Nevada blazes blacken range
RENO — Firefighters battled another day of triple-digit temperatures, choking smoke and difficult terrain on Monday as they challenged lightning-sparked wildland fires that blackened more than 245 square miles across Northern Nevada but spared dozens of homes.
Nevada was just one of many Western states battling raging fires:
• In Utah, firefighters won a small victory over the massive Milford Flat Fire in central Utah on Monday, getting the 468-square-mile blaze 10 percent contained thanks to low winds and increased resources.
Fire managers expect to add 10 additional crews to the effort to extinguish what is said to be the largest fire in Utah history. It’s currently the nation’s No. 2 priority wildfire.
So far the fire, burning about 120 miles south of Salt Lake City, has raced through 300,000 acres of extremely dry sagebrush, cheat grass and pinion juniper.
• In South Dakota, rain and cooler temperatures overnight slowed a wildfire that had raced out of a canyon, destroyed at least 30 houses and killed a homeowner who went back to try to save his belongings, a top fire official said Monday.
The blaze was started by lightning on Saturday, and by Monday it had covered an estimated 11 square miles just southwest of Hot Springs, on the southern side of the Black Hills. It was 20 percent contained and crews expected to have it fully contained by Thursday. A state highway that cuts through the fire area remained closed Monday.
• In California, Crews in California’s eastern Sierra Nevada gained ground against a fire that had charred at least 37,000 acres, or 58 square miles, in the Inyo National Forest.
That fire was 55 percent contained Monday after cooler temperatures and lighter wind allowed firefighters to make their first real progress, forestry officials said. Full containment was expected by Wednesday.
But a 12-square-mile wildfire burning in the Los Padres National Forest in Southern California had expanded into dry brush and steep hills of the nearby San Rafael Wilderness Area, Santa Barbara County Fire Captain Eli Iskow said Monday.
Back in Nevada, the 20,500-acre Thomas fire burned into the back yards of a residential area of Winnemucca, about 170 miles east of Reno, but was stopped short of the houses. An electrical substation and a handful of outbuildings were destroyed.
Calmer winds aided crews on Monday, according to fire spokesman Pete Jankowski, although temperatures peaked at 102 degrees.
"We’ve made a lot of progress. The weather’s really cooperating," he said.
Jankowski said the weekend winds of 30-40 mph were extreme while Monday’s 10-15 mph breezes were more predictable.
About 1,500 evacuees were allowed to return home on Sunday.
Initial reports by officials that the 32-square-mile blaze had damaged an unknown number of homes proved untrue after crews were able to scour the area, Jankowski said.
The fire also shut down Interstate 80, delayed Union Pacific and Amtrak trains and killed livestock. No injuries were reported.
"It was pretty hairy for quite a while and people thought they would go back to nothing," Humboldt County Undersheriff Curtiss Kull said. "It was a huge wall of flame coming at the homes. It’s amazing that no homes were lost."
