LANL’s Fire Mitigation Efforts Going “Extremely Well” - From the lab itself

Los Alamos, New Mexico, July 1, 2011, 4:00pm—There are no fires—including back burns—burning on Los Alamos National Laboratory Director property, and fire mitigation efforts are progressing “extremely well,” Los Alamos Fire Department staff reported. In a briefing this afternoon at the Emergency Operations Center at Los Alamos, Justin Grider of LAFD expressed his satisfaction with ongoing fire mitigation efforts, which are being conducted to ensure that the Lab remains safe and secure. “The situation for the Lab and Los Alamos County looks really good,” he said, adding that he had flown over parts of the Las Conchas Fire earlier today. In particular, Grider reported that • fire crews are continuing to thin and remove fuel loads in Rendija and Guaje canyons. In addition, crews are widening the trail system there to create fire breaks • burnoff operations are continuing in Los Alamos Canyon above the reservoir. Those operations, which are going “really well,” should be completed today • crews are also conducting preventive thinning operations in finger canyons radiating out from Los Alamos Canyon, such as ones near Los Alamos Medical Center and nearby Lab property • in the Quemazon and Ponderosa Estates areas, crews are making a protective dozer line, as well as fire lines—areas cleared of vegetation—made with hand tools. Grider added that though there is still some fire activity on Pajarito Mountain, the Ski Lodge is intact. Evacuated LANL employees and others interested in viewing up-to-date images of their homes, the Laboratory, and surrounding areas are encouraged to go to www.lasconchas.lanl.gov and follow the directions. The data they will see were obtained through a collaboration between LANL and Transparent Sky LLC. The equipment used for this collection is based on the Angel Fire system developed by LANL in conjunction with the Air Force Research Laboratory for the U.S. Department of Defense.

[link to www.lanl.gov]