Fire worries easing — for now

Eric Leake

Monday, June 27, 2005 | 10:55 a.m.

Active wildfires

Contained fires

MOUNTAIN SPRINGS -- Residents of this mountain village are no longer fearing the fire that has been burning since Wednesday evening, but they are worried that this was just the start of what could be a long wildfire season.

The Goodsprings fire, which had consumed 33,569 acres by the end of the weekend and had this town on the verge of mandatory evacuation at one point, was much subdued by this morning.

But firefighters cautioned that some threat still remains.

Resident Dennis La Due, 41, was raised in this mountain community about 30 miles southwest of Las Vegas. He said he was never too concerned.

"Personally, I didn't see it coming here," La Due said, adding that fire crews did a great job.

He had a beer on the patio Sunday at the Mountain Springs Saloon while others enjoyed live music at the bar. The saloon sign read: Firemen eat free.

La Due acknowledged that the fire had made many of the other residents anxious over the weekend as it obscured the sun with smoke and temporarily closed State Route 160 south of town Saturday.

The nearby Boy Scout and United Methodist Church camps on Mount Potosi were evacuated Thursday.

Of greater concern, La Due said, was the upcoming Fourth of July weekend and the yellow grass covering the mountain sides leading into Pahrump.

"That's what scares me," he said. "Those are flash fuels. This, I think, is going to be our worst fire season in a long time."

More than 500 firefighters battled the blaze throughout the weekend. Thirteen crews, five helicopters, and 20 engines were assigned to the fire. Four air tankers were available to drop retardant on the fire.

By Sunday evening, crews were mostly checking fire lines and extinguishing possible flare ups.

"There is still fire out there, but the threat is subsiding," Fire Information Officer Rick Barton said. "There is still hot, dry weather out there. There is a lot of wind."

Barton is part of the federal Rocky Mountain management team brought in to the fight the fire, which started with a lightning strike Wednesday. A command center was established at Durango High School.

More than 1,000 firefighters from multiple agencies continued to work on 16 fires across Southern Nevada on Sunday. Those fires included the Goodsprings fire and 14 others north of Las Vegas. Eight other fires, the largest being a 5,330-acre fire eight miles east of Bunkerville, were contained, officials said. Most of those fires covered less than 150 acres.

Barton blamed the kindling-like grass, which grew with the year's abundant early rain, for fueling the desert fire.

"We drove in from Colorado. We looked around, we thought, 'How could this stuff burn?' " he said. "This stuff burns quite well."

He said among the many concerns for firefighters were water, heat, and the environmental impact of 20 endangered or threatened plant species and the Desert Tortoise that inhabits the region.

Most animals, Barton said, should have been able to burrow under the flames as they passed.

"Desert fires have a tendency to burn really, really hot for a short time and then die down quickly," he said.

He said the Goodsprings fire's greatest threat came Friday night as flames on the northeast end rolled over lower elevation desert toward scattered homes on the valley's southwest side.

Barton said no firefighters have been injured and no structures lost. He cautioned that people take care as the fire season is only beginning.

"We're asking people to be really, really careful because if we get another startup it's going to hurt all of us."

Forest Service Fire Capt. Brandon Ruth sat outside an empty bay Sunday evening at the Mountain Springs Fire Station.

"Obviously, there are no fire engines here," he said. "They're out working the fires."

Ruth said firefighters based at the station worked closely with the small community throughout the fire threat and appreciate the town's support.

He told of working the lines Friday night and a resident couple that brought the firemen cases of water, Gatorade and homemade sandwiches.

"It's just amazing to see that kind of stuff. And it wasn't just them," he said. "The community has been great."

The appreciation went both ways.