FILE - The Cerro Pelado Fire, seen on May 6, 2022, from Cochiti, N.M, burns in the Jemez Mountains. The U.S. Forest Service said on Monday, July 24, 2023, that its own prescribed burn started the 2022 wildfire that nearly burned into Los Alamos, N.M. (Robert Browman/The Albuquerque Journal via AP, File) Robert Browman/AP
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — The U.S. Forest Service says its own prescribed burn started a 2022 wildfire that nearly reached Los Alamos, New Mexico.
The agency on Monday published findings of its investigation into causes of the Cerro Pelado fire that burned across more than 60 square miles and crept within a few miles of the city of Los Alamos and its companion U.S. national security lab.
Investigations traced the April 2022 outbreak of the wildfire under dry conditions to smoldering remains of a prescribed burn of forest debris commissioned by the Forest Service earlier in the winter.
The revelation prompted immediate rebukes against the Forest Service by New Mexico political leaders.
The agency on Monday published findings of its investigation into causes of the Cerro Pelado fire that burned across more than 60 square miles and crept within a few miles of the city of Los Alamos and its companion U.S. national security lab.
Investigations traced the April 2022 outbreak of the wildfire under dry conditions to smoldering remains of a prescribed burn of forest debris commissioned by the Forest Service earlier in the winter.
The revelation prompted immediate rebukes against the Forest Service by New Mexico political leaders.
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