Western Nevada Fire Threatens Homes

CARSON CITY, Nev. —  Several firefighters were injured Wednesday in a wildfire just west of the capital. The fire also damaged or destroyed a dozen structures and threatened at least 300 houses, officials said.

Gusty winds pushed the out-of-control blaze to 600 acres in an area of upscale homes that dot the hills surrounding the city.

One firefighter broke his leg, another injured his back, and a third was hospitalized with facial burns, said Scott Huntley, a spokesman for the Sierra Front Interagency Dispatch Center in Minden. Several others reportedly received minor burns when the blaze leapfrogged their position, trapping them and destroying their fire engine.

John Tyson, a reporter for KOLO-TV in Reno, suffered minor burns on his hands and face, officials said. His vehicle was destroyed, along with an ambulance and another firefighting truck, as the fire spread widely through brush and timber.

“Several homes have now burned,” fire spokesman Kirk Frosdick said.

In some areas, he added, firefighters had to pull away from homes because of the intensity of the blaze, which was fanned by wind gusts of up to 30 mph.

More than 500 firefighters were on the scene. They were assisted by three single-engine air tankers, one heavy air tanker and five helicopters.

The fire was caused by human activity, Huntley said, and officials were looking for a 1978 Dodge truck with Nevada plates 250NYZ.

Carson City Fire Chief Dan Shirley said the fire, which created a huge plume of smoke over the city, had burned up and down the hill and was becoming increasingly unpredictable.

“It’s a monster [smoke] column. It’s very scary looking,” said U.S. Forest Service spokeswoman Christie Kalkowski. The blaze, dubbed the Waterfall fire, broke out about 3 a.m. Wednesday, she said.

An evacuation center was set up at a local school, and sheriff’s deputies were going door-to-door urging people to leave. A local college was evacuated, and firefighters staked out a protective line around it.