Wildfire burns at Nevada National Security Site in Nye County

Firefighters are battling a wildland blaze at the Nevada National Security Site in Nye County, a wildfire that had burned 1,600 acres Tuesday.

The site received 1.5 inches of rain Monday night, helping in the fight against the Area 19 Fire, officials said in a Facebook post.

The fire was originally estimated at 5,000 acres but was “revised down” on Tuesday after a flyover of the area.

Lightning sparked the wildfire in the northwest portion of the security site. “There are no structures or contaminated areas near the fire,” site officials said in a Facebook post on Monday evening. “Air assets from the BLM have been requested to assist … BLM assets expected to arrive within the next 24 hours to drop fire retardant to help fight the blaze.”

The fire was reported Saturday in the remote mountainous northwest region of the site, officials said via news release on Tuesday. “Due to the terrain, (Nevada National Security Site) firefighters have not been able to gain access to the fire.”

The fire is burning pinion pines and juniper bushes, officials reported.

Other fires

Meanwhile, the BLM was reporting smoke and haze in western Nevada, resulting from California’s Carr Fire and Northern Nevada’s Perry Fire.

The more than 42,000-acre acre Perry Fire includes land within the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe’s reservation. Evacuations continued over this past weekend, including for livestock.

“Firefighters, dozers and aircraft are working to slow the fire’s spread and anchor the fire lines,” Nevada BLM reported.

In all, 275 firefighters were battling the blaze. Resources include five helicopters, 16 engines and two dozers.

“As the fire burns downhill into more even terrain, firefighters and equipment have easier access to the fire perimeter and can increase containment,” the BLM said in an update this week.

Smoke from the fires in northern California and Nevada was moving into other parts of the Silver State. Updated information on air quality levels is available at AirNow.gov, officials said.

Separately, Nevada is providing assistance to neighboring California, where wildfires are raging. A total of 16 soldiers aboard two Nevada Army Guard helicopters are set to begin firefighting efforts Monday while based out of Lampson Field Airport in Lakeport, California, the Guard said in an announcement.

One of the helicopters is a CH-47 Chinook equipped with a 2,000-gallon water bucket, and the other helicopter is a UH-60 Black Hawk outfitted with a 660-gallon bucket, the Guard added. One fuel truck and one shop truck will also be used to support the fire suppression.

“It’s likely the helicopters will assist at the Mendocino Complex fires,” the Guard said in its announcement. “According to Cal Fire, the combined acreage of several fires in that area is about 56,000 acres.”

The Nevada Army Guard recently conducted interstate aerial firefighting training with Cal Fire, the Nevada Division of Forestry and other firefighting agencies in Alpine County, California, in late spring.

Also, the National Interagency Fire Center requested two C-130 aircraft and aircrew from the Nevada Air National Guard’s 152nd Airlift Wing to aid firefighting efforts in California, the Nevada National Guard said in a later statement.

Some more details from the Guard:

• The two aircraft, operating the U.S.D.A. Forest Service’s Modular Airborne Fire Fighting System were set to depart Reno on Tuesday for their initial duty location at McClellan Air Force Base in California.
• The 152nd Airlift Wing, known as the “High Rollers,” is one of four military C-130 units around the nation equipped with special tools for large-scale wildland firefighting.
• The equipment, loaded into the cargo compartment of a C-130 aircraft, can drop up to 3,000 gallons of water or fire retardant in six seconds through a nozzle on the rear left side of the plane.

Military units have provided this surge capacity since 1974 but are activated only after private contractor assets are exhausted and the Forest Service deems additional support is necessary, the Guard added.

Contact reporter David Jacobs at djacobs@pvtimes.com