Blaze burns 3,400 acres

Wednesday, July 17, 2002 | 11:20 a.m.

Fueled by wind gusts of up to 40 mph Tuesday night, the Lost Cabin Fire grew to 3,400 acres in the Spring Mountains, sending a plume of smoke over the Las Vegas Valley.

With a light rain overnight, fire crews were able to save Torino Ranch and this morning had ordered the evacuation of eight homes in Coal Canyon.

Fire officials, who have faced strong winds throughout the fire, were hesitant to speculate on their chances against a blaze that has come as close as 25 miles to the Las Vegas Valley, separated by the Red Rock National Conservation Area.

Crews have yet to contain it, but with more people and equipment on the way, officials expressed some optimism this morning that they could get a handle on the fire.

Officials hoped to get a jump on the fire today with more crews, equipment and more humid weather.

"We're optimistic that we'll have some containment this afternoon," said Beth Short, spokeswoman for Spring Mountain Recreational Area. "If we get only a portion of the assets that we requested, we'll get containment."

On Tuesday, fire officials said flames went as high as 150 feet and the fire in some spots had leapt as much as half a mile ahead of the main blaze.

Fire officials sent eight hand crews with a total of 136 members to the blaze today to supplement a contingent of 150 firefighters already on the ground. The fire was centered in the Lovell Canyon area west of Red Rock National Conservation Area.

Fire officials asked for more people and equipment, hoping for 320 more firefighters, up to 9 airtankers, four helicopters and 55 fire engines.

"Now we can go on the offensive," Bureau of Land Management spokesman Phillip Guerrero said.

The weather hasn't helped firefighters as hot, dry and windy conditions have continued to push the wildfire northeast.

The National Weather Service reported that in the area humidity was recorded at 32 percent this morning, more than double the average daily humidity in the area. The humidity will drop in half by the afternoon, which will still be much higher than the normal 3 to 5 percent afternoon humidity.

That increase in moisture, coupled with a cloud cover and a 30 percent chance of "substantial" rainfall should help the firefighters, forecasters said.

"It helps for a little less active fire growth -- the fact that we've got cloudiness out there should make it easier," National Weather Service meteorologist Ron McQueen said this morning.

The downside is that the rain clouds could also bring lightning, which could touch off more fires.

Officials shut down Lovell Canyon Road at Highway 160, Trout Canyon to Lovell Summit Road and Rocky Gap Road in Red Rock Canyon.

Campers were also banned anywhere from Highway 160 to Highway 157 except for campers in established campgrounds in Kyle Canyon.

Tuesday night, fire jumped across Lovell Canyon Road and shut down Turino Ranch, temporarily trapping fire crews and 15 people. With the efforts of firefighters, the fire passed and people were allowed out of the ranch by midnight.

No one has been injured. It is estimated that battling the blaze for three days has cost $97,000. Firefighters have not contained the raging wildland fire.

As Clark County, U.S. Forest Service, National Park Service, Bureau of Land Management, California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection and volunteers grew to 170 firefighters Tuesday. Equipment includes five engines, 16 engines with 17-person handcrews, a heavy-lift helicopter, a light helicopter, two air tactical planes, two lead planes and six airtankers, flying from Cedar City, Utah fought the flames that reached nearly 200 feet high in the dry afternoon air.

The Salvation Army Clark County Command sent its emergency canteen to aid the 170 firefighters in Lovell Canyon, near Pahrump.

Traditionally the Salvation Army assists in emergency situations such as the current Nevada fire. The emergency canteen is open 24 hours a day, supplying food, water, coffee and juice to all emergency workers.

Under Director of Homeless Services Duane Sonnenberg, Bill Provost, Bill Richardson and Julianna Nandary are manning the canteen.

In addition to recent fires in Nevada, the Salvation Army is also actively engaged in the Arizona fires.

The Salvation Army is requesting anyone who desires may contribute support in terms of cash donations to resupply the canteen in Lovell Canyon. The Salvation Army also needs lots of juice and water.

For further information, please contact Charles Desiderio at 870-4430, ext. 23 or 29.

Sun reporter Stephen Curran contributed to this story.