At about two o'clock this afternoon my daughter poked her head into the study. "Mom, you better come here and look out the window. Look at the sky!"
I turned off Patrick Swayze and joined her in the kitchen. Huge grey clouds obscured the sky. "What the hell's that?" I asked her, knowing that we have no rain in our forecast for weeks. "Do you suppose its the Pacheco Fire up in Santa Fe? I don't get it. The wind's blowing east, not northwest."
Chloe's boyfriend, Chris, appeared on the porch. He lives in White Rock. "No," he said. "This one's up near Los Alamos somewhere."
Live Web Cam Feed of the Fire (can't embed)
I dropped Chloe off at her job in Chimayo at the Family Dollar at four. On the way up the road, I noticed a number of farms that hadn't been planted. The usual patches of tiger lillies lining the irrigation ditches were nowhere to be seen. No phlox or four o'clocks either.
"I wonder if the ditches have dried up," I remarked. We had a very dry winter and have had no rain to speak of all summer.
"Geez," said Chloe. "Look at all that smoke. I feel like we're living on the edge of hell! It's creepy! We can't even see the mountains."
I dropped her off and then headed into Santa Fe to pick up my son and his friends. I was astonished by the mushroom cloud that appeared to billow ominously from Bandelier, a few miles outside of Los Alamos.
It had to be a brand new fire! I hadn't seen even a hint of smoke from that direction yesterday. How could it have gotten so big so quickly? I spied an eerie orange glow coming from the Pacheco fire near the Santa Fe ski basin on the other side of the road.
My son and his friends talked about the plume of smoke coming from Los Alamos all the way home. It wasn't until after sunset that we saw the flames shooting into the sky.
The Las Conchas Fire started at about 1 pm this afternoon near the Jemez Falls trail 12 miles to the southwest of Los Alamos. It has spread to more than 3500 acres in a few hours. The Laboratory has announced a mandatory closure of the facility tomorrow. According to the Los Alamos Monitor, measures have been taken to secure all nuclear material along with the supercomputing lab. Only essential employees will be allowed on premises, which means that my husband has a day off.
LANL emergency crews have been dispatched to key facilities to protect them. Los Alamos Monitor photos show a fire breaking on a ridge near TA-16 outside the back gate. Bandelier National Monument, the Valles Caldera National Preserve, and Jemez Falls Campground have been evacuated and NM 4 is closed at Jemez Falls.
This fire started today, June 26 at 1 p.m.. The fire is now 3500 + acres. The fire has spotted into Alamo Canyon and is burning towards Bandelier National Monument. Bandelier National Monument is now being evacuated and has been closed. Los Alamos has NOT been evacuated YET, but evacuations are possible for the area.
Location: Jemez Ranger District, Santa Fe National Forest; approximately 12 miles southwest of Los Alamos off NM 4 at mile marker 35. The fire started on private land.
Legal Description: T18N, R4E, SEC 4
Cause: Unknown, under investigation
Fuels: Mixed Conifer, Ponderosa Pine
Size: 1000 acres +. The fire is actively burning. Running, crowning and spotting up to a half a mile of the head of the fire has been observed.
% Contained: 0
Resources Committed: Multiple ground and air resources are en route and on scene. Joe S. Reinarz' Type 1 Incident Management Team has been ordered.
Today’s Weather: Red flag conditions (hot temperatures, low humidity, high winds) are present. Strong west winds will continue through the afternoon into the early evening. For a complete weather forcast for this fire click here.
Structures/threats: Structures and powerlines. Power and phone lines are down in the area.
Evacuations: Residents living within Cochiti Mesa and Las Conchas are being evacuated at this time. Campgrounds near the area including Jemez Falls Campground have been evacuaed. Evacuees are being housed at the La Cueva Fire Station.
The Valles Caldera National Preserve will be CLOSED to public access due
to current wildfire activity and extreme fire danger. This closure will
remain in effect until conditions improve. Visitors with reservations
can call 866-382-5537 for refunds.
Check back for futher updates as they become available.
Los Alamos and White Rock are being asked to voluntarily evacuate. Most of my daughter's classmates are leaving. It looks like we will have company tonight on top of my son's two friends. We are expecting two people and three cats who are evacuating White Rock because the fire is headed in their direction. Everybody is still traumatized from the Cerro Grande fire about ten years ago.
According to Chloe's friends, the fire was started by a group of teen-age girls who threw a drunken party and forgot to douse their fire. But that's the gossip mill. I'll try to post photos in the comment thread.
Sun Jun 26, 2011 at 10:05 PM PT: Added live video feed link in intro
Sun Jun 26, 2011 at 10:06 PM PT: Live Web Cam Feed of the Fire (can't embed)
Sun Jun 26, 2011 at 10:51 PM PT: Los Alamos Monitor is now reporting that the fire is less than a mile from the lab's southwestern boundaries. Governor Martinez has gone up there. The national guard has been called out and key facilities are being protected.