Hot year may be in the works for firefighters

Wildfire season arrived in Nevada with a brush fire that burned 300 acres along the Virgin River 75 miles northeast of Las Vegas.

The fire, brought under control Sunday, was expected by Bureau of Land Management firefighters.

"Only fools predict fires," BLM logistics coordinator Mike Boyd said. "But with the abnormal amount of fuel this year, fires that normally contain themselves may not, and we may be in for a hot year."

According to the national Interagency Fire Center, the threat for wildfires in Nevada and other Western states is extreme. The cause for the high chances of wildfires may fall to El Nino, according to Tony DeFalco of the BLM.

"Everyone blames El Nino for this and that, but in this case it's apropos," DeFalco said. "The potential for a big fire season is there because of the high amount of precipitation that has caused a lot of growth, which can be fuel.

"With this bumper crop of fuel and the way the wind blows in the Great Basin, the conditions are right."

The spark for natural wildfires is more often than not dry lightning, or lightning with the absence of rain, DeFalco said.

"As we dry out and move into July and August, lightning events will become more likely," DeFalco said. "If we get wet lightning, it should be okay, but if we get dry lightning, we'll have all we can handle."

The BLM and Las Vegas firefighters have been preparing for a long, hard fire season. That preparation was put to use Friday and Saturday one mile south of the Virgin River town of Bunkerville.

"We had firefighters from Carson City, Ely and Winnemucca helping to control that fire," DeFalco said.

If a wildfire was to ignite within the Las Vegas city limits, the BLM and city firefighters would make a joint effort to bring the blaze under control.

Tim Szymanski, spokesman for the Las Vegas Fire Department, said he knows the fire season is getting ripe and appreciates any help the BLM can offer.

"If we run into a big fire on the outskirts of town or in a park, then the BLM and national forestry firefighters are a great help to us," Szymanski said.

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