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.

Los Alamos National Laboratory officials said that the spot fire was soon contained and no contamination was released. They also assured that radioactive materials stored in various spots elsewhere on the sprawling lab were safe from flames.

The wildfire, which began Sunday, had destroyed 30 structures south and west of Los Alamos by early Monday and forced the closure of the lab while stirring memories of a devastating blaze in May 2000 that destroyed hundreds of homes and buildings.

"The hair on the back of your neck goes up," Los Alamos County fire chief Doug Tucker said of first seeing the fire in the Santa Fe National Forest on Sunday. "I saw that plume and I thought, 'Oh my God here we go again.'"

The Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico will be closed Monday as fire crews battle a wildfire raging nearby, a statement on the facility's website said.


"All laboratory facilities will be closed for all activities and nonessential employees are directed to remain off site," the statement said. "Employees are considered nonessential and should not report to work unless specifically directed by their line managers."

A spokesman for the New Mexico State Forestry Division, however, told CNN the order to evacuate Los Alamos was voluntary, and stressed that there is no immediate threat to the facility.

Firefighters and rescuers in Russia's Far East extinguished three forest fires over the past 24 hours and continue battling 11 more forest fires, a spokesman for the regional emergencies ministry said on Sunday.

"Satellite monitoring and aircraft surveillance registered a total of 14 forest fires in the last 24 hours. Three of them covering an area 43 hectares were extinguished," the spokesman said.

He added that the remaining 11 wildfires had spread over the area of 519 hectares.

Washington - Tornadoes, floods, wildfires, snowmelt, thunderstorms, drought - for Americans, it was a spring to remember.

Government weather researchers said yesterday that, while similar extremes have occurred throughout modern American history, never before have they occurred in a single month, as they did in April.

The last time anything remotely like it happened was the spring of 1927, which also had many tornadoes and flooding, said Harold Brooks of the Storm Prediction Center in Oklahoma.

Albuquerque, New Mexico - Gusty winds and high temperatures are hampering firefighters trying to protect homes, a popular national park and tinder dry patches of forest from several wildfires burning throughout the Southwest.

New areas under threat after 1,700 homes were cleared out
Another afternoon flare-up of the fire outside Sierra Vista, Ariz., was expected Friday, triggering new evacuations a day after 1,700 homes were cleared out.

The wildfire in southern Arizona's Coronado National Forest is within a few miles of Sierra Vista, population 40,000, and has destroyed or damaged at least 47 homes and 10 other structures over 18,000 acres.

The number of firefighters deployed has grown to nearly 800, and soldiers from a nearby Army base were being trained to battle the fire should it enter the base.

Officials on Thursday closed off a 12-mile stretch of State Route 92 due to the conditions from the Monument fire. One county official driving along a still open section of SR 92 said he saw flames as tall as 40 feet on either side of the highway Thursday afternoon.

Police and fire officials used sirens and speakers to exhort residents in the unincorporated area of about 3,200 homes to flee, azcentral.com reported.

Many people trying to flee were caught in traffic jams as roadblocks impeded their progress, azcentral.com reported.

Residents on the outskirts of Sierra Vista, Ariz., were told to evacuate Thursday, after 40-foot flames jumped a highway and high winds briefly grounded an air attack.

The wildfire in southern Arizona's Coronado National Forest is within 10 miles of Sierra Vista, population 40,000, and has destroyed or damaged at least 40 houses and 10 other structures over 14 square miles, or 9,500 acres.

Hundreds of residents in canyon areas outside the city had evacuated over the previous two days and more than 500 firefighters are attacking the blaze.

During the peak burning time Thursday afternoon, the fire is "probably going to look like a bomb went off," said fire information officer Dale Thompson. The next three days will be tough on the fire lines because of the winds gusting up to 40 mph, he said.

Officials on Thursday closed off a 12-mile stretch of State Route 92 due to the conditions. One county official driving along a still open section of SR 92 said he saw flames as tall as 40 feet on either side of the highway Thursday afternoon.

Winds and searing temperatures also were to move into New Mexico, where firefighters battling a blaze that surrounded Carlsbad Caverns National Park had it 70 percent contained and it was no longer threatening the park's visitors center and employee housing. The fire started Monday, charred about 30,500 acres of desert scrub and forced the park to close.

Interstate 25 reopened at 4 a.m. Thursday after being closed for four days because of the wildfire near Raton, N.M. However, Exit 454 in New Mexico and exit 2 in Colorado were to remain off limits Thursday because of the blaze burning on about 26,000 acres. Some nearby residents were able to return home Wednesday.

A massive brush fire that has been burning for nearly a week is almost extinguished thanks to some heavy rain.

Since last Sunday, fire crews have been trying to put out the brush fire, which consumed more than 58,000 acres in the Everglades. Krome Avenue, from Southwest Eighth Street to Okeechobee Road was blocked off as fire rescue crews battled the fire.

High-country residents may nervously watch snow melt and rivers rise this week, as smoke from distant fires continues to choke parts of Colorado, authorities said Sunday.

Cooler temperatures this weekend slowed the melt of a still-abundant snowpack, according to the National Weather Service. However, temperatures are on their way up again.

"As temperatures continue to be above normal, mountain snowmelt is expected to accelerate again," the National Weather Service said Sunday. "Mountain streams will continue to see high streamflows through the end of the week."

Jackson County is under a flood warning until 1:30 p.m. Tuesday, and Grand County is under a flood advisory until noon Tuesday.

Colorado's snowmelt usually peaks by mid-June, but only about 45 percent of snowpack in some areas has melted this year, forecasters said.

Smoke continues to suffocate other parts of Colorado.

West Miami-Dade brush fire consumes over 50,000 acres

The brush fire battle in West Miami-Dade isn't getting any easier for firefighters as it continues to burn Friday morning.

The fire has now consumed more than 50,000 acres and is about 55 percent contained, according to the Florida Division of Forestry.

On Thursday, firefighters evacuated homes in the Miccosukee Tiger Trail complex after the fire came as close as 40 feet to the homes. Miami Dade Fire Rescue along with The Florida Division of Forestry teamed up to knock down the flames

"We knew that we couldn't stop it," said Scott Peterich with the Division of Forestry. "So, Miami Dade Fire Rescue and us decided to go ahead and do this counter fire. We created a back fire, and now we have a black area making it safe for the structures."