Los Alamos Cerro Grande Fire

1
Los Alamos Cerro Grande Fire
Barry Kennedy with the Blue Ridge Hot Shot team
watches to make sure the fire does not cross the
creek in Santa Clara Canyon.
2
Los Alamos Cerro Grande Fire
Homes in west Los Alamos are engulfed in flames
as a controlled burn set by the National Park
Service last week to clear brush at nearby
Bandelier National Monument spread into the town
of Los Alamos Wednesday, May 10, 2000. The fire
forced the evacuation of all 18,000 residents in
the area best known as the site of America's most
storied nuclear laboratory. (AP Photo/Sarah
Martone)
- May 11
1005 AM ET
3
Los Alamos Cerro Grande Fire
Homes in west Los Alamos are engulfed in flames
as a controlled burn set by the National Park
Service last week to clear brush at nearby
Bandelier National Monument spread into the town
of Los Alamos Wednesday, May 10, 2000. The fire
forced the evacuation of all 18,000 residents in
the area best known as the site of America's most
storied nuclear laboratory. (AP Photo/Sarah
Martone)
- May 11
1005 AM ET
4
Los Alamos Cerro Grande Fire
White Rock, N.M., residents make the slow journey
out of town after officials called for evacuation
in the middle of the night on Thursday May 11,
2000, as flames and smoke from a wild fire spread
into Los Alamos and closer to neighboring
communities. (AP Photo/Sarah Martone)

- May 11 1035 AM ET
5
Los Alamos Cerro Grande Fire
Los Alamos National Laboratories, center left, in
Los Alamos, N.M., is surrounded by smoke from the
an advancing fire early Thursday morning, May
11, 2000. The town of Los Alamos is to the right
of the lab. (AP Photo/Jake Schoellkopf)

- May 11 1045 AM ET
6
Los Alamos Cerro Grande Fire
Firefighters try to save a house from the same
demise as its neighbor in west Los Alamos, N.M.,
as the Cerro Grande fire spread into the town
Wednesday, May 10, 2000. A blaze that had been
set to clear brush but raged out of control over
the weekend spread into Los Alamos and burned
dozens of homes Wednesday. The fire forced the
evacuation of all 18,000 residents. (AP
Photo/Sarah Martone)

- May 11 455 AM ET
7
Los Alamos Cerro Grande Fire
Smoke rises above a portion of the Los Alamos
National Laboratory in Los Alamos, N.M. Thursday
afternoon, May 11, 2000. Driven by swirling
winds of up to 60 mph, fire rolled from block to
block in abandoned Los Alamos, burning scores of
homes down to their foundation in the town where
the atomic bomb was built. (AP Photo/Elaine
Thompson)
- May 11
805 PM ET
8
Los Alamos Cerro Grande Fire
Cliff Hawley, who grew up in Los Alamos, N.M.,
came back Thursday, May 11, 2000, to help rescue
animals trapped by fires in the area. Hawley, who
now lives in Santa Fe, remembers the big fire
that destroyed much of the town in the '50s. (AP
Photo/J. Pat Carter)

- May 11 555 PM ET
9
Los Alamos Cerro Grande Fire
Smoke continues to fill the sky as houses sit
empty in Los Alamos, N.M., Thursday, May 11,
2000. Driven by dry gusty winds of more than 50
mph, fire rolled from block to block in abandoned
Los Alamos on Thursday, burning up to 400 homes
(AP Photo/J. Pat Carter)

- May 11 600 PM ET
10
Los Alamos Cerro Grande Fire
This is a Landsat 7 satellite true color image of
the area around Los Alamos, New Mexico taken
Tuesday May 9, 2000. This image was taken 427
miles from space through its sensor called the
Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus (ETM). Evident
within the imagery is a view of the ongoing Cerro
Grande fire near the town of Los Alamos and the
Los Alamos National Laboratory. (AP Photo/NASA)

- May 11 745 PM ET
11
Los Alamos Cerro Grande Fire
Smoke rises above a portion of the Los Alamos
National Laboratory in Los Alamos, N.M. Thursday
afternoon, May 11, 2000. Driven by swirling
winds of up to 60 mph, fire rolled from block to
block in abandoned Los Alamos, burning scores of
homes down to their foundation in the town where
the atomic bomb was built. (AP Photo/Elaine
Thompson)
- May 11
805 PM ET
12
Los Alamos Cerro Grande Fire
As smoke darkens the sky, a civilian security
patrol guards a road into the Los Alamos National
Laboratory in Los Alamos, N.M. Thursday
afternoon, May 11, 2000. Driven by swirling winds
of up to 60 mph, fire rolled from block to block
in abandoned Los Alamos, burning scores of homes
down to their foundation in the town where the
atomic bomb was built.. (AP Photo/Elaine
Thompson)
- May 11
840 PM ET
13
Los Alamos Cerro Grande Fire
A sky crane helicopter pulls away from a cloud of
smoke billowing hundreds of feet into the air
from a wildfire in Los Alamos, N.M. Thursday
afternoon, May 11, 2000. Driven by swirling winds
of up to 60 mph, fire rolled from block to block
in abandoned Los Alamos, burning scores of homes
down to their foundation in the town where the
atomic bomb was built.. (AP Photo/Elaine
Thompson)
- May 11
840 PM ET
14
Los Alamos Cerro Grande Fire
The burned-out remains of a house smolders as
smoke from the continuing wildfire fills the
valley behind it, Thursday afternoon, May 11,
2000 in Los Alamos, N.M. Driven by swirling winds
of up to 60 mph, fire rolled from block to block
in abandoned Los Alamos, burning scores of homes
down to their foundation in the town where the
atomic bomb was built. (AP Photo/Elaine
Thompson)
- May 11
900 PM ET
15
Los Alamos Cerro Grande Fire
As smoke darkens the sky, civilian security
officers direct passersby away from a road into
the Los Alamos National Laboratory in Los
Alamos, N.M. Thursday afternoon, May 11, 2000.
Driven by swirling winds of up to 60 mph, fire
rolled from block to block in abandoned Los
Alamos, burning scores of homes down to their
foundation in the town where the atomic bomb was
built.. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson)

- May 11 900 PM ET
16
Los Alamos Cerro Grande Fire
The fire danger level is displayed on a sign in
front of a downtown Los Alamos, N.M., fire
station as wildfire rages in the background
Thursday, May 11, 2000. The wildfire first
reached Los Alamos on Wednesday, forcing the
evacuation of the entire town, and exploded in
size from 3,700 acres to 18,000 on Thursday. (AP
Photo/Neil Jacobs)
-
May 11 1050 PM ET
17
Los Alamos Cerro Grande Fire
Manuel Joseph of the Chamita, N.M., Fire
Department hoses down some hot spots on one of
the homes destroyed by fire in Los Alamos, N.M.,
Thursday, May 11, 2000. Driven by swirling wind
of up 55 mph, fire rolled from block to block in
evacuated Los Alamos on Thursday, burning scores
of homes down to their foundations. (AP
Photo/Neil Jacobs).
-
May 11 1105 PM ET
18
Los Alamos Cerro Grande Fire
A huge forest fire threatens the Los Alamos
National Laboratory as high winds sweep the
northern New Mexico area Thursday. Hundreds of
homes and thousands of acres have been destroyed
by the week-long blaze. (Rick Wilking/Reuters)

- May 12 742 AM ET
19
Los Alamos Cerro Grande Fire
The wreckage of a home continues to smolder
Friday morning, May 12, 2000, as another stands
untouched behind after a wildfire tore through
the neighborhood a day earlier. Driven by
swirling winds of up to 60 mph, fire rolled from
block to block in abandoned Los Alamos on
Thursday, burning scores of homes down to their
foundation in the town where the atomic bomb was
built. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson)

- May 12 1010 AM ET
20
Los Alamos Cerro Grande Fire
Blocks of houses sit empty Friday, May 12, 2000,
destroyed by the fires that roared through Los
Alamos, New Mexico. Slackening wind and
increased humidity today gave firefighters a
boost as they struggled to hold the line against
a fire that destroyed 280 homes and forced 25,000
people from the town where the atomic bomb was
built. (AP Photo/J. Pat Carter)

- May 12 1130 AM ET
21
Los Alamos Cerro Grande Fire
One home stands in the middle of other houses
that were burned to the ground by the Cerro
Grande fire in the northwest part of Los Alamos,
N.M. Friday, May 12, 2000. The town was evacuated
Wednesday when the fire, set by the National Park
service at nearby Bandalier National Monument,
jumped fire lines and roared into the town. (AP
Photo/Jake Schoellkopf)
- May 12 1150 AM
ET
22
Los Alamos Cerro Grande Fire
A police car drives on Friday, May 12, 2000, past
a row of homes that were burned to the ground in
Los Alamos, N.M. The fire was set May 4 by the
National Park Service to clear brush near
Bandelier, but raged out of control in the dry,
windy conditions. (AP Photo/Jake Schoellkopf)

- May 12 1200 PM ET
23
Los Alamos Cerro Grande Fire
All that remains standing of this home Friday,
May 12, 2000, is the chimney in Los Alamos, N.M.
Slackening wind and increased humidity Friday
gave firefighters a boost as they struggled to
hold the line against a fire that destroyed 280
homes and forced 25,000 people from the town
where the atomic bomb was built. (AP Photo/Jake
Schoellkopf)
- May
12 1250 PM ET
24
Los Alamos Cerro Grande Fire
Some houses were spared but others were burned to
the ground by the Cerro Grande fire along this
street in north Los Alamos, N.M., as shown
Friday, May 12, 2000. Slackening wind and
increased humidity Friday gave firefighters a
boost as they struggled to hold the line against
a fire that destroyed 280 homes and forced 25,000
people from the town where the atomic bomb was
built. (AP Photo/Jake Schoellkopf)

- May 12 125 PM ET
25
Los Alamos Cerro Grande Fire
The Los Alamos fire slowly advances through the
Santa Fe National Forest on Friday creating a
smoke plume completely covering the town. Winds
were much lower than in the previous few days
giving hope that firefighters will finally be
able to bring the fire under control. (Rick
Wilking/Reuters)
-
May 12 235 PM ET
26
Los Alamos Cerro Grande Fire
A huge forest fire threatens the Los Alamos
National Laboratory as high winds swept the
northern New Mexico area Thursday.
Hundreds of homes and thousands of acres have
been destroyed by the week-long blaze. (Rick
Wilking/Reuters)

- May 12 242 PM ET
27
Los Alamos Cerro Grande Fire
New Mexico Governor Gary Johnson (L) and Federal
Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Director James
Lee Witt examine a home gutted by fire in Los
Alamos Thursday. Firefighters have battled the
blaze for a week but have been unable to stop its
spread into the town of Los Alamos, destroying at
least 100 homes. (Michael Caulfield/Reuters)

- May 12 242 PM ET
28
Los Alamos Cerro Grande Fire
A huge forest fire threatens the Los Alamos
National Laboratory as high winds sweep the
northern New Mexico area Thursday. Hundreds of
homes and thousands of acres have been destroyed
by the week-long blaze. (Rick Wilking/Reuters)

- May 12 242 PM
ET
29
Los Alamos Cerro Grande Fire
Forest Firefighters from the Raham Navaho Agency
perform mop-up work in a burned-out forest Friday
morning, May 12, 2000, near Los Alamos, N.M. The
team of 20 has been working 12-16 hour days on
the fire for six days. Driven by swirling winds
of up to 60 mph, fire rolled from block to block
in abandoned Los Alamos on Thursday, burning
scores of homes down to their foundation in the
town where the atomic bomb was built. (AP
Photo/Elaine Thompson)
- May 12 320
PM ET
30
Los Alamos Cerro Grande Fire
Forest firefighter squad boss Erickson Begay,
right, returns a water bottle to the pack of a
fellow firefighter during a brief break from
mop-up work in a burned-out forest Friday
morning, May 12, 2000, near Los Alamos, N.M.. The
team of 20 from the Ramah Navaho Agency perform
has been working 12-16 hour days on the fire for
six days. Driven by swirling winds of up to 60
mph, fire rolled from block to block in abandoned
Los Alamos on Thursday, burning scores of homes
down to their foundation in the town where the
atomic bomb was built. (AP Photo/Elaine
Thompson)
- May 12
335 PM ET
31
Los Alamos Cerro Grande Fire
Los Alamos Fire Dept. battalion chief Mark
Sandoval, center, explains the plan to attack a
wildfire Friday, May 12, 2000. Driven by
swirling winds of up to 60 mph, fire rolled from
block to block in abandoned Los Alamos on
Thursday, burning scores of homes down to their
foundation in the town where the atomic bomb was
built. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson)
- May
12 345 PM ET
32
Los Alamos Cerro Grande Fire
Christy Conner, left, Terry Coggeshall, on
computer, and Linda McClelland try to call up the
website by Los Alamos county which will display
the addresses of homes destroyed or damaged by
the Cerro Grande fire at the Santa Fe High School
shelter run by the Red Cross in Santa Fe, N.M.,
on Friday May 12, 2000. Conner lives in Los
Alamos' northern community that was hit by the
fire as it raged through the western side of
town. (AP Photo/Sarah Martone)

- May 12 500 PM ET
33
Los Alamos Cerro Grande Fire
Lt. Roger Gish, of the Grants, N.M., Fire
Department, watches as his men fight a house fire
in Los Alamos Friday, May 12, 2000. The men were
trying to dose the final hot spots in the house
that was destroyed Tuesday. (AP Photo/J. pat
Carter)
- May 12 500 PM ET
34
Los Alamos Cerro Grande Fire
Indian pottery sits on top of car, Friday, May
12, 2000 outside a house that was destroyed by
fire that swept through Los Alamos, N.M. The
residents had intended to take the pottery out
with them when they evacuated their home. (AP
Photo/J. Pat Carter)
- May 12 500 PM ET
35
Los Alamos Cerro Grande Fire
Mark Burnett, left, and Leo Massey, members of
the Fort Apache, New Mexico Hotshots fire team
rest as they fight a fire near Los Alamos Friday,
May 12, 2000. (AP Photo/J. Pat Carter)

- May 12 510 PM ET
36
Los Alamos Cerro Grande Fire
Smoke from a wildfire rises from a valley behind
the Los Alamos National Laboratory Friday
afternoon, May 12, 2000, in Los Alamos, N.M.
Driven by swirling winds of up to 60 mph, fire
rolled from block to block in abandoned Los
Alamos on Thursday, burning scores of homes down
to their foundation in the town where the atomic
bomb was built. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson)
- May 12 645 PM ET
37
Los Alamos Cerro Grande Fire
New Mexico Governor Gary Johnson, right, answers
questions with Sec. of Interior Bruce Babbitt
during a news conference on the Cerro Grande
wildfire Friday, May 12, 2000, in Los Alamos,
N.M. Driven by swirling winds of up to 60 mph,
fire rolled from block to block in abandoned Los
Alamos on Thursday, burning scores of homes down
to their foundation in the town where the atomic
bomb was built. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson)

- May 12 700 PM ET
38
Los Alamos Cerro Grande Fire
A house burned down to its foundation is still
smoldering on the west side of the town of Los
Alamos, Thursday. The fire has destroyed or
damaged up to 400 houses in the area. (Rick
Wilking/Reuters)
- May 12
835 PM ET
39
Los Alamos Cerro Grande Fire
Paula Olson hugs her son Thomas after finding out
that she lost her home to the fire in Los Alamos,
N.M., Friday, May 12, 2000. (AP Photo/Michael
Caulfield)
- May 12 940
PM ET
40
Los Alamos Cerro Grande Fire
Volunteers deliver food to a high school
gymnasium in Pojoaque, N.M., for evacuees of the
Los Alamos fire Friday, May 12, 2000. (AP
Photo/Michael Caulfield)
-
May 12 945 PM ET
41
Los Alamos Cerro Grande Fire
Los Alamos police officer Randy Foster stands in
the middle of what was his home, a two story
condo, early Saturday, May 13, 2000 in Los
Alamos, New Mexico. Foster thinks that his
working 12 hour shifts is helping him to cope
with the fire. (AP Photo/J. Pat Carter)

- May 13 1055 AM ET
42
Los Alamos Cerro Grande Fire
A helicopter carrying water heads for the forest
fire still raging north of the town of Los Alamos
Saturday. An army of 1,400 firefighters, aided by
helicopters and airplanes dumping water, battled
on Saturday to contain a massive forest fire that
forced thousands from their homes and threatened
the Los Alamos National Laboratory, the nation's
top nuclear research facility. (Rick
Wilking/Reuters)
- May
13 228 PM ET
43
Los Alamos Cerro Grande Fire
The famous Zuni Indian firefighters arrive at the
Pajarito ski area west of Los Alamos to aid in
forest fire fighting efforts late Friday. An
army of 1,400 firefighters, aided by helicopters
and airplanes dumping water, battled on Saturday
to contain a massive forest fire that forced
thousands from their homes and threatened the Los
Alamos National Laboratory, the nation's top
nuclear research facility. (Rick
Wilking/Reuters)
- May
13 228 PM ET
44
Los Alamos Cerro Grande Fire
Residents of Los Alamos, N.M., displaced by a
raging wildfire, line up behind tables as postal
workers sort mail for them at Pojoaque High
School, in Pojoaque, N.M., Saturday, May 13,
2000. The blowtorch winds and searing heat that
fed a raging wildfire broke Friday, easing the
threat to Los Alamos from a blaze that destroyed
260 homes, damaged the town's nuclear weapons
laboratory and forced 25,000 people to flee. The
fire remained out of control in the nearby
forests and canyons, however, and residents were
told they could not return to their houses for at
least a week. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson)

- May 13 530 PM ET
45
Los Alamos Cerro Grande Fire
Carol Bowman sits in her tent, resting before
going out to fight the fires near at a fire camp
outside Espanola, N.M., Saturday, May 13 , 2000.
She is one of the Indian Hot Shots crews working
the fire near Los Alamos. (AP Photo/J. Pat
Carter)
- May 13 525 PM ET
46
Los Alamos Cerro Grande Fire
Judy and Dick Opsahl, Red Cross volunteers and
victims of the Cerror Grande Fire, visit their
devastated home in Los Alamos, N.M., Sunday, May
14, 2000. (AP Photo/Michael Caulfield, Pool)

- May 14 315 PM ET
47
Los Alamos Cerro Grande Fire
An unidentified victim of the Cerro Grande Fire
in Los Alamos, NM, reacts to the devastation of
his home Sunday, May 14, 2000. (AP Photo/Michael
Caulfield, Pool)
-
May 14 315 PM ET
48
Los Alamos Cerro Grande Fire
A family from Los Alamos, N.M., walks past
national guardsmen into the Santa Fe N.M.
national guard amory, Sunday, May 14, 2000 to
board buses for a tour of their home that was
destroyed by fire earlier this week. (AP Photo/J.
Pat Carter)
- May 14 305 PM ET
49
Los Alamos Cerro Grande Fire
A Red Cross worker talks with a young boy,
Sunday, May 14, 2000 at the Santa Fe, N.M.
national guard amory, before the boy and his
family toured Los Alamos to view their home that
was destroyed by fire. (AP Photo/J. Pat Carter)

- May 14 305 PM ET
50
Los Alamos Cerro Grande Fire
Residents of Los Alamos, N.M., wait at the
national guard amory in Santa Fe, N.M., early
Sunday, May 14, 2000, to board buses for a tour
of their homes that were destroyed by fire
earlier this week. The Red Cross workers were
giving teddy bears out before the tours.
(AP Photo/J. Pat Carter, Pool)

- May 14 225 PM ET
51
Los Alamos Cerro Grande Fire
Women who lost their homes in Los Alamos, N.M.,
look at the teddy bears supplied by the Red Cross
before they left the Santa Fe, NM national guard
amory Sunday, May 14, 2000 to view the remains of
their homes, that were destroyed by fire. (AP
Photo/J. pat Carter)
-
May 14 245 PM ET
52
Los Alamos Cerro Grande Fire
A couple who lost their Los Alamos, N.M. home
wait to board a bus at the Santa Fe, N.M.
national guard amory Sunday, May 14, 2000 for a
tour of the fire damaged area. (AP Photo/J. Pat
Carter)
- May 14 320
PM ET
53
Los Alamos Cerro Grande Fire
A young victim of the Cerro Grande fire peers out
the window of a school bus while touring
devastated homes in Los Alamos, N.M., Sunday,
May 14, 2000. (AP Photo/Michael Caulfield, Pool)

- May 14 445 PM ET
54
Los Alamos Cerro Grande Fire
Red Cross volunteer and victim of the Cerro
Grande fire, Dick Opsahl visits his devastated
home in Los Alamos, N.M., Sunday, May 14, 2000.
(AP Photo/Michael Caulfield, Pool)

- May 14 455 PM ET
55
Los Alamos Cerro Grande Fire
Kim Beebe gives a kiss to her daughter Shannon,
5, as they look over a snapshot following a
Mother's Day luncheon at a shelter in Pojoaque
Pueblo, N.M., Sunday, May 14, 2000. Beebe and her
family of four live in Los Alamos, where their
home survived a wildfire that destroyed 260
others. The fire was still alive Sunday and had
blackened a total of 42,000 acres. More than
1,000 firefighters were on the job.The danger to
Los Alamos and neighboring White Rock had receded
Friday after the fire had destroyedhomes and
threatened the high-security Los Alamos National
Laboratory, one of the nation's most important
centers for nuclear weapons research. Sunday,
May 14, 2000. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson)

- May 14 510 PM ET
56
Los Alamos Cerro Grande Fire
Red Cross volunteer, and victim of the Cerro
Grande Fire, Judy Opsahl takes a picture of her
devastated home for insurance purposes in Los
Alamos, N.M., Sunday, May 14, 2000. (AP
Photo/Michael Caulfield, Pool)

- May 14 515 PM ET
57
Los Alamos Cerro Grande Fire
Deacon Don Lucero, center, applauds as women who
are mothers gather around for a blessing at the
altar of Our Lady of Guadalupe Church in Pojoaque
Pueblo, N.M., Sunday, May 14, 2000. Invited to
the mass were parishoners from nearby Los Alamos
and White Rock, whose towns have been evacuated
for several days because of a wildfire. The fire
was still alive Sunday and had blackened a total
of 42,000 acres. More than 1,000 firefighters
were on the job.The danger to Los Alamos and
neighboring White Rock had receded Fiday after
the fire had destroyed 260 homes and threatened
the high-security Los Alamos National Laboratory,
one of the nation's most important centers for
nuclear weapons research. Sunday, May 14, 2000.
(AP Photo/Elaine Thompson) -
May 14 545 PM ET
58
Los Alamos Cerro Grande Fire
Syndi Hesch, of Los Alamos, N.M., wipes away
tears during a mass at Our Lady of Guadalupe
Church in Pojoaque Pueblo, N.M., Sunday, May 14,
2000. Invited to the mass were parishoners from
nearby Los Alamos and White Rock, whose towns
have been evacuated for several days because of
a wildfire that destroyed 260 homes. Hesch's home
was not burned in the fire. (AP
Photo/ElaineThompson)

- May 14 640 PM ET
59
Los Alamos Cerro Grande Fire
Victims of the Cerro Grande fire tour their
devastated homes in Los Alamos, N.M., Sunday, May
14, 2000. Made refugees by fire, hundreds of
evacuated residents of Los Alamos solemnly
returned Sunday in convoys of yellow school buses
to the seared homes, blackened yards and
still-smoking vistas of their abandoned town. (AP
Photo/Michael Caulfield, Pool)

- May 14 745 PM ET
60
Los Alamos Cerro Grande Fire
Sarris McComb, a firefighter from Missoula, Mt.,
working with the Vale, Colo. hotshots, looks for
hotspots on the line Sunday, May 14, 2000, near
Los Alamos, New Mexico. The Los Alamos fire,
which started with a controlled burn and has
since consumed over 20,000 acres, is still out of
control in certain areas. (AP Photo/Ben Margot)

- May 14 755 PM ET
61
Los Alamos Cerro Grande Fire
A charred tree limb bears mute testimony to the
intensity of the Los Alamos fire, seen near the
fire line Sunday, May 14, 2000, near Los Alamos,
N.M. In background, Anthony Gholson of the Vale,
Colo., hotshots, monitors hotspots. The Los
Alamos fire, which started with a controlled burn
and has since consumed over 20,000 acres, is
still out of control in certain areas. (AP
Photo/Ben Margot)
-
May 14 805 PM ET
62
Los Alamos Cerro Grande Fire
The sun is seen through smoke and charred trees,
the remnants of the Los Alamos fire seen near the
fireline Sunday, May 14, 2000, in Los Alamos, New
Mexico. The Los Alamos fire, which started with a
controlled burn and has since consumed over
20,000 acres, is still out of control in certain
areas. (AP Photo/Ben Margot)

- May 14 825 PM ET
63
Los Alamos Cerro Grande Fire
National Guardsmen and police check credentials
of people entering Los Alamos, N.M., Monday, May
15, 2000. The fire, which has consumed 44,323
acres, is 28 percent contained Monday and a U.S.
Forest Service spokesman says the weather is too
unpredictable to allow for an estimate when full
containment might be achieved. (AP Photo/Ben
Margot)
- May 15 1045
AM ET
64
Los Alamos Cerro Grande Fire
Gregg Dempsey, director of the Radiation and
Indoor Environments National Laboratory for the
Environmental Protection Agency, demonstrates two
low volume air samplers Monday, May 15, 2000, in
Espanola, N.M. The EPA has deployed twenty such
samplers in and around Los Alamos, N.M., to test
the air for alpha, beta, and gamma radiation
which may have been released due to the Cerro
Grande fire. (AP Photo/Ben Margot)

- May 15 340 PM ET
65
Los Alamos Cerro Grande Fire
George Dilbeck, Las Vegas center director for the
office of Radiation and Indoor Air for the
Environmental Protection Agency, removes an air
filter sample from a gamma detector Monday, May
15, 2000, in Espanola, N.M. The EPA is testing
the air in and around Los Alamos, N.M., for
alpha, beta, and gamma radiation which may have
been released due to the Cerro Grande fire. (AP
Photo/Ben Margot)

- May 15 350 PM ET
66
Los Alamos Cerro Grande Fire
Los Alamos, N.M., councilwoman Patricia Rogers
wears a mask during a media conference updating
information on the Cerro Grande fire Monday, May
15, 2000, in Los Alamos. Rogers wears the mask to
aid her asthma condition, which is aggravated by
smoke from the fire. (AP Photo/Ben Margot)

- May 15 415 PM ET
67
Los Alamos Cerro Grande Fire
Blue Ridge fire fighting team Barry Kennedy rest
while flames creep close to a creek that runs
through Santa Clara Canyon on tribal lands
outside Los Alamos, NM Monday, May 15, 2000. Fire
fighting crews were using natural barriers such
as the stream to contain the fire. (AP Photo/J.
Pat Carter)
- May 15
600 PM ET
68
Los Alamos Cerro Grande Fire
Blue Ridge fire fighting team Barry Kennedy rest
while flames creep close to a creek that runs
through Santa Clara Canyon on tribal lands
outside Los Alamos, NM Monday, May 15, 2000. Fire
fighting crews were using natural barriers such
as the stream to contain the fire. (AP Photo/J.
Pat Carter)
- May 15
600 PM ET
69
Los Alamos Cerro Grande Fire
A tanker plane drops fire retardant onto a forest
fire still raging near Los Alamos, Saturday. An
army of 1,000 firefighters on the ground and in
the sky struggled on Saturday to contain a
wind-driven forest fire that forced thousands of
people from their homes, caused 1 billion in
damages and charred vast areas at the Los Alamos
National Laboratory, the top U.S. nuclear
research facility. (Rick Wilking/Reuters)

- May 15 642 PM ET
70
Los Alamos Cerro Grande Fire
71
Los Alamos Cerro Grande Fire
A sign welcomes back evacuees to Los Alamos, NM,
Monday, May 15, 2000. Over 260 homes were
destroyed by the Cerro Grande fire. (AP
Photo/Michael Caulfield)

- May 15 855 PM ET
72
Los Alamos Cerro Grande Fire
Kim and Bill Starkovich smile as they visit their
bedroom for the first time since the Cerro Grande
fire forced their evacuation last week on Monday,
May 15, 2000 in Los Alamos, New Mexico. The fire,
which started with a controlled burn, has since
consumed over 44,323 acres, and destroyed or
damaged over 400 homes. (AP Photo/Ben Margot)

- May 15 830 PM ET
73
Los Alamos Cerro Grande Fire
Kurt Duerre waters his lawn upon returning home
for the first time since the Cerro Grande fire
forced the evacuation of his family last week on
Monday, May 15, 2000 in Los Alamos, New Mexico.
The fire, which started with a controlled burn,
has since consumed over 44,323 acres, and
destroyed or damaged over 400 homes. (AP
Photo/Ben Margot)
- May 15 900 PM
ET
74
Los Alamos Cerro Grande Fire
A forest fire still rages through the Santa Fe
National Forest bordering the destroyed western
side of Los Alamos (upper right) Monday. More
than 260 homes were lost in the blaze, now
covering over 44,000 acres. (Rick
Wilking/Reuters)
- May
16 135 PM ET
75
Los Alamos Cerro Grande Fire
Smoke settles in a canyon behind the main
bnuilding of the Los Alamos, N.M., National
Laboratory, Tuesday, May 16, 2000. The Cerro
Grande fire burned a part of the lab grounds and
also destroyed more than 220 structures and
leaving 405 families homeless.
76
Los Alamos Cerro Grande Fire
Mike Butler flashes a victory sign to a passing
firefighter after arriving back in his Los
Alamos, N.M., home Tuesday,
May 16, 2000.
77
Los Alamos Cerro Grande Fire
A freshly painted rock greets arriving
residents of White Rock, N.M., shortly after they
were allowed to return after being evacuated
several days earlier, to their town Sunday,
refers to nearby Los Alamos, which lost 260 homes
in a wildfire that burned through the area.
78
Los Alamos Cerro Grande Fire
Art Morse sits and reads a newspaper in a Los
Alamos, N.M., donut shop Tuesday, May 16, 2000.
Fire roared into Los Alamos last week, destroying
more than 220 structures and leaving 405 families
homeless. All 11,000 residents of Los Alamos were
evacuated but authorities reopened most of town
May 15. Others in photo are unidentified. (AP
Photo/J. Pat Carter)
- May 16 1200 PM
ET
79
Los Alamos Cerro Grande Fire
Jerry Kindsfather stands in his food store in Los
Alamos, N.M., Tuesday, May 16, 2000, waiting for
customers. Fire roared into Los Alamos last week,
destroying more than 220 structures and leaving
405 families homeless. All 11,000 residents of
Los Alamos were evacuated but authorities
reopened most of town May 15. Kindsfather was
forced to throw away 50,000 worth of food that
had been in the freezers. (AP Photo/J. Pat
Carter)
- May 16
1200 PM ET
80
Los Alamos Cerro Grande Fire
Los Alamos High School senior Noelle Stillman
plans to cancel her high school graduation party
in White Rock, N.M., Tuesday, May 16, 2000, in
deference to the Cerro Grande fire victims who
lost their homes. Fire roared into Los Alamos
last week, destroying more than 220 structures
and leaving 405 families homeless. All 11,000
residents of Los Alamos were evacuated followed
by thousands more from White Rock and other
nearby communities. Authorities reopened most of
Los Alamos May 15. (AP Photo/Michael Caulfield)
- May
16 1205 PM ET
81
Los Alamos Cerro Grande Fire
Four vehicles destroyed by the Cerro Grande fire
are shown Tuesday, May 16, 2000, in Los Alamos,
N.M. Fire roared into Los Alamos last week,
destroying more than 220 structures and leaving
405 families homeless. All 11,000 residents of
Los Alamos were evacuated but authorities
reopened most of town May 15. (AP Photo/Jake
Schoellkopf)
- May 16
1220 PM ET
82
Los Alamos Cerro Grande Fire
This aerial view of a destroyed neighborhood in
the aftermath of the Los Alamos forest fire
Monday. More than 260 homes were lost in the
blaze. (Rick Wilking/Reuters)

- May 16 335 PM ET
83
Los Alamos Cerro Grande Fire
Intact houses (upper right) remain in a destroyed
neighborhood in the aftermath of the Los Alamos
forest fire on Monday. More than 260 homes were
lost in the blaze. (Rick Wilking/Reuters)

- May 16 335 PM ET
84
Los Alamos Cerro Grande Fire
A member of the National Guard, left, instructs
unidentified victims of the Cerro Grande fire
which residential locations are safe to visit
Tuesday, May 16, 2000, at Los Alamos High School
in Los Alamos, N.M. (AP Photo/Michael Caulfield)

- May 16 440 PM ET
85
Los Alamos Cerro Grande Fire
A Crow Indian fire fighting crew from Montana
mops up on the fireline in the bottom of Santa
Clara Canyon Tuesday. The most destructive
wildfire on record in New Mexico was threatening
a densely forested canyon on Tuesday, but the
worst appeared over for the fire-damaged Los
Alamos National Laboratory where officials were
preparing to reopen the nation's largest nuclear
lab. (Rick Wilking/Reuters) - May 16 507 PM ET
86
Los Alamos Cerro Grande Fire
Firefighters from Utah mop up on the fireline in
the bottom of Santa Clara Canyon, Tuesday. The
most destructive wildfire on record in New
Mexico was threatening a densely forested canyon
on Tuesday, but the worst appeared over for the
fire-damaged Los Alamos National Laboratory where
officials were preparing to reopen the nation's
largest nuclear lab. (Rick Wilking/Reuters)
- May 16 507 PM ET
87
Los Alamos Cerro Grande Fire
Firefighters look for hot spots while on the line
of the Cerro Grande fire Tuesday, May 16, 2000,
near Los Alamos, N.M. The fire, which started
with a controlled burn, has since consumed over
46,000 acres and destroyed or damaged over 400
homes. (AP Photo/Ben Margot) -
May 16 510 PM ET
88
Los Alamos Cerro Grande Fire
Firefighter Tyler Monroe, of Seipio, Ut., hauls
fire hoses up from the Santa Clara Creek on the
line of the Cerro Grande fire Tuesday, May 16,
2000, near Los Alamos, N.M. The fire, which
started with a controlled burn, has since
consumed over 46,000 acres and destroyed or
damaged over 400 homes. (AP Photo/Ben Margot)

- May 16 515 PM ET
89
Los Alamos Cerro Grande Fire
Firefighter Chris Jefferson-Medicinehorse, of
Crow, Mt., uses his helmet to scoop water from
the Santa Clara Creek while on the line of the
Cerro Grande fire Tuesday, May 16, 2000, near Los
Alamos, N.M. The fire, which started with a
controlled burn, has since consumed over 46,000
acres and destroyed or damaged over 400 homes.
(AP Photo/Ben Margot)
- May 16 600
PM ET
90
Los Alamos Cerro Grande Fire
Cruzita Trujillo, left, holds her granddaughter
Lorinda while grandson Lukas looks at his former
home, burned by the Cerro Grande fire, in Los
Alamos , NM, Wednesday, May 17, 2000. Interior
Secretary Bruce Babbitt is expected to release a
preliminary report on the fire Thursday when he
visits Los Alamos. While there, Babbitt could
face the anger of some of the 405 families whose
homes were burned down.(AP Photo/Michael
Caulfield) - May 17 635 PM
ET
91
Los Alamos Cerro Grande Fire
Gloria Brown, left, and her husband Tom visit
their devastated home, burned by the Cerro Grande
fire, in Los Alamos , NM, Wednesday, May 17,
2000. Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt is
expected to release a preliminary report on the
fire Thursday when he visits Los Alamos. While
there, Babbitt could face the anger of some of
the 405 families whose homes were burned
down.(APPhoto/Michael Caulfield)
- May 17 700 PM ET
92
Los Alamos Cerro Grande Fire
Gloria and Tom Brown visit their devastated home,
burned by the Cerro Grande fire, in Los Alamos,
NM, Wednesday, May 17, 2000. Iterior Secretary
Bruce Babbitt is expected to release a report on
the fire Thursday when he visits Los Alamos.
While there, Babbitt could face the anger of some
of the 405 families whose homes were burned
down.(AP Photo/Michael Caulfield)
-
May 17 800 PM ET
93
Los Alamos Cerro Grande Fire
Los Alamos Fire Department Chief Doug MacDonald
surveys Los Alamos Canyon Wednesday, May 17,
2000, where fire funneled down into the town of
Los Alamos, NM. MacDonald called for the
evacuation of the town when the fire jumped into
the canyon threatening homes in Los Alamos. (AP
Photo/Michael Caulfield) - May 17
845 PM ET
94
Los Alamos Cerro Grande Fire
Las Vegas, N.M., fire crew members Patrick
Apodaca, left, and Cliff Pekoc mop up part of the
Cerro Grande fire in Santa Clara Canyon on the
Pueblo of Santa Clara, N.M., on Thursday, May 18,
2000. The National Park Service officials who
started the devastating Los Alamos fire did not
follow proper procedures and did not have enough
fire crews on hand to keep the blaze
under control, according to a preliminary
investigation by the Interior Department. (AP
Photo/Jake Schoellkopf)

- May 18 600 PM ET
95
Los Alamos Cerro Grande Fire
Dan DeBacker, right, sitting in the Canyon Bar
and Grill in Los Alamos, N.M., Thursday, May 18,
2000, watches a live broadcast of Secretary of
the Interior Bruce Babbitt's report on the
investigation of the Cerro Grande fire. DeBacker
lost his home in the fire that raged through Los
Alamos. At left is DeBacker's friend, Dan
Richards, whose home was spared. (AP Photo/Jake
Schoellkopf)
- May 18 600 PM
ET
96
Los Alamos Cerro Grande Fire
Sarah Olson, 15, left, embraces her mother's
best friend Catherine Scarberry as they together
learn that the Olson's Los Alamos home has been
destroyed by fire while the Scarberry's home has
survived. At bottom is Scarberry's son Ryan, 6.
The two families learned the news at the Pojoaque
High School where a relief center has been set up
to aid those evacuated from Los Alamos and White
Rock.
97
Los Alamos Cerro Grande Fire
Alicia Lopez sifts through what used to be her
bedroom, looking for reminants of her doll
collection during her first visit to her Los
Alamos, N.M., home Friday, May 19, 2000 since the
Cerro Grande fire burned down several hundred
homes last week. (APPhoto/Sarah Martone)
- May 19 930 PM ET
98
Los Alamos Cerro Grande Fire
Irma Sutphin, left, and her mother Alicia Lopez
sift through the remains of their house looking
for anything that survived the Cerro Grande fire
during their first visit home Friday, May 19,
2000, in Los Alamos, NM. (AP Photo/Sarah Martone)
- May 19
935 PM ET
99
Los Alamos Cerro Grande Fire
David Hemsing, left, 18, and his friend Dan
Seitz, look through what was used to be the front
door of Hemsing's family home, Friday, May 19,
2000, during his first visit to the site in west
Los Alamos, N.M., since the Cerro Grande fire
burned down several hundred homes in the town
last week. (AP Photo/Sarah Martone)

- May 19 940 PM ET
100
Los Alamos Cerro Grande Fire
A doll's head rests on a wall Friday, May 19,
2000, in Los Alamos, N.M., of what used to be
Alicia Lopez's bedroom. Lopez collected doll's
and search through the rubble of her burned-out
Los Alamos home during her first visit since the
Cerro Grande fire burned several hundred homes
last week. (AP Photo/Sarah Martone)

- May 19 950 PM ET
101
Los Alamos Cerro Grande Fire (Laboratory Damage)
102
Los Alamos Cerro Grande Fire (Laboratory Damage)
103
Los Alamos Cerro Grande Fire (Laboratory Damage)
104
Los Alamos Cerro Grande Fire (Laboratory Damage)
105
Los Alamos Cerro Grande Fire (Laboratory Damage)
106
Los Alamos Cerro Grande Fire (Laboratory Damage)
107
Los Alamos Cerro Grande Fire (Laboratory Damage)
108
Los Alamos Cerro Grande Fire (Laboratory Damage)
109
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110
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111
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112
Los Alamos Cerro Grande Fire (Laboratory Damage)
113
Los Alamos Cerro Grande Fire
Barry Kennedy with the Blue Ridge Hot Shot team
watches to make sure the fire does not cross the
creek in Santa Clara Canyon.