Los Alamos residents were allowed to return home as the threat subsided from the largest wildfire in New Mexico history

Santa Fe, N.M., July 3 (Reuters) - Los Alamos County Police
officials lifted the evacuation of Los Alamos on Sunday and 10,000 displaced residents were allowed to return home as the threat subsided from the largest wildfire in New Mexico history.

The Los Alamos nuclear weapons laboratory, birthplace of the atomic bomb, ended a state of emergency on Saturday and said it planned to reopen on Wednesday.

The Las Conchas fire, which has consumed 114,000 acres and
is still burning toward the north, no longer threatened the
town, said Los Alamos County Police Chief Wayne Torpy.

"We urge residents to be patient, to be aware that public
safety and other workers are still engaged in recovery efforts,
and that smoke in the community can still reduce visibility for
motorists," Torpy said.

The fire forced the closure of the national lab for a week
and burned dangerously close to its property. Flames were spotted at least once on nuclear lab land.

"Los Alamos National Laboratory appears to have escaped
serious damage from the Las Conchas fire," Lab Director Charles
McMillan said in a memo. "We are grateful for the tremendous
efforts of emergency responders that helped spare the Lab and
the town of Los Alamos."

Laboratory personnel will check each of the more than 2,000
buildings on its 36-square-mile campus before it reopens.

source: www.latimes.com