LOS ALAMOS, N.M. (AP) -- At Immaculate Heart of Mary Catholic Church, parishioners sat in a church that had been cloaked in smoke only a week ago in this mountain community best known as the birthplace of the atomic bomb.
"I know that you have suffered so much in the past one and a half weeks," said Archbishop Michael Sheehan of the Archdiocese of Santa Fe, "but we can sift through, even through the ashes, to find the good."Sheehan spent the past week going from shelter to shelter, visiting residents displaced by the fire that ravaged more than 47,000 acres of forest and 200 homes here.
Some parishioners attended church in blue jeans, while others wore ash-stained shoes. But most were optimistic, even those who lost their homes.
"We lost most everything, but we're together," said Steve Greene, a physicist at Los Alamos National Laboratory. He and his wife lost their home when Los Alamos was ordered evacuated in the face of the wildfire May 10. "We're together and we didn't get hurt and we've got plans. We're going to rebuild."
Greene and his wife plan to move to a home in Tesuque while the one in Los Alamos is rebuilt.
He even managed to joke. "Well, we don't have to move much," he said. "We're already packed."
A week ago, the Rev. Charles Brown and Immaculate Heart of Mary parishioners held Mass in a church in Pojoaque. At home in their own church Sunday, they found out how friends fared when the flames roared through the community's northern and western edges.
The area went up in flames after a controlled burn, started by the National Park Service to clear brush, leaped out of control when winds kicked up.
Diane Dawghton was at the church service with her husband William and three daughters, ages 9, 6 and 4. Their home survived -- the one behind and the one in front were destroyed.
"Most of our friends in the community are here," she said, "and it's really nice to hear people say, 'Hey, we're thinking about you."'
Students streamed into Los Alamos High School this morning, many laughing, ready to attend classes for the first time since May 5. The school, which was undamaged, has an enrollment of 1,165.
"It will be nice to have some closure to the school year," said Julina Rundberg, a 16-year-old sophomore.
Principal Lynne Saccaro was meeting individually with the freshmen through senior classes because each had students who lost their homes.
She also was letting students know what activities will go on, "the prom, the yearbook -- all the things that are important to them."
"I want to reassure them that everybody is here and we're still Los Alamos High School," Saccaro said.
The high school staff returned to work late last week.
"We were finding out where everybody has been," Saccaro said Friday. "We had good laughs and now everybody is ready."
Los Alamos National Laboratory, which lost some buildings, was reopened Sunday with only a small number of the 10,000 people who work there reporting back. Employees were asked not to show up unless they were notified to do so by line managers.
Lab officials were evaluating every building -- all 2,000 structures scattered throughout 43 square miles. Several buildings suffered smoke damage and electrical interruptions, the lab said Friday.
And local government officials, from Los Alamos and the surrounding pueblos, took a tour where lab officials once again reassured them that the fire had not destroyed or seriously damaged any of the facilities containing nuclear material.
However, Lee McAtee, the laboratory's deputy director for environment, safety and health, said officials will pinpoint old dumping sites in the canyons surrounding the laboratory and evaluate the possible risks -- including runoff from flooding. He said a plan of action will be developed at a later date.
"We just don't have that information yet," McAtee said.
On the Net: Los Alamos National Laboratory: www.lanl.gov/worldview
Bandelier National Monument: www.nps.gov/band