Wildfires Force Los Alamos Nuclear Lab Evacuation

Officials say all nuclear material is safe, but the same can hardly be said for the town, in which 30 buildings have already been destroyed.

The U.S.' nuclear research lab at Los Alamos, New Mexico, and its surrounding areas have been evacuated due to encroaching wildfires, but officials say all potentially harmful materials are safely stored away. The massive 44,000-acre fire has already destroyed a few buildings near the facility itself, and has scorched structures that hosted nuclear experiments during the Cold War. About 13,000 residents of Los Alamos county are also currently under evacuation order. Los Alamos authorities said nuclear waste held in drums is located miles away from where the fire stands now, and that preventive measures were taken during the facility's construction to protect it from wildfires.