be enough unspent money from the budget year now ending to do just that.