UPDATE: Fireworks continue on the fifth
At 127,821 acres now and growing slowly, the fire was only about one-quarter controlled by the end of the day. New Mexicans expected little change in the weather from yesterday, and they were about right. Some thunderstorms touched the area, but overall the sky was still half sunny. However, one can see a lot of sky in New Mexico, sometimes over mountains 100 miles distant.
More of the same is expected tomorrow, although the Colorado Rockies to the north may see a little more rain. However, on Thursday, New Mexico forecasters say it will be be breezy and hot, conditions that contributed to the rapid spread of the fire in the first place. In many patches of partially unburned ground, winds cause the fire to back down the slopes, then run back uphill again. Fire officials say this is likely to continue until the summer rains extinguish the fire. The weather forecast does not indicate rain other than spotty showers until Sunday.
Areas of concern today
Part of the wildfire has started heading northward into Rio Arriba county. More buildings are threatened now. About 100 have been destroyed. Above Los Alamos, the fire is active and visible, but containment lines there are holding. Forest animals displaced by the fire have started to run into town. At least two does and three bears were spotted recently.
Residents are returning, and the Los Alamos National Laboratory is set to re-open tomorrow. Reuters reports that at one point last week, the fire approached a corner of the Los Alamos lab property, with a collection of about 20,000 metal drums containing plutonium-contaminated waste in its path. Local citizens and nuclear watchdog groups raised concerns that the fire might loose residual ground contamination into the air, where the winds could disperse it farther. The prospect looks very unlikely now, thanks to the hard work of many very tired people.
In parts of the Valles Caldera Preserve, the fire is still a major concern. It continues to back down Peralta Ridge and has also backed down the south and west sides of Bearhead Mountain. Large parts of the Valle Toledo, one of seven valleys in the park, have not burned.
At Santa Clara and Chicoma Mountain, hit hard in the past several days, crews are working on containments with the objective of limiting continued spread to the north and northwest. Nearly 15,000 acres on the Santa Clara reservation have burned, but a fireline drawn to protect the pueblo living area continued to hold.
Bandelier, Valles Caldera, and Kasha-Katuwe Tent Rocks parks all remain closed. The Federal Aviation Administration has restricted air space in the Los Alamos area to provide a safe environment for firefighting aircraft operations.
Health issues for the Rio Grande valley and Jemez range
The air remains nasty. "Smoke can cause health concerns for anyone," said health official Dr. Catherine Torres, "but especially for people with underlying health conditions such as asthma, emphysema, and cardiovascular disease. It is perfectly normal right now to feel anxiety." People who have questions about physical or mental health-related issues have two hotline numbers to call.
An 86-year old Santa Fe man who attended the ranch school in Los Alamos before the Manhattan Project took over its property commented, "Well, I've been smoking for 70 years, so I really can't tell the difference."
Irony: NM is a green state
Remarkably, the New Mexico Business Weekly reported today that New Mexico made the "top ten" of energy-sustainable, environmentally friendly states, released in Site Selection magazine's July 2011 issue. The magazine ranking criteria included renewable energy manufacturing, supply chain facilities, biofuels, biomass, recycling plants, and electric vehicle supply chains.
The state's renewable fuel numbers have been set back by the fire, but at least the orange sky is slowly returning to blue in New Mexico.
NEXT: Media coverage of the Las Conchas events
Sandy Dechert, Renewable Energy Examiner, has spent two years in north central New Mexico and has family and friends there. Her late mother, Phoebe Booth Dechert, was instrumental in lobbying for creation of the Valles Caldera National Preserve.
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