Immediate Safety
Safety is a primary issue immediately following a destructive wildfire. This section offers some general advice on steps to take after disaster strikes in order to begin getting your home, your community and your life back to normal.
Mobilize Your Community
This section includes key points to help local governments and community leaders get started on recovery coordination, and provides information on items that are critical to consider when mobilizing your community’s response after a wildfire.
Who Can Help?
This section describes many of the programs and services provided by agencies and non-profits for communities and individuals who have been affected by wildfire. Please be aware that programs and funding levels can change from year to year, and assistance may not always be available.
Welcome to the After Wildfire Guide
After a destructive wildfire, New Mexico households, neighborhoods, and local governments often face the same urgent questions at once. This guide was written with state and federal partners to help you prioritize safety, understand assistance options, and plan for flood and erosion risks that can follow fire on hillsides and in watersheds. It includes information on how to mobilize your community, a list of resources available to communities and individuals for assistance, and a technical guide with information about post-fire treatments to address severe burn effects on the land and to prepare for potential flooding. If you are reading this guide before a wildfire occurs, use it to help you plan ahead.
The sections below are meant to reduce guesswork during a difficult time and to help you take the next practical step toward recovery.
Recovery topics at a glance
Use the carousel above to open the chapter you need. Immediate Safety covers re-entry, household hazards, ash and debris, and early mental health basics. For smoke, respirators, and indoor air during cleanup, open Air Quality and Ash After Wildfire. Who Can Help describes agencies, counties, tribes, and nonprofits that may offer funding, technical staff, or supplies. Program names and budgets can change with each fire season, so treat the listings as a starting point and confirm details with each office.
Post Fire Treatments explains seeding, mulching, contour work, and other actions that reduce erosion on burned land. Flood Information describes debris flow risk, warning signs, and how to stay ahead of monsoon runoff. Financial Tips walks through insurance questions, documentation, and cash flow decisions many households face right after a fire.
Additional Resources gathers printable PDFs, contributor credits, a photo gallery, and links to trusted news sources and social feeds so you can verify conditions as they evolve.
Burned Area Emergency Response (BAER) and active incidents
When a large fire triggers a federal or state BAER assessment, supporting maps and reports are often posted on InciWeb while teams are active. Individual incident pages are later archived, so the most reliable path is to start at the national InciWeb site and search for current New Mexico incidents. For statewide forestry updates, visit New Mexico State Forestry or open Wildfire Information from this guide. National incident listings: InciWeb.