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Four new wildfires break out in Nevada and Idaho

Author Bill GabbertPosted on Categories UncategorizedTags , ,

Two people were arrested for allegedly starting the Jasper Fire north of Reno by target shooting into an area with cheat grass

Jasper Fire north of Sun Valley, Nevada
The Jasper Fire north of Sun Valley, Nevada. Photo by Truckee Meadows Fire Protection District, July 13, 2019.

Four new wildfires broke out in the Great Basin Geographic Area late Saturday, two each in Idaho and Nevada.

satellite four fires Idaho Nevada wildfires
The GOES 17 satellite detected four fires in Idaho and Nevada at 9 p.m. MDT July 13, 2019. The imagery is enhanced to show heat from the fires. Click to enlarge.

Jasper Fire

The Jasper Fire was reported at about 3 p.m. north of Sun Valley, Nevada. The Washoe County Sheriff’s Office asked for voluntary evacuations in the Sun Valley area as the fire reached Eagle Canyon Drive. The Truckee Meadows Fire Protection District reported that the fire burned about 800 acres. By Sunday morning the blaze was producing very little smoke, but at least one outbuilding was destroyed Saturday.

Jasper Fire north of Sun Valley, Nevada
The Jasper Fire north of Sun Valley, Nevada. Photo by Truckee Meadows Fire Protection District, Saturday evening July 13, 2019.

Washoe County Sheriff Darin Balaam said Alex Javier Arias, 23, and Jorge Arias, 22, were arrested for starting the fire by target shooting into cheat grass. They could be charged with destruction of property caused by fire through gross negligence which is a felony, Sheriff Balaam said.

Air tankers and helicopters assisted firefighters, including at least one air tanker, Tanker 88, from CAL FIRE.

A Type 3 Incident Management Team, Sierra Front with Incident Commander Stephenson, was scheduled to in-brief at 6 a.m. Sunday, according to @GreatBasinCC.

Ridgeline Fire

As of Saturday evening the Ridgeline Fire, 5 miles northeast of Albion, Idaho had burned about 1,000 acres and was running and spotting in juniper and brush. It was being fought by firefighters on the ground assisted by four Single Engine Air Tankers and a DC-10.

The impressive video below of a DC-10 dropping was tweeted by @BLMIdahoFire July 13, 2019 but they did not say when or where it occurred. It may have been at the Ridgeline Fire 5 miles northeast of Albion, Idaho the same day.


Elk Fire

The Elk Fire burned about 30 acres south of Winnemucca, Nevada.

Canmay Fire

The Canmay Fire, 8 miles north-northwest of Mountain Home, Idaho started on Bureau of Reclamation land eight miles northwest of Mountain Home, ID. Saturday evening it was running, flanking, and creeping through brush and short grass and had burned about 2,000 acres.

The weather forecast

The weather forecast for Sunday on the Jasper, Elk, and Canmay Fires are all about the same —  temperature in the 90s with wind speeds over 10 mph. It will be a little cooler on the Ridgeline Fire with the temperature in the 80s, and winds less than 10 mph.

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Author: Bill Gabbert

After working full time in wildland fire for 33 years, he continues to learn, and strives to be a Student of Fire.

One thought on “Four new wildfires break out in Nevada and Idaho”

  1. I’m curious about the DC10 drop. It appears that both the lead and the 10 are particularly low for a normal drop. If so then wouldn’t this be considered below recommended VLAT drop height? It appears to me they wanted to “slam” the fire. Was it last year that a video of an Erickson VLAT making a very low drop on the Boxcar Fire(?) in Oregon brought condemnation (other than by me) in the comments? Is there a similarity in these two videos that should, once again, bring about the same condemnation even though the lead plane is obviously bringing the VLAT in low? I’m just curious. LR

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