Wildfire rages through Lincoln County

Jace Radke

Tuesday, June 1, 1999 | 11:11 a.m.

A wildfire that has scorched over 7,000 acres of land in southern Lincoln County over the weekend continued to burn out of control this morning.

The fire was sparked Friday by a lightning strike in the remote Blue Garden area of Lincoln County, about 85 miles northeast of Las Vegas and 35 miles miles west of St. George, Utah.

The Blue Garden fire quickly spread through vegetation already made brittle by lackluster winter moisture and rising temperatures and is threatening a desert tortoise habitat and the Clover Mountain Wilderness Study area.

The fire was burning in black brush and desert scrub along its southern border and threatening the tortoise habitat. On its northern flank, fueled by pinion and juniper, the fire is spreading toward the study area.

Temperatures on Monday again climbed into the 80s, and firefighters had to deal with afternoon wind gusts up to 30 mph as they fought to contain the blaze. Officials expect to battle high winds today as well, said Nevada Division of Forestry spokesman Bill Roach.

"Safety is a major concern," Fire Operations Chief Bob DeBaun said. "The firefighters are battling steep terrain, dry fuels and moderate to high fire intensity."

Close to 500 people make up the 10 handcrews working the blaze including seven U.S. Forest Service hotshot crews, the National Park Service's Vegas 777 handcrew, a Bureau of Indian Affairs crew and Rose Creek 1, a Nevada Division of Forestry crew from Winnemucca.

Three helicopters and four airplanes including three air tankers, large planes carrying heavy loads of fire retardant, are battling the blaze from the air National Park Service spokeswoman Heidi Netzler said.

Netzler said no predictions have been made on when firefighters may be able to complete a fire break around the blaze, though she added it could take up to a week. Roach said it could take at least two more days to extinguish the Blue Garden fire.

No serious injuries have been reported and no private property is threatened, officials said.

Roach said the wildfire season in the region typically begins around July 4.

"We're running about a month early," he said when contacted on a cellular phone at the scene.

Meanwhile, firefighters made progress on a second fire in Lincoln County that was also touched off by lightning Friday.

The Rainbow Ranch fire flashed through about 1,500 acres of cheat grass and brush about a mile southwest of Elgin.

The Associated Presscontributed to this report