Community preparedness — New Mexico
Wildfire, drought, flash floods from monsoon thunderstorms, extreme heat, blizzards, and earthquake risk across 33 counties of high desert and mountain terrain. NMSU Extension statewide. CERT teams from Albuquerque to the Navajo Nation. Here's the network.
Enter your ZIP to find volunteer groups, training programs, civic organizations, and mutual aid networks in your area.
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Community calendar
CERT trainings, garden workdays, ham radio exams, first aid classes.
33
County extension offices
3
NWS forecast offices
15+
Amateur radio clubs
6
Community colleges
Where to plug in
New Mexico's high desert and mountain landscape creates a unique hazard profile: wildfire fed by drought and wind, flash floods from monsoon storms that drop rain on hardpan soil, extreme heat in the low desert, blizzards in the mountains, and earthquakes. NMSU Extension in all 33 counties, including strong tribal extension programming, anchors community resilience statewide.
New Mexico State University Extension operates offices in all 33 counties. Programming spans rangeland management, chile production (NM is the chile capital of the world), pecan orchards, dairy, food safety, nutrition, 4-H youth development, and community development. Extension serves both rural Anglo communities and Native American pueblos and nations, with specialized tribal extension programming.
The Master Gardener program trains volunteers for high-desert growing conditions — water conservation, xeriscaping, and drought-tolerant food production. Extension runs Firewise workshops across northern NM's wildland-urban interface, food preservation, and drought management programs. After the 2022 Hermits Peak/Calf Canyon Fire, extension agents helped displaced northern NM farming families assess losses and navigate recovery.
The New Mexico Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management (NMDHSEM) coordinates the state's all-hazards emergency program through county and tribal emergency management offices. NM's EM system must serve an extraordinarily diverse population across 33 counties with significant distances between communities and a complex tribal governance structure.
CERT programs are active across New Mexico. Bernalillo County (Albuquerque), Santa Fe County, Doña Ana County (Las Cruces), Sandoval County, and others run established programs. After the 2022 Hermits Peak/Calf Canyon Fire — the largest in NM history — northern NM communities prioritized CERT and community preparedness training. Training is free.
The American Red Cross New Mexico Region serves the entire state through chapters in Albuquerque, Santa Fe, Las Cruces, and other communities. First aid, CPR, AED, and water safety classes are offered year-round. The NM Region is experienced with wildfire-specific shelter operations and disaster response in a geographically challenging state.
During the 2022 Hermits Peak/Calf Canyon Fire, Red Cross opened shelters across Mora, San Miguel, and Colfax counties and provided long-term disaster relief to thousands of displaced northern NM families. Red Cross also responds annually to wildfires across the state during the spring and early summer fire season. Volunteer entry points include shelter operations, disaster assessment, and feeding.
New Mexico has over 15 amateur radio clubs in the ARRL New Mexico Section, part of the Rocky Mountain Division. In a state with vast distances between communities and cell infrastructure that disappears quickly outside urban areas, ham radio is essential. ARES teams activate for wildfires, flash floods, and winter storms that isolate mountain communities.
Getting licensed costs $15 for the exam and about $35 for a basic handheld radio. Study at hamstudy.org. Clubs in Albuquerque, Santa Fe, Las Cruces, Roswell, and throughout the state host exams regularly.
Three NWS offices serve New Mexico: Albuquerque (central and northern NM), El Paso TX (southern NM), and Amarillo TX (eastern NM/Llano Estacado). Each runs SKYWARN spotter training before severe weather season.
NM's weather hazards include wildfire driven by drought and strong spring winds, flash flooding from monsoon thunderstorms (July–September) on terrain that can't absorb the rain, extreme heat in the low desert, blizzards in the mountains, and dust storms. The monsoon season also brings New Mexico's highest tornado risk. Training is free.
New Mexico has over 90 public library locations through county and municipal systems. Albuquerque-Bernalillo County Library System, Santa Fe Public Library, and Las Cruces-Doña Ana County Library anchor the major systems. In rural NM and pueblo communities, the public library may be the only public building with reliable internet and air conditioning.
New Mexico's community colleges include Central NM Community College (Albuquerque), NM State University at Doña Ana (Las Cruces), San Juan College (Farmington), Santa Fe Community College, New Mexico Junior College (Hobbs), and Luna Community College (Las Vegas NM). They offer EMT certification, welding, electrical work, automotive, and healthcare programs.
Why this matters
In spring 2022, two fires sparked by escaped controlled burns merged in the mountains northeast of Las Vegas, New Mexico to form the Hermits Peak/Calf Canyon Fire. By the time it was contained, it had burned over 341,000 acres — the largest wildfire in New Mexico recorded history. It destroyed hundreds of homes and forced thousands of people from communities that had existed in those mountain valleys for generations.
Many of the affected communities had deep roots — acequia farming traditions, multigenerational Hispanic families, and pueblo neighbors — and that community cohesion shaped the response. When evacuation orders came, neighbors helped neighbors who couldn't drive. Community members with horses helped move livestock. The centuries-old acequia water management system gave communities a framework for organized collective action that kicked in automatically.
CERT volunteers in Mora and San Miguel counties assisted with shelter operations and welfare checks. Ham radio operators provided emergency communications in mountain canyons where cell service had never reached. Red Cross opened shelters and provided long-term recovery support. Extension agents helped farm families document crop and livestock losses for federal disaster programs.
The 2022 fire also exposed how much New Mexico's preparedness infrastructure needs to be rebuilt — particularly in rural Hispanic and Indigenous communities that have historically been underserved by emergency management. The organizations on this page are working to close that gap across all 33 counties.
The foundation
Community resilience begins with a household that can take care of itself. Cover the first 72 hours, then extend outward to your street, your neighborhood, your town.
Start with the first 72 hours