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Cerro Grande Fire
The Cerro Grande Fire was a prescribed-burn forest fire in Los Alamos, New Mexico, United States of America, that occurred in May of 2000. The fire started as a controlled burn on May 4, 2000, and became uncontrolled owing to high winds and drought conditions. Over 400 families in the town of Los Alamos, New Mexico, lost their homes in the resulting 58,000 acre fire. Structures at Los Alamos National Laboratory were also destroyed or damaged, although without loss or destruction of any of the special nuclear material housed there. No loss of human life occurred. The US General Accounting Office estimated total damages at $1 billion.
Although wildfire is a natural part of the ecosystem of western forests, fire suppression began to be widespread in the late 19th century just as land-use patterns (e.g. intensive grazing) limited the cover that had formerly sustained and been sustained by low-intensity ground fires. High-density stands of small trees and thick underbrush permitted a natural periodic ground fire to leap into a high-intensity crown fire. There followed a century of fire suppression, during which large fires occurred on the Pajarito Plateau about every 20 years: an 1896 fire, several fires in the 1920s, a fire in 1946, the 1954 Water Canyon Fire, the 1977 La Mesa Fire, and the 1996 Dome Fire.
The 1977 La Mesa Fire served as the precedent for how destructive forest fires in the area could be and how compounding issues such as fuel buildup and lack of area survey were ignored leading up to the Cerro Grande Fire. It burned 15,000 acres (60 km2) in Bandelier National Monument, but accelerated a change in attitudes within the National Park Service toward managing fire. On Bandelier National Monument, firebreaks were improved, as were fuel breaks, and in some areas, trees were thinned. The 1996 Dome Fire burned 16,500 acres (67 km2) in nine days and threatened the southern section of Los Alamos National Laboratory.
The Interagency Wildfire Management Team was formed by representatives of Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos County, Bandelier National Monument, Santa Fe National Forest, State of New Mexico, and Pueblo agencies.
The Pajarito Plateau saw high levels of precipitation throughout the early 1990s followed by a drought in the latter half of the decade. By 2000, conditions were ideal for a major forest fire on the plateau. Forest deadfall had a moisture content lower than that of well-cured firewood. The heavy rains and snows of the mid-1990s had produced luxuriant undergrowth, while the onset of drought toward the end of the decade had increased its flammability.
The fire originated as a controlled burn that was part of the 10-year Bandelier National Monument plan for reducing fire hazard within the monument. The starting point was high on Cerro Grande, a 10,200-foot (3110-m) summit on the rim of the Valles Caldera not far north of New Mexico State Road 4, the main highway through Los Alamos County. Like many mountains in the Jemez, Cerro Grande was mainly covered with coniferous forest, composed largely of Ponderosa pine, Douglas fir, white fir, and aspen trees, with a characteristic rincon (meadow) on its southern slopes near the summit. This grassy area also represented the headwaters of Frijoles Creek (Rito de los Frijoles), which flows southeast into Frijoles Canyon and on to the Rio Grande, passing en route the main tourist areas at Bandelier. The plan for the burn (see the NPS summary below) called for initial ignition ("phase 1") to be in the rincon, followed by flanking fires ("phase 2") along the slightly higher country east and west of Frijoles Creek. Ignition of the phase-1 burn was scheduled for May 4, 2000.
In the aftermath of the disaster, Bandelier officials came under intense criticism for this plan, and particularly, for proceeding with it in the face of what appeared to be powerful contradictions. Ms Gary Jones, associate director of energy, resources, and science issues at the general accounting office, points out a lack of consideration toward fuel buildup in the park, nearby Santa Fe National Forest, and the thousands of people living in Los Alamos and surrounding communities.[2] The main point of contention was wind. In the springtime, the Jemez Mountains are prone to high winds and low humidity, which often create high to extreme fire danger. Critics insisted that the likelihood of such winds while the controlled burn was in progress was so great, and the risk of resulting loss of control so severe, that the burn should never have been attempted at that time of year. At the same time, Bandelier officials faced a most disagreeable dilemma.
Proceeding with the burn risked disaster if control was lost, as indeed happened. However, not doing the burn might also have been disastrous because the entire southern slope of Cerro Grande was tinder-dry and ready to ignite catastrophically in the event of a lightning strike (hardly unusual in the Jemez in the spring) or human carelessness with fire. The same winds that militated against starting the controlled burn might then have driven the uncontrolled fire toward Los Alamos, with terrible consequences. In any case, the controlled burn was indeed initiated on May 4, and things rapidly got out of hand.
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Cerro Grande Fire
The Cerro Grande Fire was a prescribed-burn forest fire in Los Alamos, New Mexico, United States of America, that occurred in May of 2000. The fire started as a controlled burn on May 4, 2000, and became uncontrolled owing to high winds and drought conditions. Over 400 families in the town of Los Alamos, New Mexico, lost their homes in the resulting 58,000 acre fire. Structures at Los Alamos National Laboratory were also destroyed or damaged, although without loss or destruction of any of the special nuclear material housed there. No loss of human life occurred. The US General Accounting Office estimated total damages at $1 billion.
Although wildfire is a natural part of the ecosystem of western forests, fire suppression began to be widespread in the late 19th century just as land-use patterns (e.g. intensive grazing) limited the cover that had formerly sustained and been sustained by low-intensity ground fires. High-density stands of small trees and thick underbrush permitted a natural periodic ground fire to leap into a high-intensity crown fire. There followed a century of fire suppression, during which large fires occurred on the Pajarito Plateau about every 20 years: an 1896 fire, several fires in the 1920s, a fire in 1946, the 1954 Water Canyon Fire, the 1977 La Mesa Fire, and the 1996 Dome Fire.
The 1977 La Mesa Fire served as the precedent for how destructive forest fires in the area could be and how compounding issues such as fuel buildup and lack of area survey were ignored leading up to the Cerro Grande Fire. It burned 15,000 acres (60 km2) in Bandelier National Monument, but accelerated a change in attitudes within the National Park Service toward managing fire. On Bandelier National Monument, firebreaks were improved, as were fuel breaks, and in some areas, trees were thinned. The 1996 Dome Fire burned 16,500 acres (67 km2) in nine days and threatened the southern section of Los Alamos National Laboratory.
The Interagency Wildfire Management Team was formed by representatives of Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos County, Bandelier National Monument, Santa Fe National Forest, State of New Mexico, and Pueblo agencies.
The Pajarito Plateau saw high levels of precipitation throughout the early 1990s followed by a drought in the latter half of the decade. By 2000, conditions were ideal for a major forest fire on the plateau. Forest deadfall had a moisture content lower than that of well-cured firewood. The heavy rains and snows of the mid-1990s had produced luxuriant undergrowth, while the onset of drought toward the end of the decade had increased its flammability.
The fire originated as a controlled burn that was part of the 10-year Bandelier National Monument plan for reducing fire hazard within the monument. The starting point was high on Cerro Grande, a 10,200-foot (3110-m) summit on the rim of the Valles Caldera not far north of New Mexico State Road 4, the main highway through Los Alamos County. Like many mountains in the Jemez, Cerro Grande was mainly covered with coniferous forest, composed largely of Ponderosa pine, Douglas fir, white fir, and aspen trees, with a characteristic rincon (meadow) on its southern slopes near the summit. This grassy area also represented the headwaters of Frijoles Creek (Rito de los Frijoles), which flows southeast into Frijoles Canyon and on to the Rio Grande, passing en route the main tourist areas at Bandelier. The plan for the burn (see the NPS summary below) called for initial ignition ("phase 1") to be in the rincon, followed by flanking fires ("phase 2") along the slightly higher country east and west of Frijoles Creek. Ignition of the phase-1 burn was scheduled for May 4, 2000.
In the aftermath of the disaster, Bandelier officials came under intense criticism for this plan, and particularly, for proceeding with it in the face of what appeared to be powerful contradictions. Ms Gary Jones, associate director of energy, resources, and science issues at the general accounting office, points out a lack of consideration toward fuel buildup in the park, nearby Santa Fe National Forest, and the thousands of people living in Los Alamos and surrounding communities.[2] The main point of contention was wind. In the springtime, the Jemez Mountains are prone to high winds and low humidity, which often create high to extreme fire danger. Critics insisted that the likelihood of such winds while the controlled burn was in progress was so great, and the risk of resulting loss of control so severe, that the burn should never have been attempted at that time of year. At the same time, Bandelier officials faced a most disagreeable dilemma.
Proceeding with the burn risked disaster if control was lost, as indeed happened. However, not doing the burn might also have been disastrous because the entire southern slope of Cerro Grande was tinder-dry and ready to ignite catastrophically in the event of a lightning strike (hardly unusual in the Jemez in the spring) or human carelessness with fire. The same winds that militated against starting the controlled burn might then have driven the uncontrolled fire toward Los Alamos, with terrible consequences. In any case, the controlled burn was indeed initiated on May 4, and things rapidly got out of hand.
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