This month marks 20 years since a normal springtime Sunday erupted into the hell known as the Hondo Fire.
It was a nightmarish situation on May 5, 1996.
The fire burned more than 10,000 acres and took out more than two dozen homes in Lama. Within 24 hours of the ignition, 400 firefighters — including U.S. Forest Service hotshot crews pulled off of other fires — came to the front line. Then-governor Gary Johnson declared a state of emergency. In those first hours, folks knew little. Who was at risk of losing their home and who was at risk of losing their life?
The pendulum swung between utter isolation in the face of fear and disaster, and the larger community that came out in full force when the ground was left burnt, cinders smoking.
“We never expected the big one to happen here ... This is the worst loss of homes we’ve ever experienced in this area,” said Marc Trujillo, forest management officer at the time.
For many in Taos County, the threat of a disastrous wildfire took an unexpected turn for reality that day. As they say, it hit close to home.
Twenty years on, devastating fire is no less of a threat.
Climate change, drought, insect die-off and encroaching development near forests have collectively helped create the mega-fires of the 21st century.
In 2011, the Las Conchas fire burned dangerously close to Los Alamos National Laboratory and forced the metro areas downstream to turn off the water supplies because of the ash-black river.