Update on New Mexico Fire Near Los Alamos Labs and the new Donaldson Fire, June 30, 2011

If the fire burning near Los Alamos was not enough, New Mexico fire fighters are also fighting a fire now in southern New Mexico.  With the steep terrain, fighting the fire from the sky is one of their best choices for the Donaldson fire.

All of us need to be saying our prayers for rain and for the people of New Mexico who have been evacuated and for those who are now fighting these two new fires while wrapping up the huge fire that came out of Arizona.  Their resources have to be stretched to the maximum.

The trained firefighting crews from the Native American Tribes respond to fires throughout the West every year and with their training are a huge help to local firefighters.  Our Western states would be in real problems without the tribal firefighters.  Speaking for a lot of us, the tribal leaders deserve a huge Thank You for providing the resources to do the training and then making these firefighters available to fight these huge forest fires in the West that seem to be getting worse and closer together since you no longer have controlled burns.

Wildfire burns on NM ranch owned by Sam Donaldson

Associated Press | Posted: Thursday, June 30, 2011 6:14 am  

A wildfire burning on part of a southern New Mexico ranch owned by veteran newsman Sam Donaldson is forcing residents to evacuate. 

The fire nearly tripled in size over the past day to more than 43,000 acres Wednesday. It's burning in steep terrain. 

Lincoln County sheriff's deputies and staff with the New Mexico Livestock Board are helping residents and their animals evacuate the Alamo Canyon area. Residents were advised the day before to be prepared to leave. 

Crews are using bulldozers to cut fire lines and are conducting back-burns in an effort to rob fuel from the blaze. 

They're getting help from several single-engine planes and a C130 air tanker. 

The wildfire is believed to have been caused by lightning. 

Read more: St Louis Today

While firefighters are now fighting a new fire, the Las Conchas  fire is still threatening the Los Alamos lab based on how the wind blows or shifts during the day.  They estimate it is about 3% contained and so far firefighters have been successful in their efforts to keep it on the perimeter of the lab as only an acre of lab property has been burned and quickly put out.  Lab tests from an overflight to monitor the smoke has shown no chemicals in the smoke.  

NM fire poised to become largest in state history

P. SOLOMON BANDA, Associated Press, SUSAN MONTOYA BRYAN, Associated Press 

Updated 01:46 p.m., Thursday, June 30, 2011

Smoke from the Las Conchas fire fills the sky near the Los Alamos Laboratory in Los Alamos, N.M., Tuesday, June 28, 2011. A vicious wildfire spread through the mountains above the northern New Mexico town on Tuesday, driving thousands of people from their homes as officials at the government nuclear laboratory tried to dispel concerns about the safety of sensitive materials. Photo: Jae C. Hong / AP

LOS ALAMOS, N.M. (AP) — With firefighters bracing for another day of strong, erratic winds, a wildfire near the nation's premier nuclear weapons laboratory and a northern New Mexico community was poised Thursday to become the largest in state history.

But fire officials remained confident that the fire would not spread onto the Los Alamos National Laboratory or into the town of Los Alamos. Crews lit brush to create a 10-mile-long burned-out area between the fire and the facility that created the first atomic bomb.

"It's looking good right now," Los Alamos County Fire Chief Doug Tucker said.

The fire has chewed up tens of thousands of acres a day since it started Sunday, charring a total of nearly 145 square miles, or 92,735 acres.

Crews have contained only 3 percent of the fire near Los Alamos. They were bracing for winds that could gust up to 40 mph Thursday afternoon.

"Every day we continue to see an active fire day, and with those winds it still brings the potential for spotting," fire information officer Sandra Lopez said.

"Those are the conditions these guys and gals that are out there on the fire lines fighting the fire are enduring," she said. "It's rugged, steep country. It's hot, and there are late-afternoon winds."

As firefighters hold the line along the lab's southern border, lab officials are trying to determine the extent of how experiments at the facility have been affected by a shutdown caused by the fast-moving fire.

Lab Director Charles McMillan said Wednesday teams will quickly figure out how things stand as soon as they're able to return.

Excerpt:  Read More at Westport News  

Latest Update on the Fire Approaching Los Alamos Nuclear Lab

Firefighters are starting backfires along the western perimeter of the Lab which will remove the fuel the fires need to keep burning in the laboratory area.  They are hoping for a wind shift today away from the Lab and the town of Los Alamos as winds did die down some over night but then picked up again this morning.  The response in New Mexico to this fire burning out of control shows they are completely on top of the situation and doing everything possible to protect the Nuclear Lab: 

Pre-Burns to Occur on LANL Western Boundary

LOS ALAMOS, New Mexico June 29, 2011 – Fire crews on Wednesday morning will begin a series of targeted, preventative burns along the western edge of Los Alamos National Laboratory in an effort to further remove available fuels from the Las Conchas Fire. Observers may notice increased smoke coming from the LANL border. At this time there is no wildfire on Laboratory property. Laboratory facilities will be closed for all activities and nonessential employees are directed to remain off site. Personnel are considered nonessential unless they have received specific instructions from their supervisors to report to the Laboratory. Employees should check local news sources, Los Alamos County Emergency Radio on AM 1610, the LANL Update Hotline (505-667-6622) and the LANL web page (http://www.lanl.gov/) for updates.The Laboratory has posted a number of pictures to its Flickr photo site, http://www.flickr.com/photos/losalamosnatlab/ A Joint Information Center has been established at the Regional Development Corporation, 2209 Miguel Chavez Rd. in Santa Fe

 

Scientists monitor air as fire burns near NM lab
By P. SOLOMON BANDA and SUSAN MONTOYA BRYAN Associated Press © 2011 The Associated Press 

LOS ALAMOS, N.M. — As crews fight to keep a New Mexico wildfire from reaching the nation's premier nuclear-weapons laboratory and the surrounding community, scientists are busy sampling the air for chemicals and radiological materials. 

Their effort includes dozens of fixed-air monitors on the ground, as well as a "flying laboratory" dispatched by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The special twin-engine plane is outfitted with sensors that can collect detailed samples. 

Sen. Tom Udall of New Mexico requested the agency's help early on in the monitoring effort near the Los Alamos National Laboratory. EPA officials said the flying lab was set to make its initial data-collection fight Wednesday, and state and federal officials have vowed to make findings from all the monitoring efforts public. 

"I know people are concerned about what's in the smoke," Udall said. He noted that the state, the Los Alamos lab and the EPA were all looking closely at air quality "so we can assure the public" there will be multiple layers of oversight. 

The blaze had grown to more than 108 square miles by Wednesday morning, but firefighters managed to hold the line along the nuclear lab's southern boundary. 

On its western edge, firefighters began targeted burns to rob fuel from the fire. Lab officials warned that people might see more smoke coming from the lab border, but they said there was no fire burning on the site as of mid-Wednesday. 

Residents downwind have expressed concern about the potential of a radioactive smoke plume if the flames reach thousands of barrels of waste stored in above-ground tents at the lab. 

Top lab officials and fire managers say there have been no releases of toxins. They say they're confident the flames won't reach key buildings or areas where radioactive waste is stored. As a last resort, foam could be sprayed on the barrels containing items that might have been contaminated through contact with radioactive materials to ensure they aren't damaged by fire, they said. 

The site's manager for the National Nuclear Security Administration said he evaluated the precautions and felt comfortable. The agency oversees the lab for the Department of Energy.
"I have 170 people who validate their measures," Kevin Smith said. "They're in steel drums, on a concrete floor." 

Despite the assurances, some residents remained concerned for the safety of their families and nearby communities. 

"If it gets to this contamination, it's over — not just for Los Alamos, but for Santa Fe and all of us in between," said Mai Ting, a resident who lives in the valley below the desert mesas that are home to the Los Alamos National Laboratory. 

Chris Valvarde, a resident of the Santa Clara Pueblo about 10 miles north of Los Alamos, questioned officials at a briefing Tuesday evening, asking whether they had evacuation plans for his community. Los Alamos, a town of 11,000, already sits empty after its residents were evacuated ahead of the blaze, which started Sunday. 

The wildfire has already sparked a spot fire at the lab. The fire Monday was quickly contained, and lab officials said no contamination was released. 

Lab Director Charles McMillan said the barrels contain transuranic waste — gloves, toolboxes, tools — and other items that may have been contaminated. An anti-nuclear group had estimated there could be up to 30,000 55-gallon drums stored at a site known as Area G, but lab spokeswoman Heather Clark said Wednesday there are 10,000 drums stored there under fire-retardant tents. 

Los Alamos County Fire Chief Doug Tucker, whose department is responsible for protecting the lab, said the barrels are stacked about three high inside the tents. 

Area G holds drums of cleanup from Cold War-era waste that the lab sends away for storage in weekly shipments, according to lab officials. 

Excerpt:  Read more:  Houston Chronicle

Update on New Mexico Fire Near Los Alamos Labs.

This is the latest update on the ongoing fire that is being pushed by 60 mph winds which has caused the evacuation of the 13,000 residents of the town of Los Alamos after the fire crossed the nearby Jemez Mountains.  Los Alamos is the home of the Department of Energy's Los Alamos Nuclear Lab where some 20,000 barrels of plutonium-bearing waste is stored in Area G waiting to be transported to long-term storage in southern New Mexico at the Carlsbad, NM, Waste Isolation Pilot Project site . Latest reports had fire 2 miles from the lab's Area G, and the winds blowing 60 mph can cause the fire to travel rapidly the two miles through the extremely dry areas.

The bulk of the lab's stockpile of highly-radioactive material is stored in structures specifically designed to withstand fire, lab officials say.  If the fire gets to the labs, this will be the 2nd time in 11 years it has happened.  Today teams from the National Nuclear Safety Administration are expected to arrive on-site  to help deal with any releases that might occur if the fire reaches the lab.

For those on the east coast who haven't seen tumbleweed burn, you cannot imagine how fast it can explode and set off a huge fire.  Light a match to a tumbleweed and see it in ashes in seconds with sparks flying everywhere.  Imagine a whole area of tumbleweed and the dry cedar (juniper back east), then add the 60 mph wind and any type of fire will soon spread quickly and become uncontrollable as the fire starts making its own wind inside the fire.  It is a very dangerous situation during the summer months and why there is usually a ban on open burning but some people ignore the law and burn anyway.

Because controlled burning of brush has been put off limits due to the environmentalists, the fires have grown over the years as they rapidly burn through the brush that has accumulated.  The environmentalists who want to protect various species have ended up with species' habitats being destroyed for miles and miles in a very hot fire that will grow into a huge fire storm compared to when they used to do controlled burns to get rid of the brush.  The lack of common sense in the environmental community is shocking.

A conservationist knows how to take care of the land for the benefit of all compared to the environmentalist who will put animal creatures over man including with drinking water.  Man and creatures can live together very easily when there is a balance, but balance is not a word that environmentalists want to hear.

We can only hope that this fire is brought under control very quickly and people can return to their homes and the Lab is safe.  You just never know which way the fire is going to burn if the winds shift going through the mountain passes.   This is a beautiful area of New Mexico as you drive I-25 north toward Colorado from Sante Fe and now the vegetation is  destroyed.  There is one thing we have noticed while living in the west and that is how green the ground looks in the spring after the winter snow melt compared to the trees that are blackened .  Nature has a way of rejuvenating itself starting with the grass on ground which should show people that controlled burns will never hurt the environment as much as these huge firestorms that destroy property and animals as it races across the landscape.

Posted at 01:36 PM ET, 06/28/2011Los Alamos nuclear lab to remain closed as New Mexico wildfire nears 

By Sarah Anne Hughes
A time exposure of the Las Conchas fire taken late Monday night in Los Alamos. (Pat Vasquez-Cunningham - AP/Albuquerque Journal) 

As the Las Conchas wildfire continues to burn in New Mexico, officials from the Los Alamos National Laboratory say the radioactive and nuclear materials stored there are safe. 

A small fire broke out Monday on the nuclear laboratory’s property near Technical Area 49, a site formerly used for radioactive explosives testing and now used for training purposes, but it was quickly contained, according to a U.S. Forest Service press release. “About one acre burned and the Lab has detected no off-site releases of contamination,” the release said. The lab will remain closed to all non-essential employees on Wednesday. 

The wildfire has burned an estimated 49,000 acres of land south and west of the lab, according to the Forest Service. Los Alamos’s 12,000 residents are now under a mandatory evacuation order. 

The lab will hold a press conference with public safety officials Tuesday afternoon. According to a press release, no fires burned on lab property Monday night and all hazardous materials are “accounted for and protected.” 

Glenn Walp, a former Pennsylvania State Police commissioner and author of “Implosion at Los Alamos,” told ABC News that “potential is high for a major calamity if the fire would reach” the area where “approximately 20,000 barrels of nuclear waste” are stored. 

Excerpt:  Read More at Washington Post

Facing wildfire threat, Los Alamos National Lab closes

UPDATE:  June 27, 2011, 10:50 a.m mdt

Las Conchas wildfire at 43,000+ acres; County under voluntary evacuation; Lab closed today--photos added 

Sunday, June 26, 2011 at 2:14 pm (Updated: June 27, 10:50 am) 

A wind-whipped wildfire in Jemez Springs has charred roughly 43,000 acres and the Los Alamos Fire Department and other agencies ratcheted up their efforts to battle the blaze. 

A Type I Incident Management has been ordered and in its latest advisory, the Forest Service said, three helicopters, two Hotshot crews, nine hand crews, five dozers and 13 engines have been fighting the fire and more are expected to arrive. 

"This is an interagency fire fighting effort," Forest Service spokesman Lawrence Lujan said. "In fire management we all work together. We are working with local, state and federal agencies."
Los Alamos National Laboratory activated its Emergency Operations Center and announced it would be closed Monday. The blaze had spread to within a mile of the lab's southwest boundary. 

Excerpt:  Read More at Los Alamos Monitor

*******
Amazing that the Breaking News on Los Alamos closing because of this fire came from Computerworld, not CNN, MSNBC, Fox News, etc.  The fire has been covered in New Mexico outlets but we think the fact that this fire is even a threat to Los Alamos is bigger news than the breaking news alerts in my inbox for violent video games can now be sold to anyone per the Supreme Court, that an AZ law on campaign financing has been overturned or Venus and Serena Williams both have been eliminated from play at Wimbledon.

Facing wildfire threat, Los Alamos National Lab closesGovernment research lab is home to IBM Roadrunner, first system to break petaflop barrierBy Patrick Thibodeau
June 27, 2011 11:23 AM ET 

Computerworld - The Los Alamos National Laboratory complex in New Mexico was closed Monday as an advancing wildfire threatened the U.S. Department of Energy research facility.
In an update posted on the lab's Web site at 8:20 a.m. MDT (10:20 EDT), Lab officials said that winds from the northwest have kept the fire from advancing on Lab property, "but forecasts call for a change by midday."

The threat is coming from the Las Conchas wildfire that began at about 1 p.m. Sunday on private land approximately 12 miles southwest of Los Alamos, according to the Incident Information System, an interagency reporting system.

The lab houses some of the world's most powerful supercomputers, including IBM's $100 million Roadrunner supercomputer that began running in 2008.

Roadrunner was the first system in the world to reach a petaflop performance, or one thousand trillion (one quadrillion) sustained floating point operations per second.

In a statement, the lab said that "observation aircraft are currently conducting aerial surveys to gauge the fire's growth and current size. Overnight, as a precaution, the Lab cut natural gas to technical areas in LANL's remote southwest area." 

The lab also reported that "all hazardous and radioactive materials remain accounted for and are appropriately protected, as are key Lab facilities such as its proton accelerator and supercomputing centers." 

"It's been a very long night for the fire crews," said Lab Director Charles McMillan in a statement. "There has been an outpouring of support from the region, the state and the federal government and for that we are profoundly grateful."

According to a twitter stream from KOB4, a local television news station and its reporters, including @GadiRoget, the fire as of 10 a.m. EDT had not breached lab property. More than 43,000 acres are involved.

A Webcam of nearby ski areas shows a large area dense with smoke.

To follow the fire on Twitter, hashtags in use include: #nmfire #losalamos #lanl #conchas. 

Source:  Computer World