Blaze forces partial evacuation in Pioche

Monday, June 10, 2002 | 10:03 a.m.

SUN STAFF AND WIRE REPORTS

PIOCHE -- A 1,500-acre wildfire forced the evacuation of about half of this remote eastern Nevada town's 600 residents and burned within 100 yards of some homes as firefighters scrambled to keep it at bay.

Bureau of Land Management officials said the blaze was about 70 percent contained this morning and were expecting full containment by 6 p.m. Tuesday. Firefighters are trying to keep the fire away from the town along the Utah border 190 miles north of Las Vegas.

A total of 10 outbuildings and one mobile home were burned in the blaze, but no one was injured, BLM spokesman Chris Hanefeld said.

"We're going to have about 200 people walking the line today looking for hot spots," Hanefeld said.

About 70 firefighters could be released from the fire today and shuttled to other hot spots in the West.

"If it hadn't been for a quick response by volunteer firefighters and the BLM, the town could have been gone," Lincoln County sheriff's Sgt. John Wilcock said Sunday. "The fire was a certain threat to Pioche yesterday.

"I've lived her since 1958 and this was one of the scariest things I've seen out here. Right now, the town does not appear to be threatened, but we're not out of the woods yet."

About 300 residents were evacuated after the fire broke out late Saturday afternoon, but were allowed to return to their homes at their own risk Sunday morning, Wilcock said.

Some evacuees spent the night at a Red Cross shelter at the Pioche Elementary School, while others stayed with friends and family.

"Everybody is a little jumpy right now," Wilcock said. "They're watching and seeing. They're being cautious until the threat is finally over."

No injuries were reported, but the fire destroyed several outbuildings, abandoned cabins and vehicles in the historic mining town, BLM spokesman Chris Hanefeld said.

Sun reporter Jace Radke and the Associated Press contributed to this story.