Voltaire Canyon fire grows to 500 acres; winds a concern

atrumble

Tuesday, June 12, 2018

For the latest story click here ••• Update 4:05 p.m.: The evacuation orders for the Voltaire Fire have been lifted. ••• The Voltaire Canyon fire continues to remain very active, said Carson City Fire Chief Slamon. Sierra Front Interagency Dispatch said the fire was at 800 acres early Wednesday, it has since been revised to 500 acres. Crews from around the region have remained on scene throughout the night working to keep the flames from reaching structures. “Our crews are very tired, we are working on a rotation right now to put fresh troops on the line,” Slamon said. “Everyone on the fire did a great job last night.” The Voltaire Fire has been burning for about 12 hours now, and Slamon said while the fire started to calm down during the night, they are expecting it to pick back up during the morning. “We just want to knock it down as much as we can before the winds start picking back up,” Slamon said. They are bringing in aircrafts this morning to help combat the fire as well. The same voluntary evacuations are still in place for the Voltaire Canyon and Tribal Colony residences. Control of the command has also been transferred over to the U.S. Forest Service as the fire remains on their land. Officials say the fire, which was reported about 7:45 p.m. Tuesday was started by campers burning human waste. U.S. Forest Service-Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest says the fire is 15 percent contained. SFS, Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest is the managing agency for the fire. ••• ••• Currently there are voluntary evacuations for the Carson Colony area off of Curry Street and for residences in the Voltaire Canyon area. Agencies from Washoe, Douglas, Storey, Lyon, US Forest Service, Nevada Division of Forestry and Bureau of Land Management are working the scene. "We are in a unified command with the US Forest Service. We anticipate the fire to continue to burn throughout the evening," said Carson Fire Chief Sean Slamon.
••• Law enforcement is starting evacuations on Curry Street near the Greenhouse Garden Center as the fire burns toward that area. ••• Carson City Fire Chief Sean Slamon said about 10:15 Tuesday that fire crews will be working on the fire throughout the night. He said they are hopeful the wind will calm down and that an aerial attack in the morning will help firefighters. The fire is 0 percent contained at this time. There is no estimate on acreage burnt. No structures are threatened. ••• Update 8:56 p.m.: Fire has called for voluntary evacuation order for residents in Voltaire Canyon. ••• Carson City and East Fork fire crews are reporting to Voltaire Canyon in West Carson City for reports of a wildfire. The fire is reported at 2 acres and rapidly moving as of earlier. By 8:30 p.m., officials could give no further estimates. So far, no structures are threatened. Officials said the fire was started by four people camping in the canyon. Officials said the campers attempted to burn their waste, igniting the fire. Fire Chief Sean Slamon said the fire is significant. “We have all of our resources on the fire right now,” Slamon said. “It is significant and fast moving but with sunset it will make things difficult.” He said they have an all callback for every off-duty firefighter in an attempt to stop the fire. They also have crews staging at the bottom of the hill and near the Casino Fandango in case the fire spreads that far. The fire can be seen up close by the Nevada Appeal's web camera available here: https://www.nevadaappeal.com/carson-live/

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