Thousands flee as fire nears town, Los Alamos nuke lab

More environmental bad news from the United States, again involving a nuclear facility.  Meanwhile wilfdires are spreading right across the south of the country.

Mandatory evacuations ordered; first atomic bomb was built at complex

Thousands of residents calmly fled Monday from the mesa-top town that's home to the Los Alamos nuclear laboratory, ahead of an approaching wildfire that sent up towering plumes of smoke, rained down ash and sparked a spot fire on lab property where scientists 50 years ago conducted underground tests of radioactive explosives.

For more see:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/43544283/ns/weather/
http://www.theatlanticwire.com/national/2011/06/fire-and-flood-waters-threaten-us-nuclear-facilities/39281/


Meanwhile Max Mogren is giving ongoing coverage of this and the Nebraska situation at:

http://www.oilfreefun.com/2011/06/los-alamos-nuke-lab-wildfire-here-we-go.html


Update as of 16.00 NZ time
http://www.wtvr.com/news/nationworld/la-na-los-alamos-fire-20110628,0,7679247.story

Meanwhile, the latest from Fort Calhoun, Nebraska...