May 19, 2000

'Controlled burn' sadly reinforces an old joke

In the annals of bureaucratic stupidity and bumbling, the fire that consumed Los Alamos last week surely has few rivals. What began as a routine "controlled burn" to clear dead brush and, ahem, prevent a major blaze, quickly became an inferno that nearly consumed the entire town and the federal laboratories where the first atomic bomb was built.

Los Alamos locals say strong winds frequently arise in the spring, which raises a question of the wisdom of conducting a controlled burn at all. Worse still, the Park Service, for reasons as yet unexplained, did not receive a National Weather Service forecast that predicted the troublesome winds.

The end result is nothing less than a catastrophe. Nearly 300 homes were destroyed, and there was as yet unknown damage to the federal labs.

Investigations surely will follow, and those responsible should be held accountable.

All of which gives new meaning to the old joke, "I'm from the government, and I'm here to help you."