Gibbons, Guinn seeking federal relief for wildfire victims

Friday, Aug. 13, 1999 | 8:25 a.m.

Gibbons, R-Nev., and Guinn toured central and eastern Nevada on Thursday to meet with victims and get a first-hand look at more than 1 million acres of blackened range land.

Guinn said he had expected to see charred mountainsides but was overwhelmed during an overflight by the "vastness" of the burned sage brush, cheat grass and pinion pine.

"It just went on for miles," said Guinn, who toured Winnemucca, Battle Mountain and parts of Elko County.

In addition to at least two mobile homes at Spring Creek, state officials estimate the fires claimed more than 2,000 cattle and at least 20 horses.

Ranchers also lost hundreds of thousands of acres of vital grazing land for sheep and cattle in the week-long string of more than 170 fires, most sparked by lightning. The 2,000-square mile area burned is larger than the state of Delaware.

"Hopefully we'll be able to take care of some things and help these people," Gibbons said during an aerial tour of a stretch from Winnemucca to Lovelock in north central Nevada.

The area was one of the hardest hit, with more than 360,000 acres consumed in a single complex of fires.

"They've lost a part of their economy," Gibbons said.

Guinn credited firefighters in Elko County with keeping property losses to a minimum and thanked hotshot crews from Arizona and New Mexico for their help.

"The potential for what could have happened here is devastating," the Republican governor said.

So far this year, 1.3 million acres or nearly 2,100 square miles of Nevada wildland have burned - more than any other state and about half the national total for 1999.