LA CUEVA — The owners of homes and summer cabins that were destroyed by a massive wildfire that once threatened the desert birthplace of the atomic bomb surveyed the damage to their properties Tuesday, saying they were grateful for what the flames have spared.
“We were actually surprised that we had anything still standing,” said Madeleine Armijo, who drove down from Santa Fe to see what was left of the nine cabins her father and grandfather helped build in Peralta Canyon.
“My dad died almost 10 years ago, so we’re really grateful, because he built that cabin and it was like everything to him,” she said. “It would have been like a piece of my father would have died again.”
Areas in the Cochiti Mesa and the canyon remained closed off, but Sandoval County fire officials allowed the tour for about four dozen property owners.
The 199-square-mile blaze, the largest in the state’s history, was moving to the northwest. At one point, it forced the closure of the Los Alamos National Laboratory and the evacuations of the town of Los Alamos and nearby areas, and threatened the sacred sites of several American Indian tribes.
Armijo said the flames came along one side of a cabin but the meadow in front was still green. Her cousin, Dan Goodman of Albuquerque, was not as lucky. His cabin was destroyed.
“It went through our area the very first day. I figured the damage was already done,” he said. “Now it’s just wait and see.”
Goodman said he hasn’t decided whether to rebuild. “We’re thinking about it,” he said. “Everyone is willing to pitch in.”
He said it was hard to believe the fire tore through that area because it started some 10 miles away in Las Conchas.
Fire officials said more than 500 homes and buildings were still being threatened. A total of 63 residences and 39 outbuildings have been destroyed.
————————————————————————————————————————————————-
July 5, 2011 10:15 a.m. — Las Conchas Fire at 127,821 Acres
Fire officials reported minutes ago that the Las Conchas Fire had grown a few thousand acres overnight to 127,821 acres overall and that New Mexico’s largest-ever wildfire was still just 27 percent contained.
Weather forecasters were expecting possible thunderstorms in the fire area today with strong outflow winds, and that east and southeast winds would develop pushing the fire generally to the northwest, according to the latest report on www.inciweb.org.
Winds developing after 10 a.m. today were expected to push the fire up slopes and drainages, especially drainages with an east-west orientation, fire officials said.
It’s also expected to be a very active fire day where open lines exist on any western edge or finger, according to the report.
Resource advisers from local pueblos were continuing to work with the incident management team to identify sensitive historical and cultural sites within the fire area, and archaeologists were working with crews to avoid and protect those areas.
