"This is so nerve-racking," said Johnna Montoya, as she loaded pictures into one of her family's three vehicles Sunday night in White Rock, just in case a voluntary evacuation became mandatory. The last time fire forced the family to evacuate was 2000, when the Cerro Grande Fire swept into Los Alamos, destroying 235 homes and burning 48,000 acres.

Las Conchas Fire began Sunday at 1 p.m. on private land in the Jemez Mountains 12 miles southwest of Los Alamos. By midnight, the fire had grown to between 4,000 and 6,000 acres, and had burned within one mile of the southwest of the Los Alamos National Laboratory boundary. The fire's cause remained under investigation Sunday night. The flames traveled quickly from tree crown to crown. Wind flung burning embers more than half a mile away.

The massive plume of smoke joined with the one from the Pacheco Fire burning through the Pecos Wilderness in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains.

A dozen engines, nine hand crews, three helicopters, two Hot Shot crews and five bulldozers fought the fire until a Type 1 southwest region interagency command team and more resources could arrive today. A Type 1 team is the highest level of firefighting resources, called in when a fire is complex and threatens resources such as Los Alamos National Laboratory.

By midafternoon Sunday, Las Conchas Fire had forced the evacuation of about 100 residents in the small communities of Las Conchas and Cochiti Mesa. An evacuation center was set up at La Cueva Fire Station near Jemez Springs.

Las Conchas Fire reached Bandelier National Monument by late afternoon, and visitors were evacuated from the park. By 8 p.m., the fire was burning into Frijoles Canyon. A voluntary evacuation was ordered for White Rock and Los Alamos due to smoke.

Gov. Susana Martinez ordered the New Mexico National Guard to Los Alamos to assist in case evacuations became mandatory. Los Alamos National Laboratory is closed today due to the fire, and all nonessential personnel are asked to remain off site.

The Montoya family was celebrating Johnna's birthday at a restaurant when they saw the plume of smoke. "I thought it was rain clouds at first," said her husband, Joel Montoya.

When they realized it was smoke, they drove back to the house and started packing up, even before the voluntary evacuation was issued. The Montoyas will wait for a mandatory evacuation order before they load up their three dogs and cat and go stay in a travel trailer they have parked at their son's house in Española. But they want to be ready.

"I never thought Los Alamos would burn, and it did, so you never know," Johnna Montoya said.

Joel Montoya was prepared to take his Fender guitar. "This is one of the important things," he said.

The couple's daughter, Megan Montoya, was loading her most precious keepsakes: Pictures and mementos of her son, Blaise, who died last year when he was only 4 days old.

Outside their house, blackened pine needles and ash drifted onto their yard and sidewalk.

N.M. 4 was closed past White Rock, and N.M. 501 was closed at the junction into the lab, with security officials turning people around. Traffic was heavy as people drove into White Rock and Los Alamos to pack, or were heading out of town.

A Shell gas station in White Rock was busy with people filling up their vehicles and deciding what to do.

Isaac Martinez, a lab employee, already had moved his horse and a goat to his father's place in Chimayó. He saw the plume of smoke as he and his family drove home from a Colorado camping trip. He was on his way back to his White Rock house to get his wife, four children and their things.

Troy Belyeu was filling his vehicle with gas and debating his next move. He had to evacuate from White Rock during Cerro Grande. He thought the fire would get worse, but he was not sure when he would leave.

In Los Alamos, people were also preparing, some surely praying that this time the flames wouldn't reach their town.

John N. and Sue Ellen Hains remember Cerro Grande well. They didn't lose their Los Alamos home, but they watched a landscape they loved burn down.

On Sunday, they were not worried about their belongings at the apartment complex where they live. But they were packing up enough clothes and supplies for a five-day stay in Albuquerque, just in case mandatory evacuations were ordered.

"I'd rather leave now than in the middle of the night," Sue Ellen Hains said.

She's worried about people whose homes are in the path of the fire and those with breathing problems, who are suffering from the heavy smoke.

"I remember I could see flames from Cerro Grande on Sunday (in 2000), and we didn't evacuate until Wednesday. This is the same scenario. It is déjà vu."

Contact Staci Matlock at 986-3055 or smatlock@sfnewmexican.com.