Fire in New Mexico

The cause--and the controversy--are no longer news. Beginning as a prescribed burn at Bandelier National Monument, strong Spring winds fanned the flames beyond control. Residents of Los Alamos and White Rock, New Mexico, having received word that they must evacuate their homes, packed what few things they could, and joined the long exodus snaking its way down off "the hill.".
Many family members, friends, or acquaintances, who live in Santa Fe, Albuquerque, or some other community not threatened by the fires, seem to share similar anecdotes about how their phone rang at two in the morning, and the voice at the other end stated pleadingly, "We have to leave Los Alamos, we'll be at your house in a few hours." The early hours brought together the sleepless hosts and travel-weary evacuees in a shared experience of strong coffee, stronger emotions, and uncertain stares.

I went to Los Alamos soon after folks had started moving back after the evacuation. The damage on the west part of town was severe. Lots of homes were literally burned to the ground. One was stricken by the flattened fragments of families' dwellings and dreams. The hellscape was accented by random auto corpses, now blistered and blackened, and pretzeled pipes where plumbing once had been. A bizarre blob of multi-colored plastic defied the viewer to visualize the child's playset which had resounded with giggles and glee only days before. Charcoal posts, pointed reminders of once proud Ponderosas, now peered lifelessly on a few paltry pillars of mortar and brick rising amid rubble, the ironic reminders of the chimneys and hearths which once heated these homes.
Along the streets and roads where the fire had consumed more than two hundred dwellings, remarkably there would be one or two seemingly unscathed. These were the lucky ones, I suppose. Most striking--and encouraging--was that amid all this destruction, folks were just rolling up their sleeves and wasting no time in dealing with task of getting on with life.
It will take a while to remove all the debris and put things in order again. For those who have lived there for decades, only to have every material possession consumed by flame, it will be impossible to rebuild. Nonetheless, hope seems to be far outweighing despair. This tragedy has had a strong effect on re-affirming New Mexico's sense of community. That, at least, has been good.

Four NAMA members have homes in White Rock, which fortunately the fire left unsinged. Two others live--or lived--in Los Alamos. Of these latter, one I have been unable to contact, but the casualty list tells me that he surely lost his home to the fire. The other, Kristi Beguin, returned to Los Alamos to find her home destroyed. I have included below some of what Kristi had to say about how the fire has affected her.
"Yes, my home was destroyed, as were the homes of my in-laws, and my husband's grandmother and uncle, and of course, many friends. It is a difficult time. But we are working hard at staying focused and positive. Fortunately our retail business was not destroyed, despite the fact that houses 2 blocks away were burned. All in all it's just really a huge hassle--a forced life change and move and a ton of paperwork. We are going to rebuild, however, and I look forward to that. But it will take time to get there."
Kristi continued, "A friend already gave me a new copy of Mushrooms Demystified, so already I'm getting prepared for the mushroom season. I'm very curious to see what will pop up when the monsoons hit. At least the ski hill was spared, so there will still be plenty of boletes and chanterelles here very soon. Today I saw a huge Agaricus growing in a burned area--not sure what species, but I was psyched to see it."

The Los Alamos Fire was certainly not the only one affecting New Mexico--or the Southwest--this year. However, the other fires have affected mostly uninhabited forest. We're actually used to--though not usually happy about--having chunks of our forest burn each year. There's certainly no pleasure in seeing the homes of friends and family destroyed as a result. Nonetheless, one of the merits of being a mycology enthusiast is being willing after each burn to wink and say knowingly, "Maybe we should visit there next Spring."

D.M.Wallis - 12 July 2000