Nevada: Wildfire Crews struggle against southern Nevada blazes amid Red Flags - Western Great Basin Preparedness Level for Wildfire Activity: PL 3– HIGH

RED FLAG WARNING: In effect FRIDAY for central and northern Nevada for thunderstorms and gusty outflow winds and over southern NV for gusty winds/low RH. http://www.wrh.noaa.gov/
Residents of a small mountain community northwest of Las Vegas were ordered to evacuate Thursday as firefighters continued to battle searing heat and rugged terrain while fighting a large blaze.

Tonight's shot of fire
Credit: Kathryn Cassie Hooper

Western Great Basin Preparedness Level for Wildfire Activity: PL 3– HIGH Preparedness Level 3: Several units experiencing high to extreme fire danger, wildland or prescribed fire activities requiring a major commitment of National resources and additional resources are being mobilized from outside the Geographic Area. Incident Management Teams 

are committed or on order to manage large incidents. Multiple long term fires require resources.

The mandatory evacuation of Trout Canyon, a small community of about 21 homes, was issued late in the afternoon as a precaution after the fire on Mount Charleston jumped a creek and moved in the direction of residences, said Hillerie Patton, fire spokeswoman with the U.S. Bureau of Land Management.
Patton said many residents had already left.
"The fire is not right up on the homes, but close enough that we wanted to make sure for the sake of the fire planning area that we have enough space," Patton said. "A lot of it is for safety operations."

The American Red Cross set up an evacuation center at Hafen Elementary School in Pahrump.
Crews struggle against southern Nevada blazes.

Update 7-5-13: Carpenter 1 Wildfire Humboldt - Toiyabe National Forest Active 9,031 23 min. ago
Bison Wildfire Carson City District Active 2,000 4 hrs. ago
Eight Mile Fire Wildfire Ely District Active 5,583 4 hrs. ago
Cyanco Fire Wildfire Winnemucca District Active 881 6 hrs. ago
North Creek Fire Wildfire Ely District Active 1,100 10 hrs. ago
Red Rock Wildfire Carson City District Active 5,369 11 hrs. ago

Firefighting efforts Thursday focused on reducing fuels near homes by setting back fires. No homes have been lost.

A lightning-sparked blaze broke out Monday and has burned more than 1,100 acres. There was zero containment Thursday afternoon.

The main road up the mountain was closed, as were other roads and trails in the area. About 150 firefighters including one Hotshot crew were battling the fire, and a helicopter was making water drops from the air.

In northern Nevada, fire officials said they expect full containment by the end of the day of a small fire southeast of Carson City. That fire was sparked by lightning Wednesday night and has burned about 25 acres. No homes or structures were lost of threatened.

Personnel and resources from that fire were being sent to another lightning-sparked fire in Douglas County that broke out Thursday afternoon when thunderstorms moved through the region. That fire was estimated at 50 acres around 5 p.m.
North of Reno, a large fire that broke out Monday just over the California line was contained Thursday.

The Red Rock fire burned nearly 5,400 acres or more than eight square miles.
Other fires are burning elsewhere around the state in remote regions.
According to the National Interagency Fire Center, two fires are burning around Winnemucca and two each are reported in the Ely and Battle Mountain districts.
The largest is the Crescent Dune Fire, estimated at more than 15 square miles. It was located about five miles south of Orovada and was estimated at 10 percent containment.
Most of Nevada has endured record hot temperatures for the past five days. Afternoon thunderstorms and drought-parched vegetation heighten fire concerns.

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CFN - California Fire News 2013 

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