Los Alamos: Cerro Grande and the Plateau
In May 2000, the Cerro Grande Fire swept across the Jemez Mountains, forcing the evacuation of roughly 18,000 Los Alamos residents. Flames burned into the edges of Los Alamos National Laboratory, scorching canyons and infrastructure and raising lasting concerns that fire and flood could carry radioactive contamination through the watershed.
Video Documentation
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Watershed and Place
The town of Los Alamos sits on the Pajarito Plateau, a stair-stepped expanse of volcanic tuff carved by parallel canyons that fall east toward the Rio Grande. Pine and mixed-conifer forests blanket the mesas and slopes, feeding intermittent streams that become sudden, erosive floods after fire.
The plateau drains into the Rio Grande watershed, where canyons like Pueblo, Mortandad, and Los Alamos carry runoff, sediments, and—potentially—legacy contaminants from decades of nuclear weapons research and production. After Cerro Grande, post-fire storms cut deep channels through ash and soil, testing long-held assumptions about containment and control.
To the west, the Jemez Mountains rise as the eroded rim of an ancient caldera, source of both the ash that built the plateau and the forests that fueled the fire. This high country holds snowpack, springs, and cultural sites that tie the fate of Los Alamos to downstream Pueblos and communities along the Rio Grande.
Visual Timeline: Fire and Recovery
Pre-Disaster
Caption placeholder: describe the plateau, canyons, and forest conditions before the Cerro Grande Fire.
Disaster
Caption placeholder: document fire behavior, evacuation, and the burn into Los Alamos National Laboratory canyons.
Post-Disaster
Caption placeholder: show erosion, regrowth, monitoring infrastructure, and community return.
Associated Stories
Placeholder: add links, summaries, or excerpts from oral histories, scientific reports, policy debates, and community narratives connected to the Cerro Grande Fire and the Pajarito Plateau.