UPDATED: Las Conchas Fire Set To Become Biggest in N.M. History

[El Supremo]

Source: AP

LOS ALAMOS (AP) — The Las Conchas Fire, threatening the nation’s premier nuclear weapons laboratory and a community in northern New Mexico, is poised to become the largest fire in state history.

The fire near Los Alamos has charred nearly 145 square miles, or 92,735 acres.

The blaze has been growing by tens of thousands of acres a day. It’s close to surpassing New Mexico’s largest fire, the Dry Lakes fire. That blaze charred more than 94,000 acres in the Gila National Forest in 2003.



Read more: http://www.abqjournal.com/main/2011/06/30/abqnewsseeker/updated-las-conchas-fire-nearly-90000-acres.html

[SpiralHawk]

1. While floods surround and cripple Nebraska's nuke plants

Fire and flood -- and Nukes (R).

Unholy up the wazoo.

[rabs]

2. Meantime, the Donaldson Fire

is now at 43,000 acres. Lighting-caused blaze began Tuesday on ranch owned by former anchor of ABC News Sam Donaldson. It is mostly a grass fire on very remote private and BLM land, plus a slice of the Mescalero Apache Reservation.

About 75 ranch homes threatened. One burned. No injuries, some people have been evacuated.

It is about 28 miles east of where we live. Smoke covered our village yesterday.

[SpiralHawk]

3. Wow - the Wallow fire is at NM's western border, and Santa Fe mountains are ablaze

-- heavy duty. Nebraska and NM need to work out a floodwater-drought exchange...

[Warpy]

4. Hi. neighbor

:hi:

There are so damned many fires here that I hadn't even heard about that one.

The Santa Fe fire has been visible by satellite for a few days. The Conchas fire has been obscured by clouds. The fire up near Taos is still burning. The Wallow fire on the border is only partially contained.

Even though the swamper won't work well, I'm looking forward to monsoons so much this year. I hope they don't fizzle like they did last year.

[TygrBright]

5. I just hope we actually get some. Last year was such a bust...

...and we need them so badly.

I've been trying to be very stingy with the irrigation water, switching to a 1x per week schedule and doing supplemental hand-watering only the veggie beds and a few first-year plantings, but it's tough. I've lost plants.

Monsoons would be a huge relief...

wistfully,
Bright

[rabs]

6. Smokey Bear is itching to get out of his grave

to fight these fires in Lincoln County. Smokey is buried at the Smokey Bear Museum in Capitan, 16 miles from where we live.

Last month a 10,000-acre fire nearly took out Ruidoso Downs Race Track. It came to within a few hundred yards of the main structure and the barns. About 10 days ago another fire razed nine homes about six miles down the road.

Last week I finished cutting down about 40 pine trees (ranging from saplings to six-inch trunks) around the house to comply with village fire codes. Was lucky I didn't cut off a leg or arm :rofl:

Village has banned all outdoor cigarette smoking and some Texan tourists have been cited (they didn't know). Smoking is only permitted inside homes and vehicles.

A local bar, the Win, Place and Show, has parked an old yellow school bus at the curb for smokers. Which does not compute for me -- "Hey, you want to light up. You have to do it in the school bus." :-)

There are also a couple of other fires in neighboring Otero County, up in the rugged mountains east of Alamogordo. (near the villages of Mayhill and Weed). People evacuated yesterday.

Lots of fluffy white clouds today, but not the rain type. Moonson had better hurry up before it's too late down here. And up north where you are.

:hi: backatcha ...

[NM Independent]

8. On Tues. afternoon we were driving 380 from San Antonio to Roswell...

When we were approaching Carrizozo we could see the smoke coming up between the Capitans and Sacramentos. Capitan was barely visible due to all the smoke. Driving from Carrizozo through Capitan, Lincoln, Hondo, and Tinnie was surreal. The landscape was painted orange from the sun through the smoke, and there were thicker clouds of smoke collecting in the valleys.

It was truly an odd experience. I grew up camping in, and now take my family to many different parts of the Lincoln National Forest which is currently completely closed to the public (thank goodness). It is truly one of the jewels of NM. There are fires now around Mayhill, Weed, and Sacramento. They have been evacuated to Cloudcroft which could be threatened if that fire isn't contained. A part of me will die when places like these burn. They are so special to me, and so valuable to NM.

I would give anything for some RAIN!!

[NM Independent]

7. Los Alamos National Labs are not threatened, but many parts of NM are...

I've never been so afraid of fire in my life. We live next to a poorly maintained grass field, and last year we caught kids several times playing with fireworks in the field. Many people I've talked to locally really wish that they would outlaw fireworks this year.