Nevada Fires Continue To Rage

Carson City, NV — Nevada Governor Kenny Guinn declared a state of emergency Tuesday as state and federal crews put practically every available piece of equipment on the lines to combat dozens of lightning sparked fires that have now burned more than 100,000 acres.

One of their best weapons Tuesday afternoon proved to be a slight improvement in the weather, which had hampered efforts to control the flames with three consecutive days of temperatures in the 90s, low humidity, strong erratic winds and dry lightning.

Nevertheless, more than a thousand firefighters continue to battle dozens of fires, from a 57-thousand-acre blaze burning out of control largely in uninhabited rangeland in northeast Nevada to a complex of a dozen smaller fires around Reno and Carson City that forced evacuations at the town of Mound House along the historic Pony Express Trail.