Las Vegas Review-Journal (Sunday)
BLM imposes restrictions in Nevada
Several blazes plague Utah, Colorado, Calif.
RENO — Federal land managers issued a statewide fire prevention order aimed at reducing the risk of wildfires in Nevada.
The restrictions imposed by the Bureau of Land Management on Saturday prohibit the use of fireworks and certain types of ammunition and targets for shooting.
The prohibitions apply to all public lands, roads and trails overseen by the agency.
Officials recommend that people refrain from shooting during hot, dry and windy conditions and that they place their targets on dirt or gravel areas that are clear of vegetation.
Nevada’s acting federal land manager, Mike Courtney, said the agency wants people to enjoy themselves outdoors but also be mindful of the danger of wildfires. He said that in 2017, over 1 million acres were burned on public lands.
In neighboring Utah, moderate weather conditions were helping fire crews as they worked to corral a wildfire that had threatened a small town in southwest Utah.
The fire burning near Minersville Town was about 30 percent contained Saturday and fire officials said they expected to boost that containment with their efforts throughout the day.
Another fire sparked by an abandoned campfire has charred 12 square miles of national forest land in the southwest corner of the state.
In California, fire officials said sparks from a pickup might have ignited a wildfire that forced evacuation of homes northeast of San Francisco.
The blaze broke out Friday afternoon in Concord and prompted evacuation orders for two neighborhoods.
No homes have burned, and the 260-acre blaze is 75 percent contained.
San Francisco’s KRON-TV reported that 200 to 300 homes remain evacuated until firefighters are sure the danger has passed.
The fire moved through heavy brush and came within yards of some houses.
Fire officials tell KRON that a diesel pickup might have spawned the fire. It was spotted with sparks coming from its exhaust pipe.
The area is sweltering under hot, dry conditions, and the National Weather Service is predicting red-flag conditions of extreme fire danger for the area this weekend.
Meanwhile in Colorado, a growing wildfire closed a highway and campgrounds in southern Colorado.
There is no estimate when U.S. Highway 160 might reopen in the Fort Garland area southwest of Pueblo. The fire has burned almost 60 square miles since it began Wednesday and remains 0 percent contained.
Firefighters said the fire could continue spreading this weekend despite cooler temperatures. The weather remains dry, and erratic winds up to 30 mph are in the forecast.
Another new fire in Colorado has burned over 2 square miles in the mountains outside Hartsel.
Firefighters continue to fight and monitor a half-dozen other wildfires from the Durango area to the Wyoming line.
And in Wyoming, rainy weather moving through southeast Wyoming helped cool a wildfire that flared up.
The fire closed sections of Wyoming highways 230 and 10 on Friday, but by Saturday, those routes were open again.
Firefighters had the fire all but snuffed out, but hot, windy weather caused the recent flare-up. The weather turned back in firefighters’ favor Saturday.
The fire has burned about 32 square miles of Medicine Bow National Forest since starting June 10.
The cause is being investigated, but officials believe humans were responsible.