Lightning touches off blazes

RENO — Storms packing lightning sparked more than a dozen brush fires across northern Nevada on Friday, including a 3,000-acre blaze that was burning toward U.S. Interstate 80 in Elko County.

In western Nevada along the Sierra’s eastern front, a fire that started about 2 p.m. had burned at least 500 acres in Douglas County 60 miles south of Reno and northwest of Topaz Lake, where 300 structures were nearby but only one immediately threatened.

At least a half-dozen smaller fires were touched off north of Reno, where some residents in the Red Rocks area voluntarily evacuated for a few hours before rain started to fall and firefighters got the upper hand.

Further to the north, across the California line in the Plumas National Forest, about 100 firefighters continued to battle a fire that had burned about 3,000 acres since lightning touched it off Thursday.

The fire in Elko County about 280 miles east of Reno burned two structures and several outbuildings, but no injuries were reported, fire officials said.

Interstate 80 remained open but the fire had burned within 5 miles southwest of the town of Carlin along the interstate and heavy smoke and ash threatened the closure of the highway.