Potential historic weather conditions were recorded for New Mexico on Saturday and in the days that followed, as hundreds of firefighters and a fleet of planes and helicopters worked to strengthen lines around the largest fire in the United States. United.
Many families have been displaced and thousands of residents have been evacuated as a result of the fire that burned large parts of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains in northeastern New Mexico.
Residents lived on the side of the alternate fire front. Hope The work done in recent days to clean brushes, install sprinklers, run hoses and use bulldozers to clean lines will prevent fires in the small town of Las Vegas and others. more villages to the north and south.
“There is uncertainty and there are concerns about how the wind will affect fires every day,” said Elmo Baca, president of the Las Vegas Community Foundation. “When people are evacuated in the area, they can’t come back, so they’re just worried.”
In recent weeks, wildfires have engulfed more than 262 square miles (678 square kilometers).
The start of the fire was partly caused by a preventive fire launched by the U.S. Forest Service in early April to reduce burning plants. The fire lost control and merged with another bushfire of unknown origin.
According to the National Interagency Fire Center, approximately 2,000 square miles (5,180 square kilometers) were burned nationwide this year, with 2018 being the last time so many fires were reported nationwide. And the rest of the spring forecast is not good for the West, where prolonged drought and warmer temperatures caused by climate change have combined to exacerbate the threat of forest fires.
Bushfires in southern New Mexico, Arizona and Colorado also began earlier, forcing evacuations and destroying homes last month.
Incident commander Dave Bales said firefighters working in northeastern New Mexico are committed to protecting homes and other structures that hold generations of sacred memories.
“It’s hard to see so many displaced people,” he said, citing the many hugs in the city.
Crews have seen strong winds that usually last a day, maybe two. But Bales said the event could last five or more days, with bursts ranging from 50 to 60 miles per hour (80 to 96 miles per hour). He also warned that the fire could spread up to a mile.
“This is an unprecedented extreme wind event,” Bales said.
Another major fire in New Mexico was 5 miles (8 kilometers) from Los Alamos National Laboratory, one of the nation’s leading facilities for nuclear research and future production of plutonium components for nuclear weapons.
Teams burned the plants in front of the fire to reduce its intensity and potential ground fire. Tanks, helicopters and heavy equipment are positioned in the laboratory, while firefighters patrol the area in case of a fire.
Several nuclear observer groups and environmentalists have expressed concern about nuclear waste containers owned by laboratories. This includes six shipments of 109 containers waiting to be sent to the federal government’s underground trash can, state officials said.
Lab officials said Friday that radiological and other potentially hazardous materials are stored in containers designed and tested in extreme environments, including fire -resistant ones.
Reported by Montoya Brian from Albuquerque, New Mexico. Associated Press writer Felicia Fonseca contributed to this report on the flagship, Arizona.
Source: Huffpost
