RENO, Nev. – More than 1,000 firefighters battled dozens of wildfires across Nevada on Wednesday including blazes around Reno and Carson City that forced some evacuations.
A state of emergency declared Tuesday by Gov. Kenny Guinn freed up state resources to help local governments and help put equipment on the fire lines. About 190 square miles (486.4 square kilometers) have burned in the state since lightning sparked the fires last weekend.
A 70,000-acre-plus (28,000-hectare) blaze was burning uninhabited rangeland in northeast Nevada, while a complex of smaller fires around Reno and Carson City threatened about 200 homes.
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A Type I incident management team, which handles the nation's most challenging fires, took over command of those fires, and about 800 firefighters are on the lines there.
The series of fires has grown to 6,000 acres and looped around Carson City on the eastern front of the Sierra, sending a snake of fire down a hillside near McClellan Peak.
In New Mexico, thunderstorms brought rain as well as wind and lightning, helping firefighters quell several blazes that have charred more than 82,000 acres (32,800 hectares) in recent weeks. The largest, which has burned 51,000 acres (20,400 hectares)in the Gila National Forest, is now 87 percent contained.
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