State fights fire with fire

Thursday, Dec. 11, 2003 | 9:50 a.m.

A plume of smoke rising above the eastern edge of the Las Vegas Valley on Tuesday came from a controlled burn in the Las Vegas Wash, one of a number of prescribed fires in Southern Nevada's wildlands.

Controlled burns are deliberately set so that fire officials can get rid of dead brush and control the extent of the flames.

After the devastating Southern California fires this fall, Nevada fire officials said Las Vegas residents will be seeing more smoke in the skies as areas of desert, wetlands and mountains choked with invasive weeds, dead trees and dry grass become sites of controlled burns.

"The big picture is that we are setting these fires so we can avoid those uncontrolled blazes," said Bruce Sillitoe, Clark County Parks and Recreation project manager for the Wetlands Park.

The county is working to restore more than 2,000 acres of wetlands that run along 15 miles of the eastern side of the valley.

As part of the restoration, Sillitoe said, the county, with the Nevada Division of Forestry, has removed about 10 acres of tamarisk plants, also known as salt cedar.

Tamarisks thrive in salty water and crowd out native species, Sillitoe said.

Tuesday's fire was a way to remove the pesky tamarisks.

"This one fire, in particular, is a small step," Sillitoe said.

Removing pesky weeds and brush by bulldozers and then hauling the debris to Apex, 15 miles north of Las Vegas, "costs an arm and a leg," Sillitoe said.

In the long run the burns may save tens of thousands of dollars, Sillitoe said.

Future burns in the Las Vegas Wash will help officials control cattails, which can grow uncontrolled, Sillitoe said.

The Nevada Division of Forestry's Elizabeth Bickmore, manager for the wetlands burn, said firefighters were expected to mop up any hot spots today.

Sometime between mid-January and March, the U.S. Forest Service, the Bureau of Land Management and local firefighters from Southern Nevada plan to conduct a controlled burn in Pahranagat Valley, about 85 miles north of Las Vegas, officials said.

After that, a controlled burn could take place in the Sheep Range north of Las Vegas in summer 2004.