 At the same time, Bandelier officials faced a most disagreeable dilemma.Proceeding with the burn risked disaster if control was lost, as indeed happened.However, not doing the burn might also have been disastrous because the entire southern slope of Cerro Grande was tinder-dry and ready to ignite catastrophically in the event of a lightning strike (hardly unusual in the Jemez in the spring) or human carelessness with fire.