Firefighters continue battle; fearful of winds

Robert Macy

Tuesday, June 6, 2000 | 1:26 a.m.

COLD CREEK, Nev. - A wildfire burned for a fourth day near this hamlet and tired firefighters kept a wary eye on the weather, fearful that afternoon winds could fan the blaze.

Officials said the fire was several miles from this tiny community of 50 people but posed no immediate threat.

"It concerns people, because they can see the flames," said Betty Blodgett, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Forest Service.

About 2,000 acres of scrub brush and pinion juniper had been charred as of Tuesday morning, Blodgett said.

"The fire did not spread rapidly overnight, it was just creeping slowly," she said.

But the big concern was the possibility that afternoon winds would again spread the flames, as was the case Sunday and Monday. Winds gusting to 25 mph were forecast for Tuesday afternoon.

No injuries were reported and no structures damaged by the blaze.

Some 600 firefighters from eight Western states were fighting the blaze, battling rugged terrain and daytime temperatures around 100 degrees. Nine airplanes and six helicopters dropped water and flame retardant chemicals on the flames. Some planes and helicopter were released Tuesday morning.

"We feel we're comfortable. "We're gaining on the fire," said incident commander Tooter Burdick of the Bureau of Land Management's Ely field office.

Firefighters hope to control the blaze by Thursday.

Burdick said he expected the fire to be 65 percent to 70 percent contained Tuesday evening.

Named the Buck Springs fire, the blaze was racing through heavy brush and pinion juniper along Wheeler Pass, between Las Vegas and Pahrump, Nev. The fire is on the northwest side of Mount Charleston, an 11,918-foot peak 40 miles northwest of Las Vegas that is part of the Spring Mountain National Recreation Area.

The wildfire was first reported Saturday morning.

It had been reported 25 percent contained Sunday morning, but 8 mph winds out of the southwest Sunday afternoon fanned the embers, causing the wildfire to spread.

Burdick said he was unsure how the fire started. He said people were probably in the area, where a primitive campsite is located.

Burdick said winds and topography were causing the fire to climb to higher ground, where DC-3 and DC-4 air tankers from Cedar City, Utah, were trying to stave off the blaze with retardant. The aircraft were staging their operations out of the Pahrump airport.