Cause of Sunset Park fire remains unknown

Tuesday, Aug. 22, 2000 | 11:29 a.m.

Clark County Fire Department investigators believe a brush fire that scorched almost 50 acres of land in and near Sunset Park began accidentally near some trash bins, but the cause is still under investigation.

"On a fire like this, it's very hard to determine what caused it, unless you have eyewitnesses," County Fire Department spokesman Steve La-Sky said today. "It does appear the point of origin is near the Dumpsters."

The Sunday blaze burned 37 acres of public land at the 310-acre Sunset Park and another 11 acres of private land, including brush on entertainer Wayne Newton's property. The home next door, owned by prizefighter Mike Tyson, was not damaged.

About 100 firefigthers from Clark County, Henderson, U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management fought the flames that burned up one of the last mesquite groves in the urban Las Vegas Valley.

By this morning all the fire crews were gone, La-Sky said. Firefighters will continue to drive by the site bordered by Sunset Road and Tomiyasu Avenue to check for any hot spots, he said.

BLM firefighters and rookies in training had left the site. The young firefighters were back in their classrooms this morning, a BLM spokeswoman said.

The Clark County Parks and Recreation Department is preparing a full report for the County Commission, parks spokeswoman Leslie Mihalko said.

County experts have started studying the best way to restore the area, she said.

The department is researching the area to decide what to plant, such as mesquite, salt cedar and creosote bushes, which are native plants, Mihalko said. The area where rabbits, roadrunners and wild birds roam is a natural island, she said.

County horticulturist Russ Thompson toured the site Monday, then began studying the best way to recover the landscape, Mihalko said.