DCNR NEWS RELEASE
During the past week in Nevada, lightning has produced 186 fires and burned about 252,000 acres. As of today August 11, 2012, Nevada has 15 large uncontained fires. The largest is the Holloway fire on the border with Oregon at 260,000 acres. Evacuations are in place in Mountain City, Paradise Valley and McDermitt, Nevada, as fires have threatened those communities in the last two days. In addition to the communities that have been threatened, Nevada is losing large amounts of wildlife habitat and some of our remaining sagebrush ecosystems.
Northern Nevada, along with southern Idaho and Oregon, are experiencing large uncontained fires which are reducing the capability to respond to new fire starts. Nevada is expected to continue to have heavy initial attack on new fires over the next three days, as the expected thunderstorms will be drier and not producing any significant moisture.
“First of all I want to thank all of the courageous professionals battling to protect Nevadans and Nevada resources throughout the state,” said Nevada Governor Brian Sandoval. “I am closely monitoring developments on all of the fires and working closely with our lead agencies to make certain all of our available resources have been deployed. Further, I would ask for the help of all residents and tourists alike. The drought and weather conditions in the state are very challenging, and everyone must remain as vigilant as possible to ensure they do not inadvertently contribute to the problem through activities that could ignite a fire.”
For information on fires burning in Nevada please visit the Western Great Basin website at: http://gacc.nifc.gov/wgbc/
Due to the ongoing drought and extreme fire conditions, Nevada citizens should be very responsible with fire and not use campfires. The use of fire in agricultural burning should be curtailed until fire conditions moderate.
Hunters and other recreationalists are reminded to check with local Bureau of Land Management, US Forest Service and Nevada Division of Forestry Offices for fire restrictions that may in place.
