"Fire, Fire, Fire, Fire...

...pour on water." Scotland's Burning, Unknown (Folk song).

So, just a quick beg for prayer. These photos are only a few miles from my parents house, and where I grew up. There's a big wildfire, now called the Las Conchas Wildfire, and it's only 12 miles from the Lab in Los Alamos, and even closer to my parent's house. The whole county is on the verge of evacuation, with my dad right in the middle of it. My mom is staying with my grandparents at present, which is good for her allergies and breathing (she's quite allergic to the smoke) but that puts the entire burden of evacuating and packing important documents and sentimental items on my poor dad.

These photos courtesy Pajarito Ski Mountain Webcam within the last hour. To see live webcams of the fire, go to this site.

The fire began at 1pm yesterday (June 26) and by 2:15pm it had reached over 3500 acres. It is extremely windy and dry (ideal fire weather, in other words) with high temperatures across the state. (It reached 111 degrees in Portales, and was still in the upper nineties at 11pm.) The Laboratory is closed with the New Mexico National Guard being sent in by the Governor along with several other city fire fighting units to try and prevent another burn like Cerro Grande in 2000. (350 homes were burnt, and the entire county evacuated, my family and myself included).

The fire is beyond Frijoles Canyon in Bandelier National Monument. Bandelier has been evacuated, and voluntary evacuation has been issued for White Rock and Los Alamos.

This is especially tragic to me as some of my favorite childhood haunts--the Valle Caldera and Frijoles River--have now been burned.

Pray for safety of persons and property as everyone prepares to leave, and for my dad's health and spirits as all the burden of their stuff is on him. Pray that our house is safe. Pray that all the brave fire-fighters are safe and that the community bands together again like they did in 2000 to help everyone.

The fire is now 3,500 acres + and has reached Frijoles Canyon within Bandelier National Monument. Bandelier National Monument has been evacuated. Voluntary evacuations have been issued for White Rock and Los Alamos.