The Little Bear Fire wildfire in

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 ...

on June 4, 2012 burned 44,330

acre The acre is a unit of land area used in the imperial Imperial is that which relates to an empire, emperor, or imperialism. Imperial or The Imperial may also refer to: Places United States * Imperial, California * Imperial, Missouri * Imp ...

s and 254 buildings, making it the most destructive of human structures wildfire in the state's history. The previously most destructive fire was the

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 ...

. The fire began on June 4, 2012 from a

lightning Lightning is a naturally occurring electrostatic discharge during which two electric charge, electrically charged regions, both in the atmosphere or with one on the land, ground, temporarily neutralize themselves, causing the instantaneous ...

strike and quickly grew out of control due to dry, windy conditions. The Little Bear Fire was contained by July 30, 2012 according to

Federal Emergency Management Agency The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is an agency of the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS), initially created under President Jimmy Carter by Presidential Reorganization Plan No. 3 of 1978 and implemented by two Exec ...

. There was no loss of human life as all but one couple in the evacuation zone said, they received at least one call to evacuate the area. The New Mexico government did an effective job of notifying the public about the fire and it mitigated damages. Little Bear Fire 2012 from Mecham Road.jpg , Taken from Mecham Road by Dennis Sumrak, 8 June 2012 Little Bear Fire 2012 by Dennis Sumrak.jpg , by Dennis Sumrak, 8 June 2012

References

External links

* {{New Mexico wildfires 2012 wildfires in the United States 2012 in New Mexico Wildfires in New Mexico