Fire mitigation efforts happen year-round at Los Alamos National Laboratory. Teams clear underbrush and create defensible zones long before fire season.
During the Cerro Pelado fire — 45,591 acres as of May 14, with more than 1,000 people working on it — Los Alamos is continuing to provide equipment and resources to remove fuels (such as trees and underbrush). Teams are performing mitigation work to reduce tree cover near utility corridors and key facilities.
The National Weather Service in Albuquerque called wildfire conditions a "dangerous, long duration and potentially historic critical fire event."
Laboratory Director Thom Mason said, "Conditions can change quickly; it has been very dry, very windy, and we have to be respectful of that risk and ready for what comes next."
Kelly Beierschmitt, deputy director for Operations, visited the fire line recently. "Just seeing the commitment of our employees was humbling," he said. "Everyone I met out there told me how much they appreciate the support, and what they were doing to keep each other safe."
The photos below depict many of the people who are working behind the scenes to protect the Laboratory and surrounding communities from the Cerro Pelado fire.
More photos, updates and information will be added regularly.
Personnel receive a briefing at LANL's Emergency Operations Center on Tuesday, May 17, 2022.LANL's wildland manager Rich Nieto gives an update at base camp Monday, May 16, 2022.NNSA Los Alamos Field Office Manager Ted Wyka and Kelly Beierschmitt, the Lab’s deputy director for Operations, viewed the Cerro Pelado fire mitigation work by helicopter on Friday, May 13, 2022.Firefighters supporting the Cerro Pelado firefighting effort gather for a morning briefing at camp.Firefighters say that messages from area schoolkids posted on a wall at camp are helping keep up everyone’s spirits.Lab Director Thom Mason and Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham stand at the Back Gate area along NM 4 on May 12, where LANL fire mitigation teams have been working hard to clear underbrush and more.Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham visits the Emergency Operations Center with LANL leadership, including Deputy Lab Director of Operations Kelly Beierschmitt and Lab Director Thom Mason, on May 12. LA-UR-22-24511Fire crews from across New Mexico, the Southwest and California have worked around the clock to limit the fire's spread.Building on lessons learned from the Las Conchas fire, the Laboratory’s Wildland Fire team has actively managed the forest around Lab property for many years. Fuel loads at the Lab have been reduced by approximately 3,500 tons in the last 3.5 years. Fuel reductions activities in Los Alamos Canyon and several parts of Lab property are ongoing.The 2011 Las Conchas fire helped inform wildfire mitigation strategies at the Laboratory. The robust safety and security measures implemented in the ensuing years have prepared the Lab in the event of another large-scale wildfire in the surrounding area. LA-UR-22-24469
