Small Mistakes That Cost Millions To Fix

Published on October 2, 2019 By Chloe Draws

A Controlled Fire That Went AWOL – $1.5 billion

Controlled fires are an important part of healthy preservation in rural areas. However, the town of Los Alamos, New Mexico, got far more than it bargained for when it conducted a controlled fire in May 2000.

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Organizers lost control of the fire and it spread to become the deadly Cerro Grande Fire. More than 400 families lost homes and possessions and the fire destroyed more than 150,000 acres of land. The damage cost the town more than $1 billion.