guest
May 11th, 2000, 07:37 AM
What a surprise... the Nazi Pyroidiot Service has now moved beyond just chasing BASE jumpers to their deaths and graduated to burning down whole towns. Check out this story from Los Alamos.... and then you'll have an idea why the NPS seems so befuddled about our charges of discrimination and misconduct. In NPS language, that just means BUSINESS AS USUAL.
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MSNBC STAFF AND WIRE REPORTS LOS ALAMOS, N.M., May 11 — A wall of fire swept through the abandoned streets of Los Alamos Thursday, burning at least 100 homes while frustrated firefighters ran short of water and were forced to retreat. All 18,000 residents had to evacuate the town, best known as the site of America’s most storied nuclear lab.
MORE WINDS were forecast for Thursday afternoon, and the only good news was that no deaths or serious injuries had been reported.
The fire had forced firefighters to pull back from whole neighborhoods by Wednesday night. An aerial view of the city showed pockets of neighborhoods in flames.
"We are in a retreat situation," said county spokesman Bill Lehman, adding the blaze had spread into two west-side subdivisions.
Crews were running out of water and becoming exhausted. "We need some new fresh bodies," a local fire fighting spokesman told MSNBC as other areas began to send in fresh firefighters.
FIRE WAS SET BY PARK SERVICE
The National Park Service deliberately set the fire last week to clear brush at the nearby Bandelier National Monument. Such fires are known as "prescribed burns." But strong winds gave the fire a life of its own, and it quadrupled in size Wednesday to 18,000 acres. Advertisement<Picture> <Picture>
Jim Paxon of New Mexico’s Forestry Division said more than 100 homes had burned. "When you have to evacuate an entire town, it’s got to be one of the worst fires in New Mexico (history)," Lehman said.
NBC News correspondent George Lewis reported that Army troops were on the grounds of the Los Alamos Nuclear Laboratory, which has been closed since Monday.
Lab officials said explosives and radioactive material stored there were protected in fireproof facilities. "Those buildings are rated to survive severe fires, 747 crashes, those kinds of things," lab spokesman Jim Danneskiold said. "They’re bunkers, basically."
OTHER TOWNS EVACUATED
The fire also forced authorities to ask residents in parts of Espanola, about 10 miles from Los Alamos, to leave their homes.
Everyone in nearby White Rock was evacuated as well. Earlier, the town’s normal population of 7,000 had swelled with the influx of evacuees from Los Alamos.
"We weren’t ready down here. We were the refugee center for our friends," Kirk Christensen said as he and his wife loaded their camper and headed into a sea of cars crawling down the highway. They were headed for a friend’s house in Santa Fe, to camp in the yard.
House after house filled with fire, glowed like jack-o-lanterns then exploded in pulsing orange flames. Just after sundown, flames marched to a tree-covered ridge overlooking downtown, lighting the night sky. Billows of flame leapt from treetops and smoke rose 20,000 feet above the ground.
Homes in western and northern parts of the city began burning late Wednesday afternoon. The extent of the damage was not immediately known and officials could not give an estimate of how many homes had burned. Overall, 4,500 acres had burned by Wednesday evening.
Earlier in the day, with wind gusts up to 50 mph driving the flames through ponderosa pine, police, sheriff’s and fire department officials went door-to-door and urged people to pack up and get out as quickly as possible.
FIREFIGHTERS PULL BACK
Even the fire command post was forced to re-establish itself farther away from the fire. Wednesday night, a school bus stood by at the new command post, a police headquarters, in case they or anyone else needed to evacuate again.
"The fire was so intense they were told to pull back," Lehman said.<Picture>.
He said firefighters were frustrated, but "there was just nothing we could do, because of the wind."
Winds died down Wednesday night, but they were expected to pick up again Thursday with gusts of at least 50 mph.
President Bill Clinton declared the city a disaster area, giving the Federal Emergency Management Agency discretion to use whatever resources are necessary to handle the emergency.
RESIDENTS TALK OF FIRE
Some of those who had to evacuate described what they left behind to reporters.
"This is the first time I felt fear," said Jaret McDonald, 28, who had been evacuated three times before for fires. "When you’re against Mother Nature, you can’t contain it. You’ll lose every time."
The Los Alamos Inn was among the homes and businesses forced to evacuate Wednesday afternoon. Spokeswoman Brenda Lucero noted that some of the 40 guests had been staying in the hotel because they had evacuated their homes.
"It’s black smoke — smoke everywhere," she said.
Many customers at Katherine’s Restaurant in Los Alamos’ White Rock area were alerted to the evacuation by calls on their cell phones at lunch. "They’re just jumping out of their seats and leaving," said waitress Chris Vaughn.
Luxury hotels in Santa Fe offered discounts to evacuees: $25 a night for rooms that normally go for as high as $239. There was a great outpouring of support. Many people offered their homes as shelter and donated food, clothing and blankets.
Los Alamos, 70 miles north of Albuquerque, is essentially a company town for the federal laboratory. It sprang up in the 1940s as the base of operations for the Manhattan Project, which built the atomic bomb. There are still military barracks and military-style housing in Los Alamos, along with relatively upscale, newer developments. A U.S. satellite image shows the huge plume of smoke coming from the Los Alamos fire. Albuquerque is also identified at lower left.
<Picture: Image: Fire seen from satellite>
BLAME FALLS ON PARK OFFICIALS
At a news conference Monday, Bandelier park Superintendent Roy Weaver took responsibility for the fire and said conditions had seemed right for a controlled burn.
However, a copy of the special weather forecast faxed to Bandelier shortly before the fire was started, and obtained by The Associated Press, was practically a blueprint for a spreading fire.
The forecast told park officials that there was a maximum potential for fire growth, that winds were about to increase, that temperatures were about to rise and that the potential for the usual increase in nighttime humidity was diminished.
Weaver had to evacuate Wednesday and could not be reached for comment by the AP. However, CNN reported that Weaver said he never saw the forecast.
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MSNBC STAFF AND WIRE REPORTS LOS ALAMOS, N.M., May 11 — A wall of fire swept through the abandoned streets of Los Alamos Thursday, burning at least 100 homes while frustrated firefighters ran short of water and were forced to retreat. All 18,000 residents had to evacuate the town, best known as the site of America’s most storied nuclear lab.
MORE WINDS were forecast for Thursday afternoon, and the only good news was that no deaths or serious injuries had been reported.
The fire had forced firefighters to pull back from whole neighborhoods by Wednesday night. An aerial view of the city showed pockets of neighborhoods in flames.
"We are in a retreat situation," said county spokesman Bill Lehman, adding the blaze had spread into two west-side subdivisions.
Crews were running out of water and becoming exhausted. "We need some new fresh bodies," a local fire fighting spokesman told MSNBC as other areas began to send in fresh firefighters.
FIRE WAS SET BY PARK SERVICE
The National Park Service deliberately set the fire last week to clear brush at the nearby Bandelier National Monument. Such fires are known as "prescribed burns." But strong winds gave the fire a life of its own, and it quadrupled in size Wednesday to 18,000 acres. Advertisement<Picture> <Picture>
Jim Paxon of New Mexico’s Forestry Division said more than 100 homes had burned. "When you have to evacuate an entire town, it’s got to be one of the worst fires in New Mexico (history)," Lehman said.
NBC News correspondent George Lewis reported that Army troops were on the grounds of the Los Alamos Nuclear Laboratory, which has been closed since Monday.
Lab officials said explosives and radioactive material stored there were protected in fireproof facilities. "Those buildings are rated to survive severe fires, 747 crashes, those kinds of things," lab spokesman Jim Danneskiold said. "They’re bunkers, basically."
OTHER TOWNS EVACUATED
The fire also forced authorities to ask residents in parts of Espanola, about 10 miles from Los Alamos, to leave their homes.
Everyone in nearby White Rock was evacuated as well. Earlier, the town’s normal population of 7,000 had swelled with the influx of evacuees from Los Alamos.
"We weren’t ready down here. We were the refugee center for our friends," Kirk Christensen said as he and his wife loaded their camper and headed into a sea of cars crawling down the highway. They were headed for a friend’s house in Santa Fe, to camp in the yard.
House after house filled with fire, glowed like jack-o-lanterns then exploded in pulsing orange flames. Just after sundown, flames marched to a tree-covered ridge overlooking downtown, lighting the night sky. Billows of flame leapt from treetops and smoke rose 20,000 feet above the ground.
Homes in western and northern parts of the city began burning late Wednesday afternoon. The extent of the damage was not immediately known and officials could not give an estimate of how many homes had burned. Overall, 4,500 acres had burned by Wednesday evening.
Earlier in the day, with wind gusts up to 50 mph driving the flames through ponderosa pine, police, sheriff’s and fire department officials went door-to-door and urged people to pack up and get out as quickly as possible.
FIREFIGHTERS PULL BACK
Even the fire command post was forced to re-establish itself farther away from the fire. Wednesday night, a school bus stood by at the new command post, a police headquarters, in case they or anyone else needed to evacuate again.
"The fire was so intense they were told to pull back," Lehman said.<Picture>.
He said firefighters were frustrated, but "there was just nothing we could do, because of the wind."
Winds died down Wednesday night, but they were expected to pick up again Thursday with gusts of at least 50 mph.
President Bill Clinton declared the city a disaster area, giving the Federal Emergency Management Agency discretion to use whatever resources are necessary to handle the emergency.
RESIDENTS TALK OF FIRE
Some of those who had to evacuate described what they left behind to reporters.
"This is the first time I felt fear," said Jaret McDonald, 28, who had been evacuated three times before for fires. "When you’re against Mother Nature, you can’t contain it. You’ll lose every time."
The Los Alamos Inn was among the homes and businesses forced to evacuate Wednesday afternoon. Spokeswoman Brenda Lucero noted that some of the 40 guests had been staying in the hotel because they had evacuated their homes.
"It’s black smoke — smoke everywhere," she said.
Many customers at Katherine’s Restaurant in Los Alamos’ White Rock area were alerted to the evacuation by calls on their cell phones at lunch. "They’re just jumping out of their seats and leaving," said waitress Chris Vaughn.
Luxury hotels in Santa Fe offered discounts to evacuees: $25 a night for rooms that normally go for as high as $239. There was a great outpouring of support. Many people offered their homes as shelter and donated food, clothing and blankets.
Los Alamos, 70 miles north of Albuquerque, is essentially a company town for the federal laboratory. It sprang up in the 1940s as the base of operations for the Manhattan Project, which built the atomic bomb. There are still military barracks and military-style housing in Los Alamos, along with relatively upscale, newer developments. A U.S. satellite image shows the huge plume of smoke coming from the Los Alamos fire. Albuquerque is also identified at lower left.
<Picture: Image: Fire seen from satellite>
BLAME FALLS ON PARK OFFICIALS
At a news conference Monday, Bandelier park Superintendent Roy Weaver took responsibility for the fire and said conditions had seemed right for a controlled burn.
However, a copy of the special weather forecast faxed to Bandelier shortly before the fire was started, and obtained by The Associated Press, was practically a blueprint for a spreading fire.
The forecast told park officials that there was a maximum potential for fire growth, that winds were about to increase, that temperatures were about to rise and that the potential for the usual increase in nighttime humidity was diminished.
Weaver had to evacuate Wednesday and could not be reached for comment by the AP. However, CNN reported that Weaver said he never saw the forecast.