Firefighters Contain Over a Third of Fire in New Mexico
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: And now we go to New Mexico and the battle against the huge wildfire that swept through the town of Los Alamos. Firefighters are holding the line now, but they're also bracing for more strong, gusty winds set for today. CNN's Greg LaMotte joins us live, he's in Los Alamos with the latest. Greg, good morning.</s>GREG LAMOTTE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning. Well, residents returned to their homes last night. Today for many, they are returning to work. I have spoken with a grocery store over here, some folks in a grocery store. They're very excited about being back at their jobs after all of this time. But the concern is outside of town. The weather forecast calling for wind gusts of 50 miles per hour or more. North of the fire line are what are known as the Puye Ruins and they now may be threatened by all the fires, these are ruins that date back to the 1200s. So far 1500 archaeological sites have been damaged or destroyed. The U.S. Forest Service has eight archaeologists working side by side with the firefighters in hopes of preventing damage to any more sites. Thirty-five percent of the fire has been contained, 260 homes were destroyed, 400 families have been affected. And while there's excitement about getting back to their jobs, getting back to their communities today, for many there are deep concerns about what their future holds. And they are very upset by the fact that this fire was started by the U.S. Park Service.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I would not have lost this car had there not been a fire, I would not have lost my home had there not been a fire and I wouldn't have been displaced in Santa Fe, paying more, had there not been this fire. I'm not looking -- I said: There's no one to bl -- it was an accident, but I want to see some kind of compensation for my loss.</s>LAMOTTE: A town hall meeting was held last night. In the meantime, U.S. Senator Pete Domenici is seeking an $85 million emergency aid package for the Los Alamos laboratory. One quarter of that 43 square mile facility burned. We are told that that package could be voted on in the U.S. Senate by as early as this evening. In the meantime, the Clinton administration is also said to be seeking an emergency aid package for the victims of this fire. Again, the town is coming back to life. Traffic is flowing in and out of the community. Most people are returning to their jobs today. There is a certain level of excitement and relief that the town, for the most part, is as it was before the fires except for the communities -- are the homes and the neighborhoods that were burned. That will be a longer process for those people to get their lives back together. Again, the big concern today is the wind gusts of 50 miles per hour or more. Firefighters, some 1200 of them are out battling those blazes, their work made that much more difficult by the winds that are expected this afternoon. Greg LaMotte, CNN live, Los Alamos, New Mexico.</s>KAGAN: Greg, thank you.