Up until 1970, the forests in New Mexico would ignite in a fiery burn and reset the canopy every 7 to 15 years. But then that stopped, and the forest grew thick and dense, and by 2000, forest rangers felt it a good idea to start a controlled forest fire. Smokey the bear disagrees...
What follows was later named, The Cerra Grande, or the big fire. Of course it got out of control and the entire city of Los Alamos had to be evacuated. The thousands of people displaced, the unfortunate few who didn't make it, and the millions of dollars of damages to property weren't even the worst consequence. You see, when topsoil is burnt it becomes hydrophobic, and with no vegetation to soak up rain water, the city had an even worse problem on their hands - how to control the rain season (late summer). More damages ensued....
Now, in 2008, what remains are only the signs of such an epic fire. Above is a picture I took of a hike to the top of the Cerra Grande, a mountaintop named after its own fiery demise.
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