The American Red Cross is on land in New Mexico where one of the largest wildfires in the state’s history has forced thousands of people to leave their homes. Only 20 percent of the fire was contained and more than 168,000 hectares were damaged.
Two fires were combined at the Hermit’s Peak/Calf Canyon Fire located just north of Las Vegas, NM where red flag fire warnings are expected to continue over the weekend. The fire damaged dozens of homes and an estimated tens of thousands of people from as many as 15,500 homes remain under mandatory evacuation orders.
Firefighters are battling five more wildfires in New Mexico that have burned up to 300,000 acres so far this year, more than the total acres destroyed in the past two years.
Experts report that there is “more than normal significant fire potential” for wildfires across almost the entire country this year. So far in 2022, the U.S. has experienced 22,693 wildfires that have burned more than 1.2 million hectares. This is 70 percent above the 10-year average, according to the National Interagency Fire Center.
CLIMATE CHANGE IS A FACTOR A United Nations report states, “devastating wildfires burn longer and hotter in places where they often occur and also erupt in unexpected places. Global warming is turning the scenes into tinderboxes, while more intense weather means stronger, warmer, drier air to ignite fires. ”
RED CROSS RESPONSE Nearly 180 trained Red Cross disaster workers are helping in New Mexico where more than 1,900 people have already sought safety in shelters. The Red Cross also provides food, relief items and individualized care to help people with medical needs or disabilities, as well as emotional and spiritual support during these challenging times.
CRITICAL TO PREPARE NOW As experts predict another very active fire season this year due to our climate change, the Red Cross is urging everyone in fire-prone areas to prepare now. The wildfire season is actually year -round, but most fires occur between June and August. These fires can happen anywhere in the country and that is why it is so important for people to make their preparation plans now. Find wildfire safety information here.
HELP CORPORATIONS AND ORGANIZATIONS 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 large and small, responding whenever and wherever disasters happen 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; at Wells Fargo.
ADGP $ 500,000 members are: Altria Group; Aon; 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 Health Care; Global Paper; The JM Smucker Company; Johnson Controls Foundation; 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; 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; Bread Finance; 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; Equal; 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 Project Modification; Ross Stores Foundation; Ryder System, Inc .; San Manuel Band of Mission Indians; Lending Hand Foundation of Security Finance; ServiceNow; Southwest Airlines; Tata Consulting Services; Haul International; and US Bank Foundation.
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