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Los Alamos, NM June 2000 The Cerro Grande Fire burned nearly 48,000 acres in and around Los Alamos, New Mexico between May 4 and May 21, 2000, destroying about 280 homes and displacing over 400 families. Of the 48,000 acres burned, approximately 9,000 were within the boundaries of the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), also known as the birthplace of the atomic bomb, where 40 LANL structures were destroyed or damaged. The total cost of the damage caused by the Cerro Grande Fire was estimated at $1 billion. The Cerro Grande Fire began as a prescribed burn set by the National Park Service (NPS) on May 4, 2000 in Bandelier National Monument, just southwest of the LANL. The NPS intended to burn only 300 acres in the Monument, however, hot temperatures and high winds caused it to spread out of control on May 5, 2000 and quickly become the largest wildfire ever recorded in New Mexico’s history. The fire burned land that fell under five jurisdictions: the Department of Defense (Los Alamos National Laboratory); the Bureau of Indian Affairs; the private Baca Land; the City of Los Alamos (Los Alamos residential areas); and the National Forest Service (Santa Fe National Forest and Bandelier National Monument). As a result, personnel from five governmental agencies were forced to work together. Containment of the fire required personnel from 65 New Mexico fire departments, more than 1100 fire fighters from national teams, numerous aircraft and heavy equipment, and four Type I National Fire management. For the first time in history, nearly 1500 of the front-line firefighters were then retained for rehabilitation duty because of the threat mudslides posed to the LANL in the impending monsoon season. |