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Nevada Fire Is Declared Nearly Contained

Posted on: Sunday, 18 July 2004, 06:00 CDT

CARSON CITY, Nev. - Fire crews began heading home Sunday as an erratic fire that destroyed at least 15 homes and briefly threatened the governor's mansion in the state capital was declared nearly contained.

"They're getting a very good handle on it," fire information officer Mark Struble said Saturday. "If we can hold these lines for another 24 hours, it'll be very, very good."

The wind-driven fire, which blackened nearly 7,600 acres along a 4-mile stretch of the Sierra foothills, was 85 percent contained late Saturday. At one point, it had moved within one-half mile of the governor's mansion.

Fire officials said the blaze could be fully contained by Tuesday with good weather.

Meanwhile, officials broadened their investigation of the fire's cause. They initially said they suspected the blaze was started by teenagers in Kings Canyon the day before the fire erupted Wednesday, but said Saturday the fire could have started last weekend and smoldered undetected for days.

At its peak, roughly 1,900 firefighters were on the line, assisted by more than 120 engines, 16 bulldozers and 26 aircraft including three large air tankers.

Two tankers were sent home late Friday, and another was to be released Sunday, Struble said. Five helicopters also have returned to their regular stations, and fewer than 1,300 firefighters were battling the blaze, he said.

However, some residents at a town meeting Saturday questioned whether firefighters responded quickly enough to douse the blaze before it grew out of control.

"This atrocity should never have happened," said Berry Kelly. "There was too much waiting and seeing."

Fire officials defended their response, saying firefighters were at the scene within minutes of the fire being reported. They said they would provide a chronicle of the developments.

They blamed erratic winds and lingering drought for fanning the fire after they thought they had it licked.

In California, hundreds of people were forced to evacuate Saturday when a wildfire broke out in northern Los Angeles County. The 2,800-acre blaze threatened Sand Canyon, a community of more than 100 homes, Placerita Canyon and the Placerita Nature Center.

No homes or structures had been destroyed and the fire was 30 percent contained by late Saturday, officials said.

Another wildfire in the area shifted away from two rural communities, allowing hundreds of residents to return to their homes. The fire in Lake Hughes had blackened 16,800 acres, but was about 70 percent contained, officials said.

A 3,200-acre wildfire in Riverside County, about 90 miles east of Los Angeles, threatened nearly 700 homes and forced the evacuation of about 2,000 people, officials said.

The blazes were among dozens of wildfires in California that burned more than 31,000 acres during the week.

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On the Net:

National Interagency Fire Center: http://www.nifc.gov/

Sierra Front Interagency Dispatch Center: http://www.sierrafront.net/

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