The La Mesa Fire was a 1977
wildfire
A wildfire, forest fire, bushfire, wildland fire or rural fire is an unplanned, uncontrolled and unpredictable fire in an area of Combustibility and flammability, combustible vegetation. Depending on the type of vegetation present, a wildfire ...
on the
Pajarito Plateau The Pajarito Plateau is a volcanic plateau in north central New Mexico, United States. The plateau, part of the Jemez Mountains, is bounded on the west by the Sierra de los Valles, the range forming the east rim of the Valles Caldera, and on the ea ...
of
New Mexico
)
, population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano)
, seat = Santa Fe
, LargestCity = Albuquerque
, LargestMetro = Tiguex
, OfficialLang = None
, Languages = English, Spanish ( New Mexican), Navajo, Ker ...
, in the
Southwestern United States
The Southwestern United States, also known as the American Southwest or simply the Southwest, is a geographic and cultural region of the United States that generally includes Arizona, New Mexico, and adjacent portions of California, Colorado, Ne ...
.
History
The fire was human-caused (likely a spark from a motorcycle) on the afternoon of 16 June 1977, in
Los Alamos County
Los Alamos County (English: "The Poplars" or "Cottonwoods") is a county in the U.S. state of New Mexico. As of the 2010 census, the population was 17,950. The smallest county by area in the state, Los Alamos County was formerly administered ex ...
.
Before it was contained one week later, the fire burned 15,444 acres (62.5 km²) of
Bandelier National Monument
Bandelier National Monument is a United States National Monument near Los Alamos in Sandoval and Los Alamos counties, New Mexico. The monument preserves the homes and territory of the Ancestral Puebloans of a later era in the Southwest. Most ...
and part of the
Los Alamos National Laboratory
Los Alamos National Laboratory (often shortened as Los Alamos and LANL) is one of the sixteen research and development laboratories of the United States Department of Energy (DOE), located a short distance northwest of Santa Fe, New Mexico, ...
, where it reached K-site and S-site, two facilities used to fabricate and test
chemical explosives.
Resources deployed to contain the fire included 1370 personnel, 9 bulldozers, 23 ground engines, 5 air tankers and 5 helicopters.
One human life was lost when a firefighter suffered a massive heart attack while fleeing the first major blowup of the La Mesa Fire. A monument near the entrance to Bandelier National Monument honors his memory.
A group of 27 high-school students were rescued after becoming trapped in the backcountry of Bandelier National Monument.
The La Mesa fire burned around 60% of the
drainage basin
A drainage basin is an area of land where all flowing surface water converges to a single point, such as a river mouth, or flows into another body of water, such as a lake or ocean. A basin is separated from adjacent basins by a perimeter, t ...
of Rio de Los Frijoles, a tributary of the
Rio Grande
The Rio Grande ( and ), known in Mexico as the Río Bravo del Norte or simply the Río Bravo, is one of the principal rivers (along with the Colorado River) in the southwestern United States and in northern Mexico.
The length of the Rio G ...
, and increased awareness of the contribution of wildfire to severe
erosion
Erosion is the action of surface processes (such as water flow or wind) that removes soil, rock, or dissolved material from one location on the Earth's crust, and then transports it to another location where it is deposited. Erosion is distin ...
. The La Mesa fire was significant for stimulating scientific study of the effects of fire on
ecosystems
An ecosystem (or ecological system) consists of all the organisms and the physical environment with which they interact. These biotic and abiotic components are linked together through nutrient cycles and energy flows. Energy enters the syste ...
.
Other Pajarito Plateau wildfires
La Mesa Fire is one of several major wildfires in the recent history of the Pajarito Plateau:
* 1954
Water Canyon Fire
The Water Canyon Fire of 1954 was a wildfire in the eastern edge of the Jemez Mountains and the Santa Fe National Forest which burned approximately 3,000 to 6,000 acres (12−24 km²). The fire started on June 5, 1954, when the burning of t ...
* 1977 La Mesa Fire
* 1996
Dome Fire
The Dome Fire was a destructive wildfire in the Jemez Mountains in the northern region of the U.S. state of New Mexico during the 1996 fire season.
It has been described by forester Bill Armstrong as "a wakeup call that nobody woke up to", anoma ...
* 1998
Oso Complex Fire
* 2000
Cerro Grande Fire
The Cerro Grande Fire was a disastrous forest fire in New Mexico, United States of America, that occurred in May 2000. The fire started as a controlled burn, and became uncontrolled owing to high winds and drought conditions. Over 400 f ...
* 2011
Las Conchas Fire
The Las Conchas Fire was a large wildfire in the state of New Mexico, in the United States, in 2011. The fire started in Santa Fe National Forest and burned more than 150,000 acres, threatening Los Alamos National Laboratory and the town of Lo ...
See also
*
References
Jemez Mountains Fire History
{{Authority control
1970s wildfires in the United States
1977 fires in the United States
1977 in New Mexico
June 1977 events in the United States
1977 natural disasters in the United States
History of Los Alamos County, New Mexico
Los Alamos National Laboratory
Wildfires in New Mexico