President Joe Biden’s administration has identified the culprit behind the two blazes that merged last month to become the state of New Mexico’s biggest wildfire on record: the government itself.
The two fires were both started accidentally by the US Forest Service (USFS), the agency said on Friday. Both fires were traced to controlled burns that were done by the USFS to prevent wildfires.
The agency, which previously revealed that the Hermits Peak Fire began with a controlled burn that went out of control on April 6, said the Calf Canyon Fire started when a burn pile that the USFS thought was fully extinguished in January reignited on April 19.