Two of the top officials at the Federal Emergency Management Agency office in charge of compensating victims of the 2022 Hermits Peak/Calf Canyon Fire have been placed on administrative leave, according to an email.

The move comes after news outlets reported Jay Mitchell, director of the New Mexico Joint Recovery Office since 2024, had received a letter of determination from the claims office indicating he and his wife were offered a little over $266,000 in compensation for smoke and ash damage to their Angel Fire home - even as many victims of the massive fire and flooding in Northern New Mexico were still waiting for their claims to be filled.

"FEMA has placed the Program Manager and Deputy Program Manager on administrative leave. This step does not reflect a finding of wrongdoing," states an internal FEMA email obtained by news site Source New Mexico and KOB-TV.

A statement from the claims office did not name Mitchell or Deputy Director Jennifer Carbajal, who also was placed on leave, according to reports from Source New Mexico and KOB-TV. While the office did not confirm in the statement to The New Mexican that Mitchell and Carbajal had been placed on leave, it said FEMA has taken administrative steps to "ensure continuity of operations" and that claims will continue to be processed as usual.

The federal agency has "ZERO tolerance" for malfeasance or misuse of funds, the statement said, and allegations are "thoroughly investigated and taken seriously."

The statement placed the blame at the foot of the administration of former President Joe Biden.

"FEMA is fully committed to supporting the citizens of New Mexico impacted by the Hermit's Peak/Calf Canyon fires," the statement said. "This is yet another mess we inherited from the broken Biden administration and are focused on delivering assistance with integrity and accountability. … Our priority and focus remain on supporting eligible claimants and ensuring all claims are handled fairly and transparently. We will not be distracted from our mission to support recovery and uphold the highest standards at all levels of the Claims Office."

The office declined to comment on requests for additional details. It was unclear when Mitchell and Carbajal were put on leave and if they were still being paid.

FEMA Region 6, which includes New Mexico, did not respond to requests for comment.

In the past weeks, several New Mexico politicians have called for Mitchell to resign.

In a joint statement Thursday, New Mexico's Democratic U.S. Sens. Ben Ray Luján and Martin Heinrich, and U.S. Rep. Teresa Leger Fernández called the decision to put Mitchell and Carbajal on leave a "step in the right direction."

The congressional delegates had called on Mitchell to resign after Source New Mexico and other news media reported Mitchell and his wife had received the six-figure payments.

Nevertheless, "there are still outstanding questions regarding the Claims Office status and operations, and we will continue pressing for accountability and stable, trusted leadership," the delegates said in the statement.

They also called on the claims office to prioritize total loss claims and claims from within the burn scar.

In a call with reporters late last week, Leger Fernández criticized FEMA for not releasing reports about the progress of the recovery effort and said she continues to push for Mitchell's resignation.

"It is clear he has lost the trust of the New Mexican people who are affected," Leger Fernández said.

The New Mexico Joint Recovery Office is charged with disbursing $5.45 billion in federal dollars to victims of the Hermits Peak/Calf Canyon Fire, which was ignited by two U.S. Forest Service prescribed burns that went awry. The combined blazes grew to more than 340,000 acres, the largest in the state's recorded history.

As of Feb. 3, the office reported it had paid more than 23,000 claims, totaling $3.36 billion.

It's been a bumpy road to compensate the victims, riddled with lawsuits and calls for faster processing.

New Mexico Highlands University, which estimates it sustained more than $200 million in damage from the fire, said as of last week, almost four years after the fire, it had yet to see a dime from FEMA.

• Print
• Email
• Share
• Tweet