UPDATE - Los Alamos nuclear lab closes as
forest fire looms
Date: 09-May-00
Country: USA
Author: Zelie Pollon
Public schools in the city of Los Alamos were closed and
about 500 homes were evacuated as a precaution. There were
no reports of injuries or damage to buildings but
authorities said it might take several more days to control
the blaze.
Los Alamos National Laboratory Director John Browne said
that by Monday afternoon the fire was just 200 yards from
the edge of the laboratory's huge grounds but still several
miles from the laboratory's plutonium facility.
"The fire is close enough that it concerns me," he told a
news conference.
Brown said he had decided to close the laboratory down on
Sunday evening out of concern for the safety of the 10,000
to 12,000 people who work their each day.
Except for emergency personnel, staff were advised to stay
at home through local media reports.
Officials said some 500 people drawn from local, state and
federal agencies were battling the blaze with the aid of
fire trucks, bulldozers and aircraft.
Drought and high winds have helped the fire spread but
additional manpower and hardware is due to arrive on
Tuesday.
Efforts were concentrated on preventing the fire from
crossing Highway 501 which runs along the western edge of
the laboratory's grounds.
"Hopefully in three or four days we can call it contained,
but that's a long way from calling it controlled," said U.S.
Forest Service official Joe Paxton.
Roy Weaver, superintendent of nearby Bandelier National
Monument, a national park with ancient Pueblo Indian cliff
houses, said the fire had started on Thursday as a
controlled burn to clear the area of material that could
cause a wildfire.
"The fire was a little more energetic than we anticipated
and the winds were unpredictable," he told reporters.
Browne said the laboratory's plutonium facility was located
on the northeast side of the complex, far away from the
western perimeter that was threatened by the fire, adding
that there was very little material to fuel a fire in its
vicinity.
There was also explosive materials on the laboratory's
grounds, but these were stored safely in underground bunkers
made of concrete and steel, he said.
Authorities said they had evacuated 500 homes in western Los
Alamos and that they might evacuate a similar number in the
northern part of town, depending on the wind direction.
Those who had already been forced to leave their homes were
offered temporary accommodation at a Red Cross shelter and a
church in the neighbouring community of White Rock.
Gov. Gary Johnson declared a state of emergency, making the
area eligible for extra resources to fight the fire. The
laboratory, located among forests in the Jemez mountains of
northern New Mexico, was set up in 1943 as part of the
Manhattan project to create the first atomic bomb.
More recently it has been at the centre of U.S. government
allegations of espionage against Wen Ho Lee, a
Taiwanese-born nuclear scientist who worked at the facility.