Fire crews made major gains with the wildfire burning at the Nevada National Security Site on Thursday. No damages or injuries were reported in relation to the blaze.
The wildfire, estimated at 26,431 acres, was reported to be at 75% containment on Thursday, NNSS stated on its social media. NNSS and the Bureau of Land Management fire crews were both fighting the fire.
“I extend my deepest appreciation to the NNSS Fire & Rescue and Bureau of Land Management (BLM) firefighters who worked tirelessly to get this fire under control and contained,” said Dr. David Bowman, manager of the National Nuclear Security Administration’s Nevada Field Office on the site’s Facebook page. “I also want to thank all of the other members of the team who supported response efforts in other ways, from radiological monitoring to logistics. Hundreds of people worked long hours without hesitation to contain this fire as quickly as possible. This was truly a ‘one team, one mission’ effort.”
BLM transitioned operations back to the NNSS Fire and Rescue crews on Thursday.
The fire was first confirmed on May 17 at the site. The wildfire was initially estimated at 35,000 acres but was reassessed later through aerial mapping to just over 26,000 acres.
The initial blaze, which began in a remote northeast region of the national security site (northern portion), entered a known contamination zone on Friday, May 21, according to NNSS. The national security site stated there was no threat to human health on safety with the announcement, as well as no off-site risk to the public.
NNSS reiterated this statement on Thursday: “There remains no risk to health and human safety, and no off-site risk to the public.”
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