Los Alamos County on ready as Valles Caldera evacuates for wildfire
Los Alamos County stayed on READY as Sierra Los Pinos went from prepare-to-evacuate to evacuate immediately in 48 minutes, with shelter opened in Jemez Springs.
Los Alamos County was on READY as Sandoval County moved Sierra Los Pinos from a wildfire readiness alert to an emergency evacuation order in 48 minutes, with shelters set at La Cueva Mt. Baptist Church and the Jemez Springs Senior Center after the McCauley Springs Fire intensified. Sandoval County’s alert system first told residents of Jemez Springs Campground and Sierra Los Pinos to prepare to evacuate at 7:55 a.m., then ordered Sierra Los Pinos out at 8:43 a.m., a fast shift that showed how quickly conditions can turn in the Jemez corridor.
For Los Alamos residents, READY means more than watching the horizon. The Los Alamos County Fire Department’s Ready, Set, Go guidance says READY means creating and maintaining defensible space and hardening homes against flying embers, while SET means being aware and preparing family and property for evacuation and GO means leaving early for safety. The same county guidance says a Red Flag Warning, driven by low humidity, warm temperatures, dry fuels and strong winds, can bring extreme fire behavior and demands immediate action.
That warning is playing out against one of northern New Mexico’s most fire-prone landscapes. Valles Caldera National Preserve covers 88,900 acres in the Jemez Mountains, sits between about 8,000 and 11,300 feet, and is surrounded by Santa Fe National Forest except where it borders the Pueblo of Santa Clara and Bandelier National Monument. The National Park Service says century-old fire suppression and other land-use changes have left built-up fuels that can support high-severity fire; the preserve was designated on July 25, 2000, and the park approved a new Fire Management Plan on Sept. 2, 2025, to give managers expanded tools for lightning-caused fires and prescribed burns.
The preserve also holds ancestral Native lands, ranching history and habitat for the Jemez Mountains salamander, Mexican spotted owl and New Mexico meadow jumping mouse. At the same time, the Rio Fire west of Española and north of Los Alamos had burned 147 acres as of June 23, adding smoke and urgency to a week already shaped by multiple fire starts across northern New Mexico. With the county on READY and Sandoval County’s alerts changing in less than an hour, the messages now coming from official channels matter more than rumor.
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