Firefighters seek to contain Nevada wildfires before more lightning

WINNEMUCCA, Nev. - Firefighters struggled Sunday to contain the last of more than 100 fires that had blackened 1 million acres of brush and grass in northern Nevada.

Forest Service spokesman Bob Dyson said crews hoped to contain 20 remaining large fires by Tuesday before the predicted arrival of more thunderstorms. Most of last week's fires were sparked by lightning.

The majority of the 20 fires should be contained by Monday, but no estimated containment time for six other fires was being offered, Dyson said.

"We're hoping it's by Tuesday because that's when our meteorologists say the next round of thunderstorms will hit," he said.

Fire spokesman Nick Zufelt said more than 4,000 firefighters won't be released until Wednesday at the earliest because of the weather threat.

"Most of the fires are pretty well in hand now, but there's concern we could get back into the same ballgame again with more thunderstorms," he said.

Flames threatened scattered ranches near Elko and Austin. On Friday, fires burned three homes and six ranch structures, and killed 100 head of livestock near Elko.

The fires had blackened more than 1,500 square miles, an area larger than Rhode Island.

Most of the fires were burning along a 200-mile stretch of Interstate 80 between Lovelock and Elko. Smoke intermittently closed I-80 on Friday at several points between the towns.

Fire spokesman Mike Cassidy said the 180,000-acre Sadler complex fire 30 miles southwest of Elko was causing the most concern Sunday.

"It still has a way to go, but with enough winds it could get into some heavily populated subdivisions on the south side of the South Fork Reservoir," he said, adding some ranches also were in its path.

The 25,000-acre Eureka complex blaze 35 miles northeast of Austin also was a concern to firefighters since it was heading toward several ranches.

The biggest fire in Nevada - actually a complex of seven fires - had burned about 271,000 acres along both sides of I-80 between Lovelock and Winnemucca.

Fire spokeswoman Judith Dyess said firefighters took advantage of cooler weather and higher humidity to slow its spread.

"The smoke is down and the sky is blue today," she said. "We're slowing down significantly and looking at rerouting crews to other fires."

The fires were burning mostly sagebrush and cheatgrass across remote, uninhabited rangeland.

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