San Miguel Foofurb* Fire
Location: Bandelier National Monument, Santa Fe NF, San Doval Co. NM
Specific Location: 13 miles south of Los Alamos, NM., Lat 35° 43´ 9″, Lon 106° 20´ 10″
Date of Origin: 07/02/2009
Cause: Lightning
Situation as of 07/17/2009 5:00 pm
Personnel: 16
Size: 1,635 acres
Percent Contained: 0%
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Situation as of 07/15/2009 4:00 pm
Personnel: 69
Size: 1,635 acres
Percent Contained: 0%
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Situation as of 07/14/2009 8:00 pm
Personnel: 129
Size: 1,632 acres
Percent Contained: 0%
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Situation as of 07/13/2009 9:00 pm
Personnel: 61
Size: 1,422 acres
Percent Contained: 0%
Temporary trail closure for Turkey Springs, Capulin Canyon, and Boundary Peak trails in Bandelier Wilderness and adjoining trails on Santa Fe National Forest; Trail 116-Capulin Trail, Trail 118-St Peter’s Dome, Trail 119- Turkey Spring Trail, and Trail 427- Boundary Peak Trail. In addition there is a road closure of Forest Service Road 142 at FR 289, due to fire vehicle traffic.
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Situation as of 07/12/2009 9:00 pm
Personnel: 39
Size: 1,356 acres
Percent Contained: 0%
39 total personnel include the Bandelier Wildland Fire Module, Santa Fe Hotshot Crew, and various overhead positions.
Smoke impacting Los Alamos.
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Situation as of 07/11/2009 9:00 pm
Personnel: none
Size: 856 acres
Percent Contained: 0%
Planned burn area: not reported
S winds 10 to 15 mph are predicted as a high pressure system builds. Monsoonal flow of moisture will be blocked. Los Alamos lies downwind.
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Situation as of 07/10/2009 8:30 pm
Personnel: not reported
Size: 447 acres
Percent Contained: 0%
Planned burn area: not reported
The Bandelier National Monument is the ignition site of the Cerro Grande Fire (2000). The Cerro Grande Fire began as a prescribed fire “for resource benefit” in the Upper Frijoles Units 1 & 5 of Bandelier National Monument. It “escaped prescription” on May 5, 2000 and burned north through the Santa Fe NF until it reached Los Alamos, where it destroyed over 400 residences, caused the evacuation of 18,000 people, and did significant damage to the Los Alamos National Laboratory. The Cerro Grande Fire inflicted over $860 million in direct costs and losses.
The same agency, the National Park Service, that perpetrated the Cerro Grande Fire is now perpetrating the San Miguel Foofurb* Fire in the same place. The NPS learned nothing from the Cerro Grande Fire. They are a dangerous, rogue federal agency suffering from institutional amnesia.
*foofurb: euphemism for “fire used for resource benefit”. However, as is usual with foofurbs, no benefits have been elucidated, no EIS created, no public involvement or NEPA hearings held.
by Liz
The fire was supposed to have stopped when it reached the old Dome Burn (1996), but it hasn’t. And instead of factual updates, the only info coming out is propaganda. So it is difficult to track this fire.
Among the propaganda is the official statement from the National Park Service that if you have a medical condition that makes you sensitive to smoke, you should “consult with your physician.” In other words, …
If a big wind comes up, the current fire managers and team are totally unprepared to stop this fire. It is a travesty.
by Mark
I’ve been in Los Alamos the entire time the fire has burned. There were only two nights where I could even smell smoke. And it wasn’t bad either.
Smoke and fire are more a part of this landscape that we are. The environment depends on fire. Due to our erroneous belief that fire was bad we now have created an environement can now burn with unnatural intensity, destroy homes and kill people. Reintroducing fire under the proper conditions helps reduce the future risk and restores forest health.
The maps and information posted online daily sure kept me and many others informed. It also shows that the fire DID in fact stop at the old Dome Burn. Have you been up there? Not much risk of rapid spread there…
You people need to open your eyes. Your persistant old school attitudes are exactly the sentiment that caused the current problems in the firest place. If you don’t like smoke, well sorry. Fire is part of this landscape and commonly burned all summer long before we screwed things up. The beach is sandy and humid, its foggy in San Fran, it snows in Minnesota and fire burns in our western forests.
Mark, please don’t blame me for burning down Los Alamos. If you recall, it was the National Park Service that caused that billion-dollar disaster.
I appreciate your armchair ecology. There might be something to what you say, even though your explication is overly simplistic, broad brush, and jingoistic.
But please remember that we are a nation of laws. One of those laws is NEPA. NEPA requires Federal agencies to create Environmental Impact Statements and engage in public involvement processes before they promulgate actions that have significant impact on the environment. There was no EIS for this fire, or for hundreds of other Let It Burn Fires. That means the agency actions were and are criminal.
Maybe you don’t like NEPA (many don’t) but it is the law until rescinded by Congress. NEPA is used all the time to halt projects intended to restore forest health — NEPA law is a tangled mess. But it’s the law and the NPS is not above it or excused from it.
Your attitude that the Feds can and should break the law whenever they feel like it is tearing this country apart. A lot more than catastrophic fires will come from that. I suggest that you should demand that the law be obeyed, or changed, not broken with impunity. That’s my attitude. It would be helpful if more people demanded respect for the law instead of defending anarchy.
Breathing the smoke for almost two weeks is no fun. I can smell it now as I write here in Los Alamos. There is also the psychological aspect — three of my family homes were among the 400+ homes lost to Cerro Grande Fire. Sure hope it gets under control very soon!