LAS VEGAS (The Associated Press) - Jul 5 - By KEN RITTER Associated Press Writer

 

Thundershowers and favorable weather helped firefighters contain several southern Nevada wildfires Tuesday and funnel resources to steer a large fire away from power lines and a key electric plant serving Las Vegas.

The 26-square-mile Gass Complex fire was burning about seven miles from Nevada Power Co.'s largest power plant, which was not immediately threatened, said Linda Steinhaus, spokeswoman for a federal firefighting management team from Boise, Idaho.

"Winds would have to shift, it would have to grow considerably over the next 72 hours and advance seven miles," Steinhaus said of the Gass fire. "That's a worst-case scenario."

The 1,200-megawatt Lenzie power plant, just off Interstate 15 about 25 miles northeast of Las Vegas, can produce enough power for about 270,000 homes at peak summer periods.

Some 313 firefighters had the 16,800-acre Gass Fire 20 percent contained in rugged terrain in the Desert National Wildlife Refuge, where it was ignited by lightning on Friday. No structures were immediately threatened, Steinhaus said.

Crews used a respite granted by an overcast day with calm winds, high humidity, unusually mild temperatures below 100 degrees, and occasional thundershowers to set up camp at a North Las Vegas school. Aircraft mapped the fire about 25 miles north of Las Vegas. Steinhaus said containment could take about a week.

Officials declared another blaze, the 21,120-acre Vegas Fire, contained in the rugged Sheep Mountains of the Desert National Wildlife Refuge, a vast habitat for desert bighorn sheep and the endangered desert tortoise. One charred tortoise carcass was found Monday within the lines of the fire, which was sparked by lightning June 27.

Firefighters also declared containment of the 500-acre Double Nickel wildfire, which was sparked by lightning Sunday night and briefly threatened communications towers in the rugged Virgin Mountains about 12 miles south of Mesquite.

A lightning-sparked fire charred less than an acre early Tuesday near Mount Potosi before it was extinguished by firefighters from nearby Mountain Springs, about 20 miles southwest of Las Vegas, said Hillerie Patton, a Bureau of Land Management fire spokeswoman.

In northern Nevada, fire officials declared containment of the 79,859-acre Suzie fire, which closed Interstate 80 west of Elko a week ago, and the 10,316-acre Sneekee fire, 35 miles southwest of Elko.

In the Reno and Carson City area, officials declared containment of the Sierra Tahoe Complex, a group of 16 wildfires covering 13,323 acres.

More than 150,000 acres have burned in Nevada since June 23, but authorities have reported no major injuries and no structures burned.

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On the Net:

National Interagency Fire Center Incident Management Report: http://www.nifc.gov/nicc/sitreprt.pdf