Las Conchas fire

[jniehof]

If anybody was waiting to see Bandelier National Monument, you may have waited too long. The fire has swept over the main visitor center / Frijoles Canyon area and we don't know if any buildings have survived; sadly they had just renovated everything (CCC-era.) Friends of Bandelier would probably appreciate your support; I suspect once all is over we'll be pretty busy rehabilitating.

The blackline on highway 4 seems to be holding and I'll probably have a house to go back to. Evacuation is still voluntary but we left town last night to avoid the rush.

 

[cooperhill]

Horrible news jniehof.

Here is a good summary for those out of the loop:

http://wildfiretoday.com/2011/06/27/new-fire-near-los-alamos-burns-43000-acres-in-less-than-24-hours/

 

[RoySwkr]

My sister lives in Los Alamos and evacuated because the smoke was too thick for comfort, the fire would pretty much have to burn over the labs to reach her place and she doesn't think they will let that happen.

One of her neighbors stayed to defend during the previous fire, and sustained enough lung damage that he was among the first to leave this time.

 

[jniehof]

The fire has reached Pajarito mountain, so it can very well burn town without going through the Lab--roughly the route that Cerro Grande took in 2000. There are some unburned pockets which would provide a fast path down to the Western Area and all sorts of low-likelihood cases after that. Hope your sister is holding up well.

Bandelier updated their facebook page after the smoke cleared and they could see the damage. The blacklines held and the visitor center is safe, at least for now. Probably will need some trail work in Upper Frijoles but it's worth it to save the center of the Monument.