Homes threatened by wildfire

Friday, June 24, 2005 | 11:04 a.m.

MOUNTAIN SPRINGS -- Firefighters remained worried this morning that afternoon winds could push a brushfire toward 100 homes in this rural community about 31 miles southwest of Las Vegas.

The fire, believed to have been started by one of hundreds of lightning strikes in the region, began Wednesday near Goodsprings, about 7 miles south of Mountain Springs, and by this morning had already burned more than 15,000 acres of brittle brown grass and brush, officials said.

Additional fire crews were heading to Southern Nevada to fight more than 20,000 acres of wildland fires blazing across at least 16 different sites, most on rugged and remote public lands administered by the Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Forest Service and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, state officials said.

On Thursday heavy smoke and falling ash from that fire prompted the evacuation of about 225 Boy Scouts, other campers and staff from Mount Potosi, which is between Las Vegas and Goodsprings.

Chuck Gillette, assistant Scoutmaster of Troup 377, said that the Boy Scouts had been evacuated so fast that they left their gear behind.

"My cell phone's up there, too," he said.

Police escorted Brandon Cunningham to his home six miles southwest of the Mount Potosi entrance. He scooped up his dog and cat and took them to Las Vegas.

"My family is in Las Vegas," Cunningham said. "This is a box canyon and it's too dangerous to stay at the house."

Metro Police and fire officials imposed a voluntary evacuation of Mountain Springs Thursday afternoon, but many residents said they would stay in their homes, dotting both sides of State Route 160, the road between Las Vegas and Pahrump.

When Neil and Sharon Burns woke up Thursday morning, "the sky was all orange and ash was falling," Sharon Burns said.

They did not know about the Boy Scout camp evacuations early Wednesday afternoon until they saw it on television news. "And we're right next door," Burns said.

The Burns said they planned to stay at their home of two years with their pets, a 10-year-old collie named Lucky and a 2-year-old terrier, Foxy, unless there's a forced evacuation.

They did pack up their most precious belongings just in case they have to flee flames, so as of early this morning they remained "lucky, really lucky," Sharon Burns said.

Some of that may be the famed luck of the Irish, the Burns family said. Neil's father, 62-year-old Don Burns, is visiting from Enniskillen, Northern Ireland, with his sister, Sara, and her boyfriend, David Hall. They "have been pretty amazed so far," Sharon Burns said. "It's my father-in-law's first trip abroad."

Flames from one of the many fires in the region also destroyed 50 power poles, cutting electricity to Sandy Valley on the Nevada-California border. Nevada Power Co. brought in a generator from California to restore Sandy Valley's power Thursday night.

Flames had roared toward Sandy Valley Thursday morning, resident Beth Bacher said. Then the wind shifted.

"I slept on the couch, facing the windows, so I could watch the flames," Bacher said.

"I was just out there trying to do some weed whacking," Bacher said of grass more than six inches high in her yard Thursday night. "It crinkles when you walk on it."

Fields of waist-high weeds are also growing in the desert.

"And this is just the beginning of the fires," Bacher said. "It's pretty scary."

For Mountain Springs volunteer firefighter Doug Thompson, the main concern after fighting the flames all day was to move a horse away from harm's way.

"We haven't heard anything official, only what's been on TV," Thompson's daughter, Heather, said of the evacuation.

For Patty Snyder, whose Blue Diamond home was without air conditioning, the choice to stay at Mountain Springs was easy.

"I'm staying up here where it's cooler," Snyder said.

Retired dentist Dr. Alonzo Wright, who recalled a similar Mount Potosi fire 15 years ago, said he planned to "stay home until I see flames on the crest," Wright said. He said that unlike the previous fire, this time he has no horses or family to worry about moving.

Wright planned to pack important papers and clothes in case the fire forced an evacuation. "Then I'll go to Pahrump," he said.

The American Red Cross set up an evacuation center at Canarelli Middle School on Torrey Pines Drive at Robindale Road on Thursday afternoon.

Volunteers waited in an empty gymnasium, a few cots behind them and more stacked against bleachers, for evacuees to arrive but none did.

The Red Cross still had not received a single evacuee by 10 p.m. Thursday, so volunteers were sent home for the night. Equipment, bottled water and food remained in place in case the shelter needs to be used today.

"We never know what to expect," Disaster Services Chairperson Richard Foster said.

He said he was told as many as 175 evacuees could eventually arrive.

A hotline for Mountain Springs residents has been set up at 515-5074.

The police placed portable message signs on State Route 160 to tell people about smoke, fire and evacuation conditions.

Fighting the fire was expected to continue to be difficult today because the National Weather Service was forecasting temperatures in the low 100s and winds up to 15 mph with higher gusts possible.

Two of the approximately 350 firefighters battling the flames Thursday suffered minor sprained ankles but those were the only reported injuries and no structures had been lost to the fires as of this morning, Bureau of Land Management spokeswoman Kirsten Cannon said.

The Clark County Air Quality and Environmental Protection Division said early this morning that the smoke hanging over the Las Vegas Valley from the wildland fires had not yet raised the pollution to an unhealthful level, but officials were prepared to issue a pollution warning if conditions worsened.

Another concern is the possibility that more fires could soon be started by lightning. Mike Dondero, fire manager for the state Division of Forestry, told Gov. Kenny Guinn on Thursday that National Weather Service forecasters are predicting lightning strikes across the state this weekend.

At least 10 fire crews from other states are expected to help in Southern Nevada and to be ready to jump on any fire in Northern Nevada. There are 20 firefighters to a crew.

Kevin Hall of the Bureau of Land Management said there are 800 to 1,000 firefighters deployed to Southern Nevada battling the various fires.

The Mojave Desert is a "fragile resource" and some of the trees that have burned are 300 years old, Dondero said Thursday.

The state intends to impose its annual restrictions on campers and off-road travelers before July 4, because of the high fire danger.

Steve Robinson, natural resources advisor to the governor, said the travel restrictions becoming effective next week include limiting vehicles to established roads and not permitting them to drive into the bushes. A person traveling to wildland areas must carry a shovel and water when he or she goes off the highways. No smoking is permitted outside of vehicles in wildland areas and campfires are only permitted in organized campgrounds.

If the fire risk increases over the summer the state has authority to shut down all wildland areas, but Robinson said the state is not at that point now.

Guinn said he knew it "is tough for people who want to get out" into open spaces. "But we can't put it (the land) at risk," he said.

Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area's Rainbow fire near Pine Creek had a high priority Thursday because the area is home to the Mojave Desert tortoise.

Two more fires on Mount Charleston had started, but the Red Rock and Mount Charleston fires had been contained, Cannon said. Firefighters remained nearby to douse any hot spots.

The Coyote fire burning 3,000 acres in the Desert Wildlife Refuge north of the Las Vegas Motor Speedway did not threaten any structures or people.

Three single-engine air tankers dropped fire retardant on blazes burning in rugged parts of La Madre wilderness northwest of Las Vegas in the Spring Mountains on Thursday.

A 2,500-acre fire near Apex, 15 miles northeast of Las Vegas, continued to burn.

Another six fires burned 14,000 acres near Mesquite, the city about 65 miles northeast of Las Vegas on Interstate 15.

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