Los Alamos evacuation ordered because of wildfire

LOS ALAMOS, N.M. – Los Alamos County officials are ordering a mandatory evacuation of the northern New Mexico community of Los Alamos because of the threat from a fast-moving wildfire.

County officials said an emergency shelter was open in the community of Espanola for residents who had no place to stay.

Los Alamo is home to Los Alamos National Laboratory, a nuclear weapons lab that developed the atomic bomb. The lab complex covers about 36 square miles and includes 2,000 buildings.

Nearly 18,000 people live in Los Alamos and the bedroom community of White Rock, which is not being ordered to evacuate.