| Calf Canyon/Hermits Peak Fire | |
|---|---|
 The fire burns near Highway 518 in New Mexico on April 29, 2022. | |
| Date(s) | April 6, 2022 - August 21, 2022 |
| Location | New Mexico |
| Coordinates | 35°45′32″N 105°30′11″W / 35.759°N 105.503°W |
| Statistics | |
| Burned area | 341,471 acres (138,188 ha; 534 sq mi) |
| Impacts | |
| Deaths | 0 |
| Non-fatal injuries | 3[1] |
| Structures destroyed | 903, 85 damaged |
| Ignition | |
| Cause | Escaped prescribed burn (Hermits Peak Fire) & leftover burn piles (Calf Canyon Fire) |
| Map | |
 The combined fires' perimeter on April 23 is outlined in yellow, the final fire perimeter is shown in red | |
  Location in New Mexico | |
The 2022 Calf Canyon/Hermits Peak Fire was the largest and most destructive wildfire in the history of New Mexico. The fire burned 341,471 acres (138,188 hectares) between early April and late June in the southern Sangre de Cristo Mountains, in San Miguel, Mora, and Taos counties. It was the most significant fire of the record-breaking 2022 New Mexico wildfire season, as well as the largest wildfire of the year in the contiguous United States.[2] The fire destroyed at least 903 structures, including several hundred homes, and damaged 85 more.[3][4]
The Calf Canyon/Hermits Peak Fire formed from the merger of two separate wildfires: the Hermits Peak Fire began on April 6 when the U.S. Forest Service lost control of a prescribed burn, and the Calf Canyon Fire began on April 9 when an improperly extinguished Forest Service pile burn from January rekindled. The two fires burned into each other during a major wind event on April 22, 2022. Afterwards, the combined blaze was managed as a single incident, growing to surpass the 2012 Whitewater-Baldy Complex fire to become New Mexico's largest ever before it was fully contained on August 21.[5][6]
- ^ Three firefighters injured while fighting Calf Canyon/Hermits Peak Fire Archived 2023-01-02 at the Wayback Machine, KOAT, June 2, 2022
- ^ Pratt, Sara E. (2022-05-14). "New Mexico Wildfire Spawns Fire Cloud". NASA Earth Observatory. Archived from the original on 2022-05-14. Retrieved 2022-05-14.
- ^ "SW Morning Situation Report (SMSR) Sunday - 05/15/22 - 08:52". Southwest Coordination Center. Archived from the original on May 16, 2022. Retrieved 2022-05-16.
- ^ Reed Jr, Ollie; Davis, Theresa (April 28, 2022). "166 homes gone, high winds feared". Albuquerque Journal. Archived from the original on May 1, 2022. Retrieved May 1, 2022.
- ^ Pietsch, Bryan; Samenow, Jason (May 17, 2022). "New Mexico blaze is now largest wildfire in state history". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on May 18, 2022. Retrieved May 17, 2022.
- ^ "Calf Canyon Information". InciWeb - Incident Information System. Archived from the original on 2022-05-01. Retrieved 2022-05-01.