Evacuees allowed to return as fire burns away from homes

Sandra Chereb

Wednesday, Aug. 25, 1999 | 4:48 a.m.

RENO, Nev. - Calm winds helped firefighters take command Wednesday of a wildland blaze that blackened about 4,500 acres north of Reno and forced the evacuation of about 60 ranch homes in Antelope Valley.

The fire was 80 percent contained by noon, firefighter spokeswoman Anna Payne said.

"We have some good dozer lines around it," she said. Fire officials earlier predicted the fire would not be surrounded by late Friday, but Payne said containment could come much sooner if favorable conditions continue.

"We really want to get through the heat of the day today," she said.

Smoke from the fire and others burning around the West cloaked the eastern slopes of the Sierra Nevada and made the downtown Reno skyline invisible from just a few miles away.

Antelope Valley residents were allowed to return to their homes by midmorning Wednesday. No homes were lost and no injuries were reported.

About 200 firefighters remained on the scene.

"We're doing pretty good as long as the winds don't pick up," Payne said. "It's burning north away from the homes into open land."

That wasn't the case the night before, when flames whipped by stiff winds and fueled by juniper pine and tinder-dry sagebrush roared across the high-desert landscape.

The fire about 10 miles north of Reno was sparked by a vehicle fire in the Red Rock area. It swept through Animal Ark, a 40-acre sanctuary for exotic animals that lack the skills needed to survive on their own in the wild.

About 20 animals were evacuated to a Lemmon Valley veterinary hospital. Two tigers suffered singed whiskers, but all the animals were otherwise unharmed.

Animal Ark founder Aaron Hiibel said at one point an air tanker dropped slurry directly onto pens, covering the animals with a red coating and likely saving their lives.

"There were some burnt whiskers and singed noses but amazingly all the animals survived," said Washoe County spokesman Bob Harmon.