Fifty firefighters were added to the lines on the Carpenter 1 Fire on Mount Charleston northwest of Las Vegas, bringing to more than 800 the number of personnel battling a blaze identified as the top priority in the West, U.S. Forest Service spokesman Jay Nichols said.
"We've got a fire running from 11,000 feet to about 5,000 feet," Nichols said of the elevation of the blaze sparked by lightning July 1 and still just 15 percent contained eight days later. He said some of the increase in the fire size was due to backfires set to burn forest fuel and protect homes.
The fire area of almost 31 square miles was nearly the size of Manhattan. It charred pinion, juniper and bristlecone pine forest in steep territory and crept to within about a mile about 400 homes in mountain hamlets. More than 500 residents and another 98 teenagers at a youth correctional camp remained evacuated since the weekend. State highways into the area are closed.
"It's dry," Nichols said. "We've got torching trees and spotting fire. We're being extremely careful and monitoring the safety of firefighters and the public."
A smoke plume from the fires near Mount Charleston hangs over downtown Las Vegas on Monday July 8, 2 … Smoke from the fire behind the landmark peak created a brown haze that stretched northeast of this city of 2 million residents. The Clark County Department of Air Quality issued a health advisory that county spokesman Erik Pappa said would remain in effect through Sunday.
In northern Nevada, the Bison fire grew Monday to 40 square miles in the Pine Nut Mountains near Gardnerville and Carson City. Fire spokeswoman Lisa Ross said one of the 720 firefighters on the lines suffered a knee injury as crews battled gusty winds, low humidity and temperatures in the 90s. Containment was reported at 25 percent. Douglas County commissioners declared a state of emergency to enable the county to seek more state and federal assistance.
Fires were also burning across the West in California, where 100 mountain cabins were reported to have been destroyed in San Diego County, and in Alaska, Idaho and Arizona.
