Los Alamos County Manager Steven Lynne
By KIRSTEN LASKEY
Los Alamos Daily Post
kirsten@ladailypost.com
Los Alamos County Manager Steven Lynne and Emergency Services Commander Beverley Simpson provided an update on the Cerro Pelado Fire during tonight’s Los Alamos County Council meeting.
Lynne commented that for the majority of today, the winds were not as bad as expected, which was a positive. He said the winds were not so bad that air support had to be halted.
Additionally, he reported that tomorrow temperatures are expected to be cooler and winds lighter. However, later in the week temperatures are expected to increase as well as wind speeds.
Lynne reported that the fire is now more than 25,000 acres. Another public meeting will be held Wednesday on Facebook Live. He recommended going to https://nmfireinfo.com or https://inciweb.nwcg.gov for links to the meeting.
The current Type 1 team will be transitioning this week and a new team briefed Thursday taking command Friday. As a result, Lynne said another public meeting is not expected to be held until Saturday.
He commended the “really good” collaboration so far between state and federal agencies. He also thanked all the County staff for their work and diligence, especially the firefighters who have been out at the fire and leading support for the night crews as well as assistance with structure protection.
Lynne reminded people to sign up for CodeRed, which can be done on the County’s website. He said the County continues to be in the “ready” phase of the ready, set, go process. There is no evacuation occurring at this time, Lynne said. He added that management action plans have been developed to create those trigger points and more information about this will be provided Wednesday.
“If the fire progresses to a certain point towards our location I think both the Lab and the County might go to maximum telework to limit the number of folks in town, not necessarily be at the ‘set’ phase, the next one might get us to the ‘set’ phase in that ready, set, go, and then the next one could potentially be the ‘go’,” Lynne said. “Part of what we’ve been hearing for a few days is unlike our past two fires, I think we will be able to be a little more deliberate, we are certainly lining ourselves up to be a little more conservative in our approach and it seems like we will have a fair amount of notice … you never can tell with a fire … (but) it seems likely we will be able to give a fair amount of advanced notice for these different stages.”
He further added that the County is coordinating with Los Alamos Public Schools to avoid taking action during the school day.
Emergency Services Commander Beverley Simpson
Simpson reported that the County is being proactive on a number of items since entering the “ready” phase. She explained that places have been designated to park RVs and storage. Additionally, Community Services, Customer Service and the senior centers are assisting in identifying people who would need assistance should an evacuation occur.
Animals also are being addressed, Simpson said. Animal Control is working to offer additional assistance for animals along with the stable owners. She added that the stable owners are moving animals off the townsite and locations for large animals are being identified.
Should an evacuation occur, Simpson said Rendija Canyon has been cleared as an evacuation route. The final approval should occur tomorrow, she said.
Also, parking for those who own multiple vehicles has been approved at the Mari Mac center. The Emergency Operations Center (EOC) is ready to go in the event it is needed, with the understanding that multiple individuals and departments might be working virtually or remotely, Simpson said, adding that work is being done on shelter sites, as well as volunteer organization coordination for food and assistance.
More than 600 people are combating the fire, Lynne said, with 16 crews, six helicopters, 12 water tenders and more resources still being called in.