US Department of Labor awards $800K in initial funding to support disaster recovery in response to New Mexico’s continuing wildfires

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor today announced an initial award of $800,000 in emergency dislocated worker grant funding to support cleanup and recovery activities in response to the South Fork and Salt forest fires that began in New Mexico’s Otero County on June 17, 2024. Spreading quickly, the fires have already devastated more than 25,000 acres of mountain forest land, and about 1,400 structures and 500 homes in Lincoln and Otero counties and on the Mescalero Tribe Reservation.

On June 20, 2024, the Federal Emergency Management Agency issued a major disaster declaration enabling the state to request federal assistance for recovery efforts in the affected areas.

The National Dislocated Worker Grant of up to $2 million allows the New Mexico Department of Workforce Solutions to provide people with temporary cleanup and recovery jobs. Supported by the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act of 2014, the funding also enables the state to provide training and services to individuals in the affected communities. 

The department’s Employment and Training Administration oversees Dislocated Worker Grants, which expand the service capacity of dislocated worker programs at the state and local levels by providing funding assistance in response to large, unexpected economic events that lead to significant job losses.