Park Service director apologizes for New Mexico fire

WASHINGTON - The director of the National Park Service apologized Wednesday for a fire his agency set that raged out of control and destroyed more than 200 homes in Los Alamos, N.M.

Bob Stanton told a joint hearing of two House Resource subcommittees that the agency would do ''everything in our power to ensure that there is no repeat of this kind of tragedy on National Park Service land.''

''I want to express on behalf of the National Park Service our deepest apology to the men and women of Los Alamos and all of New Mexico,'' he said.

Officials at Bandelier National Monument set the fire May 4 to clear underbrush. High winds whipped the fire out of control and another fire set to control the first became the inferno that burned into the town, forcing the evacuation of 25,000 people and causing hundreds of millions of dollars in damage.

Among the hardest hit areas was the Los Alamos National Laboratory, where the atomic bomb was developed.

An Interior Department report blamed Park Service officials for poor planning and several mistakes in carrying out the so-called ''prescribed fire.'' Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt indefinitely halted all prescribed burns in the West.

Stanton said the agency is considering what action to take against the officials responsible for the fire, and also is reviewing its fire-setting procedures.

Richard Burick, deputy director for operations at the Los Alamos lab, told lawmakers that someone at the facility urged Park Service officials not to set the fire.

''His exact words were: 'Please don't set that fire,' '' Burick said.

Karen Wade, the Park Service's director of the area that includes Bandelier, disputed that account.

''Our employees said no one expressed to them they opposed the burn until after the burn had started,'' she said.

Lawmakers at the hearing expressed disgust with the Park Service.

''People do not pay their taxes for Uncle Sam to burn down neighborhoods,'' said Rep. Jay Inslee, D-Wash.

New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson said the decision to start the fire was ''common sense out the window.''

''You don't set a fire when the wind is going to be blowing 50 miles per hour,'' he said. ''We want to be reimbursed and we want to be reimbursed now.''

Rep. Heather Wilson, R-N.M., said House Republican leaders have agreed to have a compensation package added to a military spending bill expected to be completed next week. There was no indication how much money would be included.