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Los Alamos evacuated as US wildfire spreads. A fast-moving wildfire in the state of New
Mexico took officials by surprise as it grew rapidly overnight to be burning across 44,000
acres and was completely uncontained as of Monday, June 27. Thirty structures in the
Cochiti Mesa and Tent Rock areas were destroyed, while high winds grounded aircraft. Called
the Las Conchas fire, the blaze prompted a mandatory evacuation to be ordered for the
12,000 residents in the town of Los Alamos, while a voluntary evacuation order was in
place for nearby White Rock. The fire also forced officials to shut down the Los Alamos
National Laboratory, a nuclear facility some 25 miles outside Santa Fe. Firefighters extinguished
a one-acre spot fire that entered just inside the southwestern boundary of the lab site,
with lab spokespersons saying that all hazardous and radioactive materials were safe. However,
the group Concerned Citizens for Nuclear Safety noted that the blaze had reached within 3-1/2
miles of a site where some 30,000 55-gallon drums of plutonium-contaminated waste were
being stored in fabric tents above ground, awaiting transport to a low-level radiation
disposal area in southern New Mexico. New Mexico’s Governor Susana Martinez mobilized
the National Guard to assist with the firefighting efforts and requested that the Federal Emergency
Management Agency (FEMA) issue a Fire Management Assistance Declaration to provide further
support.
As when fires began in the states of Texas and Arizona in early June, Supreme Master
Ching Hai requested that our Association members please consult with local officials on any
needed help. Saying that emergency funds would be available, she asked that they go if possible
to bring comfort to the affected.
Our appreciation, officials and firefighters working to ensure the region's safety, as
we also thank Supreme Master Ching Hai for her wholehearted concern. May such dangers
soon be alleviated through our kinder care of
the ecosphere�