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Wildfires out on control in New Mexico, Arizona |
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May 13, 2000
LOS ALAMOS, New Mexico, MAY 12 (AP) - Driven by swirling wind of up 55 mph (88 kph), fire rolled from block to block in abandoned Los Alamos, burning scores of homes down to their foundations in the town where the atomic bomb was built.
Firefighters rushed Thursday to save houses as orange flames and billowing smoke rose over the town. Whole neighborhoods were reduced to ruins, with everything from trailers to mansions going up in smoke in a blaze that had been set by the government to clear away brush in the wilderness but raged out of control over the weekend.
The wildfire first reached Los Alamos on Wednesday - forcing the evacuation of the entire town - and exploded in size from 3,700 acres (1,480 hectares) to 18,000 acres (7,200 hectares) Thursday, fanned by winds so strong it made parked cars sway.
"I can't believe how many homes are gone," said Don Shainin, a fire battalion commander from Albuquerque who came to Los Alamos to help.
At the Los Alamos nuclear weapons laboratory, flames scorched a research building, rolled over concrete bunkers containing high explosives, and came within 300 yards (273 meters) of a plutonium storage facility. But lab officials insisted that dangerous materials were protected in fireproof facilities strong enough to withstand a crash of a 747 jetliner.
"We can assure the country and New Mexico that our nuclear materials are safe," said Energy Secretary Bill Richardson, a former New Mexico congressman.
Fire crews with hand tools and bulldozers worked feverishly to protect homes by clearing away vegetation and cutting firebreaks ahead of the flames. Helicopters dropped water on the blaze, while airplanes bombarded it with pink fire retardant.
County Manager Joe King estimated that 100 homes burned. Rep. Tom Udall, whose district includes Los Alamos, said federal officials estimated 300 to 400.
The number of people evacuated grew Thursday to more than 20,000, with residents to the north and northeast of Los Alamos also fleeing the fire.
The fire was set May 4 by the National Park Service to clear brush near Bandelier National Monument, but it burned out of control in the dry, windy weather. A special National Weather Service forecast faxed to the park beforehand said fire-growth conditions were at their highest.
Park Superintendent Roy Weaver has taken responsibility for the fire. He is believed to have evacuated and has not been available for comment about whether he saw the weather service's fax. On Thursday, Weaver was placed on leave with pay by the Park Service pending an investigation.
Weaver is a 33-year employee of the Park Service whose annual salary is dlrs 79,849.
"Somebody made a mistake and obviously we have to find out who," New Mexico Republican Sen. Pete Domenici said as he visited the fire zone.
"It should never have happened. That's the only thing I can say unless you want me to curse," said Gail Bolger, who was forced out of her mobile home park in Los Alamos to a shelter at a Santa Fe high school.
Whoever made the decision for the deliberate fire "should have known better," Bolger said. "This is the windy season. We have it every year, and I think he should have used his head."
Los Alamos, 70 miles (112 kilometers) north of Albuquerque, is essentially a company town for the weapons laboratory, which employs 7,000 people at buildings scattered throughout the city. The town is on a mesa, 7,600 feet (2,280 meters) high.
As the sun rose Thursday, brick fireplaces and chimneys were the only things remaining of some homes. A basketball hoop remained intact on one driveway, its net singed but still hanging outside a destroyed house.
The towering ponderosa pines of the Los Alamos Canyon along the western edge of town could be seen through the scorched shells of homes that had been valued at more than a dlrs 250,000.
About 150 National Guardsmen were called in to keep people out of the evacuated zones and prevent looting.
Many of the people forced to evacuate from White Rock on Thursday had already fled Los Alamos.
Meanwhile, at Grand Canyon National Park in Arizona, a fire that began as a prescribed burn on the North Rim was raging out of control Thursday, driven by wind gusts expected to reach 50 mph (80 kph).
Firefighters estimated that 7,000 acres (2,800 hectares) had burned, but the flames were not believed to have reached the edge of the canyon.
Officials planned to burn about 1,500 acres (600 hectares) within the park, but winds drove the fire out of control Wednesday. By Thursday, it had crossed the one paved road out of the park, spread into the Kaibab National Forest and was working its way northeast.
The South Rim of the Grand Canyon, which is much more popular with visitors, remained open. North of the canyon, however, campgrounds were reporting power outages and lingering smoke.
Park officials were watching the winds closely. They were worried by forecasts that the wind could shift back toward the southwest - and the canyon - on Friday.
About 200 firefighters were at the scene and 180 more were requested.
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