Los Alamos Fire Chief Troy Hughes speaks during the community meeting on the Cerro Pelado Fire Monday evening in Griffith Gymnasium at Los Alamos High School. Photo by Kirsten Laskey/ladailypost.com
Los Alamos County Emergency Manager Beverley Simpson addresses the crowd gathered for Monday’s community meeting in Griffith Gymnasium. Photo by Kirsten Laskey/ladailypost.com
By KIRSTEN LASKEY
Los Alamos Daily Post
kirsten@ladailypost.com
The community was given something like a breath of fresh air during Monday evening’s community meeting on the Cerro Pelado Fire, which was a piece of good news.
According to Incident Meteorologist Scott Stearns, the winds are dying down.
“We are looking at some good news on the horizon,” Stearns said. “Tomorrow, it looks like we will have lighter winds … which is certainly welcomed. Generally, out of the south, southwest … gusting up to 20-25 mph. That is a nice reprieve from what we have been seeing for the last few days (and) even beyond that …”
But challenges remain.
“The bad news is that unfortunately, on Wednesday, we are looking at increased winds again,” Stearns said. “Nothing like we have seen the last couple days, but they will be gusting up to 35-40 mph. For that reason, we do have a fire weather watch in effect for this area.”
However, Stearns pointed out that after Wednesday, the winds are expected to die down again.
“That’s great news especially considering the fact that a lot of movement on this fire is due to strong winds,” he said.
An even more significant challenge is that the relative humidity levels remain low, Stearns said. Through slides he showed during the meeting the levels were less than 10 percent. Additionally, there is no rain in sight.
Fire Behavior Analyst Robert Burnside said the fire is creeping along; it will find pockets of opportunity to finger out rather than making a big run. He reported that it travels a mile to a mile and a half a day. Most of the potential fire activity has occurred at night, he added.
Even more than low winds, the people fighting the fire were credited throughout the meeting for significantly hindering its efforts to expand and grow.
Los Alamos Fire Chief Troy Hughes said there has been a lot of lessons learned from previous fires. He added that the partnerships between Los Alamos National Laboratory, Department of Energy, Los Alamos Public Schools, etc., have been an asset in dealing with the Cerro Pelado Fire.
“A lot of people have been involved in this effort, have been in the same room since day one … we’ve done a lot of preparation,” Chief Hughes said.
Because the fire is moving slow, it has afforded all parties time to do things such as preparing equipment and preforming mitigation, he said, adding that the Los Alamos Fire Department has essentially a brand-new wildland fleet, with DOE’s help and the Los Alamos County Department of Public Utilities placed a temporary generator to supply power at the Guaje Water Well Field to ensure the wells are running and water is flowing for firefighting purposes.
“I can’t really say enough for the preparation that we have done,” Chief Hughes said.
In other news related to preparation efforts, County Emergency Manager Beverley Simpson reported on the plans for any potential evacuation.
Monday morning, a pre-evacuation order was released for those medically fragile, which allows them to leave before the rest of the community would evacuate, Simpson said. Additionally, she said all animal owners are asked to come up with a plan for their pets. If anyone needs assistance, go to the County website or call Customer Care at 505.662.8333.
Simpson said that work is being done on the road in Rendija Canyon to make it accessible for smaller vehicles; it is being graded. Also, work continues to make announcements available on AM1610 in addition to CodeRED, reverse 911, etc.
The U.S. Postal Service also is making preparations, Simpson said. The postal service will either set up a local post office or utilize an existing post office to hold on to people’s mail.
Finally, Simpson urged the community to continue supporting local businesses.
“We could be in ‘set’ for a few days or even weeks so remember to frequent our local businesses,” Simpson said. “They’re still open and operating.”
Low winds are beneficial, but the manpower involved in fighting the fire also is a real asset. For instance, Chief Hughes praised the type 1 teams, the Southern Area Incident Management Team and the Great Basin Management Team, that have arrived to fight the fire.
“It has just been a blessing to have these guys at our back door, at our beck and call,” he said.
LANL Wildland Fire Program Manager Rich Nieto agreed.
“I can’t say enough about the professionalism exuded by the team but also by everybody … the good work they are doing (and) impeccable safety record given the terrain they are dealing with…,” he said.
Nieto urged the community to work together to get through this situation and to have patience since it seems, at least as of today, that the County will be in the ‘set’ phase for a while.
Everyone is sacrificing something to successfully overcome this wildfire, Incident Commander Rich Harvey said.
“Every one of these partners sacrifices a little bit and our firefighters do the same,” he said. “Everyone is sacrificing being at home … everybody involved in these partnerships … is committed to one thing: putting this fire out, and getting everybody back safely at home …”
These sacrifices are significant. Particularly the ones the firefighters are making.
“The firefighters (are) out there on that line,” Chief Hughes said. “They are out there 16 hours a day. They are not really in a climate control environment. They are in tents out on the ground. Sometimes it has been 18 degrees during the briefings … they are working hard. Please keep them in your thoughts. They are all very professional – great people – they are away from their families, they are giving that up to our community … we owe them a lot.”
Attendees gathered Monday evening for the community meeting on the Cerro Pelado Fire. Photo by Kirsten Laskey/ladailypost.com