Protecting the Laboratory Against Fire

The Lab has performed extensive and strategic wildfire mitigation work over the last two decades, ensuring we are well prepared

The Lab’s Wildland Fire team removes fuels (such as timber and brush) at a rate of approximately 3,000 tons per year across the site.
Evacuation routes have been cleared and are ready.
Fire roads and fire breaks are inspected and maintained, and familiarization tours have been provided to Los Alamos Fire Department personnel.
Elevated, dip and portable tanks are inspected and ready.
Wildland Fire staff are on call and ready to respond if needed.
Firefighting assets are prepositioned to assist the Los Alamos Fire Department and other agencies as needed to protect key facilities. Those assets include a U.S. Forest Service helicopter that is maintained on-site, a 20,000-gallon water dip tank, a Laboratory water tanker, and heavy equipment to assist with fire lines if necessary.

The Wildland Fire and Forest Management programs coordinate with archeologists and biologists to protect the cultural sites ancestral to nearby Pueblo communities and manage our natural resources.
During migratory bird season, biologists sweep treatment areas for active bird nests so that disturbance to trees and shrubs with active nests are minimized during vegetation and tree removal operations.
Archaeologists survey for unrecorded sites, verify boundaries, and flag cultural resources for visibility and avoidance so that operators do not bring heavy machinery such as masticators into archaeological sites.
The forest monitoring program measures tree density, understory plant cover, and fuels to better plan treatments, understand the long-term effects, and adapt management practices.

The Lab’s Wildland Fire team removes fuels (such as timber and brush) at a rate of approximately 3,000 tons per year across the site.
Evacuation routes have been cleared and are ready.
Fire roads and fire breaks are inspected and maintained, and familiarization tours have been provided to Los Alamos Fire Department personnel.
Elevated, dip and portable tanks are inspected and ready.
Wildland Fire staff are on call and ready to respond if needed.
Firefighting assets are prepositioned to assist the Los Alamos Fire Department and other agencies as needed to protect key facilities. Those assets include a U.S. Forest Service helicopter that is maintained on-site, a 20,000-gallon water dip tank, a Laboratory water tanker, and heavy equipment to assist with fire lines if necessary.

The Wildland Fire and Forest Management programs coordinate with archeologists and biologists to protect the cultural sites ancestral to nearby Pueblo communities and manage our natural resources.
During migratory bird season, biologists sweep treatment areas for active bird nests so that disturbance to trees and shrubs with active nests are minimized during vegetation and tree removal operations.
Archaeologists survey for unrecorded sites, verify boundaries, and flag cultural resources for visibility and avoidance so that operators do not bring heavy machinery such as masticators into archaeological sites.
The forest monitoring program measures tree density, understory plant cover, and fuels to better plan treatments, understand the long-term effects, and adapt management practices.