Nevada National Security Site wildfire 15% contained

The wildfire burning at the Nevada National Security Site continued through Tuesday with ground and air operations still underway. No injuries have been reported, and no structures have burned as a result of the wildfire.

The wildfire has been estimated to have burned across 26,431 acres with 15% containment, NNSS stated in a release. The blaze was previously reported to be as large as 35,000 acres, though with more accurate aerial mapping, the size of the fire has was reassessed on Tuesday.

NNSS reported that there was good progress made on Monday.

“The northern perimeter of the fire is no longer burning,” NNSS stated in a release. “NNSS and the Bureau of Land Management firefighters are working to secure the east, south, and southwest perimeters. BLM air support continues bucket drops in these areas, working alongside ground crews.”

The initial blaze, which began in a remote northeast region of the national security site (northern portion) on May 17, entered a known contamination zone on Friday, according to NNSS.

NNSS said on Tuesday that radiological monitoring continued on Tuesday.

“There remains no risk to health and human safety, and no offsite risk to the public,” NNSS said on Tuesday.

The blaze was initially confirmed in Area 18 and 30 of the site in mid-May on an estimated 1,300 acres. The wildfire grew throughout the week and weather and high winds pushed it to an estimated 35,000 acres, now reassessed at over 26,000 acres.

As of Friday, there were 32 BLM peronnel at the site, which included incident command peronnel, according to an NNSS spokesman. Additinally, NNSS Fire and Rescue had nine personnel on the fire on Friday that included incident command. Also on Friday a BLM Type 3 Incident Managemetn team was requested and arriving as of Friday, NNSS stated.

The winds over the weekend also caused issues with air operations.

“We have had regular air support during this fire, although as a result of the change in weather today, air operations are currently not possible; ground operations continue,” an NNSS spokesman said on Friday.

The Desert Research Institute operates the Community Environmental Monitoring Program, an independent radiological air monitoring system, at 24 locations at the national security site, as well as throughout Nevada and parts of Utah and California. To view the results, head to https://cemp.dri.edu/

NNSS is managed and operated by Mission Support and Test Services LLC. The company consists of Honeywell International Inc., Jacobs Engineering Group Inc. and HII Nuclear. NNSS is under the jurisdiction of the National Nuclear Security Administration, which is an agency within the U.S. Department of Energy.

For more on the site, head to www.nnss.gov