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New Mexico Ablaze as Federal Fire Burns Out of Control

May 18, 2000

"Multiple failures throughout the entire process" of setting a controlled burn allowed a prescribed fire near Los Alamos to turn into the largest-ever wildfire in the state of New Mexico, Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt admitted on May 18th. The prescribed fire set on May 4 quickly grew into New Mexico's largest-ever wildfire, burning more than 200 homes, 47,000 acres and prompting the evacuation of an estimated 20,000 people. The burn was conducted despite a severe drought and weather forecasts which called for intensifying winds that could create the potential for fire growth. Firefighters were still battling the blaze when the preliminary government report was released on May 18th.

The National Park Service failed to follow guidelines in planning the burn at Bandelier National Monument and did not have enough contingency personnel available to control the blaze, according to the draft report released by Babbitt. "Had those calculations been properly done there would have been a larger background personnel and support," said Babbitt, who had ordered the investigation. "It's clear that there were large mistakes of agency oversight."

The onsite supervisor for the burn did not have adequate technical and operational experience to plan and conduct the prescribed burn given its true complexity, the report said. But it also cited the failure of the staff to complete the checklist that would have helped the fire boss decide whether to start or postpone the burn. Babbitt also said officials waited too long before seeking help from other agencies.

Other failures by officials cited in the report:

• Failure to evaluate conditions adjacent to the prescribed fire boundary with regard to fire behavior, fuel conditions and public safety in the event the fire crossed the planning boundaries.

• Failure to provide adequate contingency resources to successfully suppress the fire.

• Failure to provide any wind predictions in the 3-5 day forecast for the periods of May 7 to May 9

• Failure to follow safety policies for firefighters and the public

Called the Cerro Grande fire by state officials, the blaze was 60 percent contained by May 18th, with more than 1,200 firefighters working around Los Alamos.

The controlled burn at Bandelier National Monument was supposed to clear 968 acres of brush as a means to prevent wildfires. But by the next day high winds whipped it into a wildfire that later rolled through the town of Los Alamos, burning more than 200 homes, 47,000 acres and prompting the evacuation of an estimated 20,000 people.

The fire also burned some buildings on the grounds of the Los Alamos National Laboratory, the birthplace of the atom bomb. The flames came within 300 yards of a plutonium storage facility at the Los Alamos National Laboratories, the nation's leading nuclear laboratory. However, no nuclear materials were released by the fires, according to Jim Paxon with the U.S. Forest Service. "There was no contamination and no problems at all," he claimed. However, the facility remains closed because of the fire. The lab has warned employees not to attempt to enter lab property.

Firefighters are still battling the fire around Los Alamos, strengthening fire breaks, extinguishing hot spots, and attacking the fire's still-active northwest flank.

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