MOUNT CHARLESTON, Nev. – Authorities evacuated a Girl Scout (search) camp and a youth correctional facility after a fast-moving wildfire sparked by a vehicle crash spread Monday in rugged hills near this mountain community.
More than a dozen homes about 11/2 miles from the fire were also evacuated as a precaution. The 1,500-acre blaze is about 35 miles northwest of Las Vegas (search).
Camp Stimpson, the Girl Scout camp, and the Spring Mountain Youth Camp for juveniles, were evacuated Monday afternoon. There were about 100 youngsters at the two camps, Las Vegas police said.
Federal, state and local firefighters swarmed the hilly area. The U.S. Forest Service (search) was providing helicopters and tanker planes.
"This is the fire we didn't want," said Mark Blankensop of the forest service, referring to the area's dry conditions.
Officials said the fire started on a highway nearby when a flatbed truck coming down the mountain overheated its breaks and lost control, rolling into brush and igniting the blaze, Las Vegas police said.
The driver was taken to a hospital. Her condition was not available.
No wide-scale evacuation had been ordered. About 2,500 people live in the Mount Charleston area.
Kyle Canyon Road, the only road to the community of Mount Charleston, was closed.
"It's a narrow, box canyon, one way in and one way out," said William Kourim, a Clark County fire chief. He said helicopter evacuations would be impossible because of the terrain and altitude. The fire began at 8,200 feet and by evening had burned to an 11,000-foot ridge.
Get all the stories you need-to-know from the most powerful name in news delivered first thing every morning to your inbox