Trooper’s response credited with containing Kyle fire

Heather Rawlyk

Friday, June 4, 2004 | 9:22 a.m.

A fire believed to have been caused by human carelessness spread through 6 acres alongside Kyle Canyon Road Thursday afternoon.

A Nevada Highway Patrol trooper noticed small flames and smoke coming from the side of the road about 2 p.m., U.S. Forest Service spokesman Dewey Warner said.

Because of high winds and dry land to fuel the flames, the trooper was unable to put out the fire himself and called for help, Warner said. By the time firefighters arrived at the scene, the fire had quickly spread through 6 acres, he said.

Although the fire was on Forest Service land near Harris Springs Road on State Route 157, a variety of local teams joined in to help put out the fire, including two Bureau of Land Management engines, two Clark County Fire Department vehicles, a Las Vegas Fire and Rescue team and a unit from Nellis Air Force Base, Warner said.

"That's typical of a fire here," he said. "Everyone comes out to help."

A helicopter pulled water from a nearby pond and flew over the area several times, dumping water on "hot spots," Warner said.

At 4 p.m., there were no flames showing but an abundance of smoke coming from the ground.

Warner said it appears the fire was caused by a careless person.

"Out here, a fire is either caused by lightning or by a human," he said. "We haven't had any lightning.

"We think someone probably threw a cigarette out their window while they were driving," he said.

The Forest Service and other federal agencies have set the fire-danger index from "hazardous to extreme," as the drought and high temperatures make the forest and desert dangerously dry. The extreme conditions are expected to continue for the rest of the summer.

Warner said the NHP trooper's quick response to the fire prevented the blaze from spreading through more land than it did.

"We rely heavily on public report with these fires," he said.