Firefighters gain upper hand on brush fire

Roy Slate, fire marshal of the Truckee Meadows Fire Protection District, said the fire burned within a half-mile of some Sun Valley homes and within a third-mile of several Sparks homes on the Pyramid Highway.

The fire broke out at 6:10 p.m. Saturday in a Sun Valley field before being pushed to the east toward the Sparks homes by 10-15 mph winds, he said.

The blaze sent up a huge smoke plume that could be seen throughout the Reno area.

"The homes are no longer threatened," he said. "We got containment on the fire a little over an hour after it started. We'll be out all night mopping up, though."

About 55 firefighters from the fire district, the state Division of Forestry, city of Sparks, Carson City and Bureau of Land Management responded.

The blaze is believed to be man-caused because there was no lightning at the time, fire officials said.

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