Los Alamos Cerro Grande Fire - Updates

Return to main story
Maps, Geography, and Fire Path
List of addresses

Update for Thursday Morning

I watched the news broadcasts intermittently through the night and this morning. It doesn't look good at all, and it's only getting worse.

From what I can tell, the entire perimeter of the town is burning, including the neighborhood in which I used to live. The fire has moved into the canyons, which is allowing it to spread to more central parts of town. The mesas, which were originally thought to be safe, now show signs of fires (it's hard for the chopper crews to see through the smoke).

White Rock was evacuated around 1:00 AM this morning. That means the entire county of Los Alamos - about 18,000 people - are now in shelters or other temporary housing.

The winds died down for a couple hours this morning, but had already picked up by the time I headed into my office. Predictions still call for gusts of 60+ mph in the Los Alamos area. The fire is also large enough to create its own weather, so winds near the blaze are unpredictable.

Floating embers apparently ignited another fire near Espanola, about 20 or 30 miles from Los Alamos. The western portion of Espanola is under a voluntary evacuation notice, mainly for smoke. Many people from Los Alamos sought shelter in Espanola.

Update for Thursday 11:00 AM MDT

The Albuquerque Journal is now reporting that at least 300-400 homes have been destroyed.

A grass fire surrounded the tritium facility at TA-16 (see Maps), but the building was designed for such events and was undamaged. LANL reports at fires at three other facilities (it's not clear if they mean individual buildings or Tech Areas). One report said there was a fire at TA-18, but that is unlikely based on the terrain. More likely it is TA-28, which is right next to TA-16.

Update for Thursday 1:00 PM MDT

The latest breaking news is that the high school gym is on fire. (The high school complex is labelled 16 on the town map; label 20, which says municipal pool, is actually the gym.)

There's not much else to see: the news helicopters have been grounded because of high winds. One tanker helicopter is evidently still flying. I have not been able to find out if the slurry bombers have been grounded.

Update for Thursday 2:00 PM MDT

I'm not sure how current this information is, but more detailed reports about impacted neighborhoods are now coming out.

It looks like all neigborhoods west of Diamond Drive have sustained damage, with the worst areas being the Western Community between Trinity and North Road, and the entire length of Arizona Avenue in the North Community.

The golf course is reported to be on fire. The majority of the course is south of Diamond Drive (labelled 10 on the town map), and there is a small portion just to the north on the other side of Diamond. While the news helicopters were still flying, I could see the house along Woodland were on fire; they are along the northern boundary of the course. The southern boundary borders Pueblo Canyon; since I know Pueblo Canyon is burning, I assume both portions of the golf course are on fire.

Finally, it has been confirmed that most houses on Urban Street have been destroyed. That, coupled with the fire in Pueblo Canyon, indicates the Walnut Street area, which includes Aspen Elementary, is at high risk.

On the Lab side, TA-55 and TA-35 are reported to be at risk. If those fires weren't caused by floating embers, that could be an indication the fire is moving along the mesa top or one of the canyons towards White Rock. However, the terrain becomes more desert-like towards White Rock (scrub pinon and juniper rather than Ponderosa pine), so the fire shouldn't be able to travel as rapidly.

Update for Thursday 7:00 PM MDT

The news helicopters have been grounded most of the day, so the TV stations are replaying old video. That actually makes it difficult to figure out what's happening, because they don't show what times the films were made.

From the ground shots, it looks like things may have calmed down a bit. There's still a lot of smoke, but the fires don't seem to be spreading as rapidly. The winds are still high, so it may be that so much has burned that it can't spread as quickly.

Most of the current broadcasts are coming from the airport, which is on the west end of town. A live shot just now showed what looked to be the Timber Ridge condos, on the west end of the main town area and on Los Alamos Canyon. They appeared to be untouched, and the canyon in that area also seems to have escaped.

Some other fairly recent shots showed wooded canyons and mesa areas. Thus, although the damage is widespread, there are large areas that remain unburned.

One view towards the Lab showed some black and orange smoke, which later turned to white. The dark smoke may have been buildings burning; this could have been at TA-53, or at TA-55/TA-35.

Winds are expected to shift to the southeast and south overnight, which could push the fire back towards White Rock. Santa Fe residents have already been warned about smoke, and residents with respiratory problems have been advised to evacuate.

The winds will continue to shift clockwise around the compass over the weekend, until they are once again heading to the north. That likely means Albuquerque will get a good dose of smoke before the weekend is over.

Update for Thursday 8:00 PM MDT

More information about damages is coming out.

260 dwellings have been destroyed. The number of buildings is closer to 100, but duplexes are counted as two dwellings and quads as four.

Most of the damage is on the perimeter roads of Arizona, Alabama, Urban, 48th, Trinity, and Sandia. Damage to interior neighborhoods may be more limited.

LANL has said that several buildings and Technical Areas along Pajarito road sustained heavy damage. In fact, the live chopper video right now shows fires burning in several Tech Areas. I think, and it's really hard to tell this time of night, that they might be showing live shots of fires near TA-41 and TA-2 in Los Alamos Canyon. It also shows backfires being lit near the bunkers at TA-16.

At the moment, TA-54 has been spared. This TA is adjacent to White Rock, and concerns about it prompted the White Rock evacuation early this morning.

Finally, the air campaign has been halted for the night. The good news, though, is that the fire now seems to be burning on the ground and not crowning in the trees.

Update for Thursday 9:00 PM MDT

This will most likely be my last update for the night.

Winds have calmed enough for the news helicopters to resume flying. Live views show extensive fires througout Lab property.

Fires on the southern perimeter definitely appear to be at TA-16. These are receiving the most attention from firefighters.

Based on ground lighting, it looks like there's a large fire at TA-18 (if you're familiar with the area, that's the Tech Area which is brightly lit throughout the night - it's very distinctive). A new report just came in saying that buildings at TA-18 have been singed.

There has been a grass fire at TA-55, the plutonium processing facility, but no buildings are in danger. Some portable buildings have also been destroyed at TA-46.

These last three Tech Areas are strung out along Pajarito Road, which leads from Los Alamos to White Rock. No fires are yet reported at TA-54, the last area just before White Rock, and right across the road from TA-18.

Finally, looking west from the airport, a large fire has just been spotted along the rim of the mountain. This is an area that previously hasn't burned. Depending on exactly where that fire is, it could be close to the Baca Ranch or Valles Caldera.

Update for Friday 8:00 AM MDT

Just a quick update for this morning - my seven month old came down with a cough last night, so I'm babysitting today.

The words being used this morning are "cautiously optimistic." There don't seem to be any fires spreading through town at this time, and maximum wind speeds are expected to be about half of yesterday.

Spot fires are burning on Lab land, but no major structural damage has been reported. These fires are also mostly grass fires, without the dangerous crowning seen earlier. But because the winds have shifted to a more southerly direction, White Rock is not yet out of danger (though there is no immediate threat).

Total acreage burned to date is 28,800 acres, and the fire is considered 0% contained at this time. So even though winds have dropped, there is still potential for more damage.

As a recap, here are the major neighborhoods affected in Los Alamos: Arizona, Alabama, Woodlands, 48th, lower Urban, Ridgeway, Trinity (west of Diamond) and Sandia. Fire crews will be surveying the town today and releasing a list of damaged homes by address. If I don't have time to get the list later today, KOB-TV has promised to post it on their Web site.

Destruction along these roads is not complete. I just heard from a friend via cell phone, and she received word that her home on the forest side of Arizona was undamaged.

Update for Friday 11:00 AM MDT

There's not much new information about the Los Alamos Cerro Grande fire. Slurry bombers are taking off from the Albuquerque airport at 10:30 AM MDT. Los Alamos fire officials say spot fires will continue to burn on Lab land for at least a week. That's bad news, because winds are expected to pick up again by the end of the weekend.

Los Alamos Ed Grothus had refused to evacuate, and was arrested this morning while gathering addresses of damaged and destroyed houses. Police had asked him to go back home while firefighters were out, and he refused. He has since posted bail.

KOB-TV has reported five addresses on Arizona Avenue that have been destroyed: 3220, 3240, 3260, 3265, 3045. My sympathies to all of you. I used to live at 3040, which is directly across the street from 3045.

The situation in Cloudcroft continues to worsen. Please check the other About.com resources listed below for information about that fire and others burning in the state.

Update for Friday 7:00 PM MDT

The situation in Los Alamos has apparently stabilized for now, though it is still not under control.

Residents were supposed to be escorted back to homes tomorrow to gather belongings, but that has been delayed until Sunday morning at the earliest.

A burn ban has been enacted for the entire state. That pretty much means no open fires of any kind, including charcoal grills. Smoking is allowed in vehicles equipped with ashtrays and only on paved roads. That means you can't smoke in your car on dirt or gravel roads.

Return to main story
Maps, Geography, and Fire Path
List of addresses