Los Alamos fire threat forces area residents to flee

Los Alamos Fire Spreads

The Los Alamos fire threat has prompted officials to order the evacuation of the government nuclear facility. Wildfires have sparked in the northern portion of the town where the famous laboratory is located.

Firefighters of Los Alamos county are still trying to put out many spot fires as of Tuesday. Another crew that worked in the Arizona wildfires that erupted recently has arrived to reinforce the efforts of the New Mexico firefighters and prevent the blaze from increasing in size.

The evacuation of 12,500 residents have been calm and orderly according to the local police chief. As for the Los Alamos laboratory itself, officials reassured the public that no contamination from radioactive material has happened or expected though some structures were burned by the blaze.

Los Alamos National Laboratory is famous for the government-mandated Manhattan Project which created the first atomic bomb during the World War II era. The facility stores radioactive materials on site but officials said all of them are safe.

A spot fire burned a portion of the facility called Tech Area 49 which was used some 40 years ago for detonating underground bombs using radioactive materials. According to the watchdog Concerned Citizens for Nuclear Safety, the first fire sparked some 3.5 miles from a dumpsite that had drums containing plutonium.

Los Alamos National Laboratory officials had confirmed the existence of such a dumpsite but said that it is safe from being scorched as it is miles from the nearest spot fire and surrounded by just a few trees.

Posted by George Daniels on Tuesday June 28 2011, 11:01 AM EDT. Ref: AP. All trademarks acknowledged. Filed under Featured News, World. Comments and Trackbacks closed. Follow responses: RSS 2.0