fire

Summer is here and the need for life saving blood from donors is in big demand. There are two upcoming blood drives in Carson City where donors are encouraged to give.

The first is Tuesday, June 30, from noon to 6:30 p.m. at the Carson Nugget. The event has been dubbed the Carson City Battle of the Badges blood drive, where law enforcement and fire agencies are encouraged to give as well as the general public.

Two instances in the past week where people flew drones that disrupted firefighting operations in Southern California has prompted federal, state and local wildfire managers to again urge the public not to fly the unmanned aircraft systems within or near wildfires.

The Washington Fire south of Markleeville is 45 percent contained and has burned 17,786 acres as of Monday morning, according to Sierra Front Interagency Dispatch Center.

Firefighters continued to make excellent progress with direct fireline construction over the fire area on Sunday with the help of higher humidity, lower temperatures and the light rains which occurred intermittently throughout the burned area.

Most of the fires are single-tree fires with some ground fire, and the largest is only a half-acre in size. Winds are calm, and the Lake Tahoe Basin received substantial rainfall in the area of the fire starts, so the rate of spread is low. The Forest Service is staffing all nine fires with the assistance of Tahoe-Douglas and North Lake Tahoe Fire Protection Districts.

East Fork Fire Protection District reports that all six fires that were reported Saturday are at 1-acre or less in size and, have been extinguished or have crews on scene mopping up the fires as of Sunday morning. The crews have orders for full extinguishment, said Sgt. Pat Brooks of the Douglas County Sheriff's Office.

Concerns are the potential for new fires starts due to the multiple lighting strikes that occurred during Saturday's storm that pushed through the valley.

State Highway 4 through Markleeville, south over Ebbetts Pass, is now open for through traffic only. This comes after a day of progress for firefighters battling the Washington Fire in Alpine County. The Bureau of Land Management said that as of 9 a.m. Sunday firefighters had reached 37 percent containment, with the fire burning 17,697 acres.

UPDATE 10:48PM: NHP is reporting that Highway 50 at Cheyenne Drive is now open with delays.
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Highway 50 at Cheyenne Drive in the Stagecoach area was closed Saturday night due to a three vehicle injury crash, according to the Nevada Highway Patrol. Central Lyon County Fire District and Carson City fire and rescue has been called in for mutual aid. The crash was reported at 10:02 p.m.

Hot weather with lightning is expected to continue again Sunday for much of Western Nevada and Sierra, according to the National Weather Service in Reno.

The 6,000 people attending the outdoor reggae festival Saturday night at the Hard Rock Lake Tahoe in Stateline were evacuated briefly because of lightning in the area.

Several strikes of lightning in the South Lake Tahoe area Saturday evening prompted the necessity to get the people out according to Tahoe Douglas Fire Marshal Eric Guevin. He said he was opening the venue back up as soon as the area was safe from strikes. As of 6:45 p.m. Saturday, the lightning was in the ridge area around Glenbrook.

UPDATE 10PM: As of 9:35 pm, crews are responding to the fires. Two fires have been reported above Jacks Valley, one above Autumn Hills, one above Job’s Peak Ranch and one near Fay Luther Canyon. The fires are going to be monitored through the night and will be addressed during the daylight hours.
No structures are in danger at this time, said Sgt. Pat Brooks of the Douglas County Sheriff's Office.
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Douglas County firefighters are responding to wildland fire reports in the Clear Creek and Jacks Valley areas, according to Carson City dispatch. A plume of smoking is seen in this photo rising off of the mountainside. Multiple lightning strikes have been reported in the Carson City, Carson Valley areas tonight.

UPDATE: A report at 4:33 p.m. from Carson City Fire department is that a single tree was smoking, presumably from a lightning strike, and that it doesn't appear to be spreading.
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UPDATE 4:22PM: According to Carson City dispatch the fire started by a lightning strike around the Prison Hill area. It is not spreading and local resources have been assigned to it.
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A brush fire was reported this afternoon near the Nevada National Guard complex, in the 2600 block of Fairview. Carson City fire crews are responding.

GARDNERVILLE, Nev. — The Washington Fire, located 3 miles south of Markleeville, California has burned 17,622 acres and is 29 percent contained as of Saturday morning. The primary objective of suppression efforts remains the protection of the community of Markleeville.

Thunderstorms are forecasted that could bring stronger winds and lightning, which could hamper firefighter’s efforts.

Carson City Fire Chief Bob Schreihans cautions residents and visitors about what he fears could be a “catastrophic fire season” after four consecutive years of severe drought.
With record-breaking temperatures, gusty winds and lightning anticipated for the next several days, residents should be prepared as well as visitors to the Carson City area, Schreihans said.

GARDNERVILLE, Nev. — Firefighters on the Washington Fire, 3 miles south of Markleeville, California continued to optimize lower wind conditions to increase containment.

Sierra Front Interagency Dispatch reports significant progress was made Thursday towards containing the western flank of the fire south of Markleeville. The fire, named after the Lady Washington Mine near the origination point, has burned 16,490 acres and is now 15 percent contained.

A fire-spotting camera network operated by the University of Nevada, Reno is tracking the Washington Fire south of Lake Tahoe with two of its mountaintop cameras. The first wisps of smoke from the fire were seen on the cameras at 3:50 p.m. on Friday, June 19, one hour before the smoke was reported to fire officials.

UPDATE 2:20PM: The National Weather Service has issued a Red Flag Warning from 1 to 9 p.m. Saturday for much of eastern Sierra and western Nevada in anticipation of thunderstorms and strong outflow winds.
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As record temperatures are anticipated for the region this weekend, moisture will begin to filter across the Sierra with isolated thunderstorms possible as early as Friday, according to the National Weather Service in Reno. Strong outflow winds and dry lightning strikes are possible with these storms Friday and Saturday.

GARDNERVILLE, Nev. — UPDATE 7:30 a.m., Thursday: Sierra Front Interagency Dispatch reports firefighters made progress for the second consecutive day Wednesday on the 17,205-acre Washington Fire eight miles south of Markleeville, Calif.

Firefighters upped the containment of the fire to 10 percent on the sixth day of suppression efforts. The primary tactical priority continues to be preventing the fire from reaching Markleeville. The next priorities are to contain the fire in the Wolf Creek and Monitor Pass areas.

Carson City Health and Human Services has been receiving several calls about the impact of the smoke from the Washington Fire in Alpine County, Calif. Smoke from wildfires is a mixture of gases and fine particles from burning trees and other plant materials.

GARDNERVILLE, Nev. — UPDATE 6:30 a.m.: Sierra Front Interagency Dispatch reports firefighters made progress Tuesday on the 16,553-acre Washington Fire eight miles south of Markleeville, Calif. Lighter winds and conditions more conducive to aggressive ground and air suppression helped crews contain five percent of the fire by the end of the day.

The National Weather Service advises that it is highly confident of a potentially historic heat wave beginning Thursday through at least Sunday, June 28. Residents and visitors can expect temperatures to reach high temperatures from 100 to 107, with the potential to tie or break all-time record highs throughout the region.

Tinder-dry vegetation, exceptional drought conditions, increasing daytime temperatures and several human-caused fires have prompted multiple agencies to implement fire restrictions beginning Friday on public land throughout western Nevada.

Tinder-dry vegetation, exceptional drought conditions, increasing daytime temperatures and several human-caused fires have prompted multiple agencies to implement fire restrictions beginning Friday on public land throughout western Nevada.

UPDATE 10AM TUESDAY: Washington Fire swells to 16,544 acres. Crews are working to construct a containment line south of Highway 89 and north of Highway 4 to prevent the fire from spreading toward Markleeville. Smoke continues to waft into Carson Valley and Carson City.
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GARDNERVILLE, Nev. — UPDATE 5 a.m., Tuesday, June 23: Smoke from the Washington Fire in Alpine County drifted over Carson Valley early Tuesday morning, plunging air quality into the “very unhealthy” range, according to the Nevada Division of Environmental protection.

UPDATE: Washington Fire near Markleeville in Alpine County, Calif., grows to nearly 15,000 acres, zero percent containment. Go here for updated story.
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GARDNERVILLE, Nev. — Monday, June 22: The lightning-caused Washington Fire in Alpine County south of Markleeville grew to more than 8,000 acres as it moved through to the north side of Highway 89 and into Bagley Valley Sunday.

Crews managed to contain an estimated 10 percent of the perimeter of the fire by Monday morning.
The extreme fire activity being witnessed with the Washington Fire is primarily due to strong erratic winds and severe drought conditions. These two variables also played a role in firefighting efforts for both air and ground support yesterday.

A Dense Smoke Advisory until 5 a.m. Monday morning has been issued by the National Weather Service due to smoke from the Washington Fire burning south of Markleeville in Alpine County, Calif. As of 4:30 Sunday afternoon the fire had burned 6,500 acres.

UPDATE 7:30PM: The Washington Fire burning in Alpine County, south of Markleeville has burned 6,500 acres, according to the latest from Sierra Front Interagency Dispatch Center.

GARDNERVILLE, Nev. — The Sierra Front Interagency Dispatch reports a 75-acre wildfire, dubbed the Washington Fire, is burning near Silver Peak in Alpine County, pushing up a large plume of smoke visible from Carson Valley south of the Gardnerville Ranchos.

Gusty winds and very dry conditions Sunday has prompted a Red Flag Warning from the National Weather Service for much of Western Nevada and the Lake Tahoe Basin.

A very dry airmass will persist this weekend with poor nighttime recoveries ahead of a trough that will brush the area Sunday. The trough will bring increasing afternoon and evening winds and critical fire weather conditions Sunday, according to the weather service.