ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — Manuel and Marcy Silva combed through the charred rubble that used to be their home, searching for any salvageable bits in the wake of the largest wildfire in New Mexico history.
Manuel found two of his high school wrestling medals. Gone was the bedroom furniture Marcy’s grandpa built as a gift, her wedding dress and their children's toys.
The family was only one payment away from owning their single-wide mobile home and like many other northern New Mexico residents whose homes were in the path of the flames, the Silvas were uninsured.
After scorching more than 530 square miles (1,373 square kilometers) of the Rocky Mountain foothills, the government-sparked wildfire is helping to shine a light on what New Mexico officials are calling a crisis — where insurance coverage for everything from homes to workers compensation comes at premiums that often make it unobtainable for many in the poverty-stricken state.
New Mexico officials are banking on a California insurer relocating to the state and selling policies to low-income and underserved areas. But the multimillion-dollar merger involving California Insurance Co. has been clouded by pay-to-play allegations and remains stalled in court.
On Thursday, a California judge stopped short of granting New Mexico's request to intervene in the case but cleared the way for the state to weigh in on a proposed plan to resolve ongoing conservatorship proceedings.
Attorneys for New Mexico argued during the hearing that the need for more insurers has only intensified since the proceedings began more than three years ago. They pointed to businesses having a difficult time securing adequate workers compensation coverage.
New Mexico Attorney General Hector Balderas told The Associated Press that he's concerned about families not being able to insure their homes as the risk of wildfire and post-fire flooding escalate amid climate change.
“I’m very concerned that moving forward these natural disasters are either going to raise premiums or we’re going to be in a deeper crisis like Florida, where insurance providers don’t want to come to New Mexico because it’s a very challenging market to insure,” he said.
Wildfires have burned about 11,000 square miles (28,490 square kilometers) across the U.S. so far this year, slightly outpacing the 10-year average. The season started early in New Mexico when the U.S. Forest Service failed to take into account the ongoing drought and measures meant to lessen the fire danger were whipped out of control by strong winds.
The federal government agreed to funnel $2.5 billion in recovery funds to New Mexico in what members of the state's congressional delegation described as a "down payment” on what would be a decadeslong recovery.
While the relief money has been celebrated by New Mexico officials, residents in remote villages scattered throughout the mountains say they have had a difficult time filing claims with federal emergency managers and that there's no system for quickly getting families the help they need.
Mike Maese has armored his home with sandbags and a ladder is nearby so he and his family can escape to the roof in case of more post-fire flooding.
"I’m not the type of person to go beg for help or go cry for this, that and the other but I’m tired,” he said, lamenting that he has been forced to take time away from his barbershop business to clean up debris and truck in water for flushing toilets and taking showers now that the well on his property has been ruined.
He tried to get insurance years ago but it would have cost more than what he could have insured his property for.