Residents of New Mexico who were displaced by the Hermits Peak-Calf Canyon wildfire, accidentally started by a federal agency, are contending with restrictions on compensation. The federal government is compensating for material damages but not for intangible losses such as the emotional distress experienced by victims like Meg Sandoval, whose mobile home was destroyed. Documents reveal the government's behind-the-scenes lobbying to limit compensation to items with a price tag. The debate centers on the interpretation of 'actual' damages, a term used in the federal law to compensate victims, which FEMA interprets as excluding non-material impacts such as emotional tolls and the lost enjoyment of scarred land.
After the Hermits Peak-Calf Canyon wildfire, a dispute over what the federal government will pay for may come down to a single word in federal law: What are “actual” damages? https://t.co/KB2qCLxxYa
After the largest wildfire in NM history, federal lawmakers passed a law to compensate victims for “actual” damages. FEMA says that means it can’t pay them for the emotional toll of being forced from homes or the lost enjoyment of their scarred land. https://t.co/exH7FUqETh
The federal government accidentally set the wildfire that destroyed the mobile home Meg Sandoval was living in. So why won't it pay her for losses that don't carry a price tag? https://t.co/ZWgFRXYRpA
If an arsonist ignited the fire that burned down this woman's home, NM law would allow her to seek damages for her suffering. But a federal agency started this fire. And then another said it can't pay victims for the suffering it caused. w/@ByardDuncan https://t.co/TpqcswZulz
NEW w/ @PatLohmann for @propublica: After burning down these New Mexicans' homes by accident, the federal government started lobbying behind the scenes to limit their compensation. We got the docs: https://t.co/NHjHK9yAEZ
NEW: A wildfire accidentally started by the federal government drove New Mexico residents from their homes and destroyed the things they loved most about their land. The government will pay them only for things with a price tag. https://t.co/ZWgFRXYRpA @source_nm