Aggressive fire scorches more than 30,000 acres outside Las Vegas
BY JUSTIN DOMBROWSKI
All photos courtesy Rick Barton
On June 22, lightning ignited the Goodsprings Fire, southwest of Las Vegas. Fanned by high winds, heavy fuel accumulation and hot and dry weather, the fire ultimately consumed 33,569 acres (15,835 acres of Bureau of Land Management land; 9,195 acres in the Red Rock National Conservation Area; 7,724 acres in the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest; and 815 acres of private land).
The fire threatened residents in the Goodsprings and Mountain Springs communities and the southwest suburbs of Las Vegas, as well as a Boy Scout camp and a church camp nearby. The fire also threatened critical communications sites, sensitive plants and wildlife. At the height of the incident, more than 500 fire personnel battled the blaze, which was contained on July 7.
A handcrew heads out to the Goodsprings Fire to secure
its north flank and prevent it from spreading closer to
Las Vegas.
Smoky Vegas
The days that followed the ignition were hot and dry with prevailing southwest winds. The National Weather Service issued red flag warnings most of the days, with relative humidity in the single digits and poor humidity recovery at night.
The fire started in the higher elevation, near Potosi Peak, and spread along ridgelines and into Cottonwood Valley, which lines up with southwest Las Vegas. The fire eventually grew to more than 20 miles long with almost 50 miles of fire perimeter.
The Las Vegas field office, which includes staff from the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the United States Forest Service (USFS), managed the fire initially. On June 23, the Rocky Mountain Region Type 1 Incident Management Team (IMT) took command of the fire.
The fire took major runs during the first three days, consuming 25,000 acres and pouring smoke into Las Vegas. As the smoke column rose, it traveled, then collapsed into the city while evening downslope winds contributed to the smoke’s impact.
As in much of the Western U.S., an unusual growth of fine fuels added to the fire’s intensity. The fire burned in an area with increased non-native and noxious weeds, cheatgrass and Red Brome, with fine fuel loads averaging more than 1,000 lbs. dry weight (more than 200 percent of the normal fuel load) in the desert area. There was also an increase of fine fuels in the piñon pine juniper forest stands at the higher elevation as the live fuel moisture in the trees dropped below 5 percent.
Strategies for Attack
Approximately 515 personnel worked the blaze, including 17 handcrews (10 Type 1 and seven Type 2), 18 engines, four water tenders, six helicopters (one Type 1, two Type 2s and three Type 3s), along with heavy and single engine air tankers (SEATs) and two air-attack planes to help with coordination above the fire.
“The transition from the Type 3 IMT to the Type 1 IMT went well,” says Mike Dailey, Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department resident sergeant and police liaison to the Type 1 IMT. “The evacuations went very well; this was a good kick-off to the fire season.”
The Clark County (Nev.) Fire Department, the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department and the Nevada Highway Patrol helped coordinate evacuations, structure protection and roadblocks. Law enforcement and fire officials established evacuation trigger points, placed the Goodsprings and Mountain Springs communities on high alert and developed preparations to evacuate the southwest Las Vegas area. City and state law enforcement closed Highway 160, a major artery for outlying communities to Las Vegas, as the fire took a major run to the road at 0400 hrs on June 25.
Firefighters used existing roads, burnout operations and cold-trailed to contain the fire and limit resource damage from firefighting efforts. Additionally, in order to focus firefighting efforts, firefighters utilized handheld thermal imaging cameras and a radiometric imaging camera on a helicopter to identify areas holding heat.
For two days, four Type 1 crews spike-camped near Potosi mountain in order to monopolize their time and reduce helicopter use. Firefighters also used helicopter buckets to help with mop-up activities. Crews mopped up 100 feet from the fire’s perimeter in the desert fuels and 300 feet in the piñon pine/juniper areas.
Protecting Threatened Habitats
As the fire burned through the desert, it impacted two Congressionally designated national conservation areas and cultural resources. The fire also threatened sensitive animal and plant habitats, adding to the many issues firefighters faced in battling the blaze. For example, firefighters had to watch for the endangered desert tortoise, which can die easily when stressed, while protecting its habitat. Additionally, firefighters worked to protect the blackbrush-creosote, a threatened plant community.
In order to protect these resources, fire crews were directed to limit the amount of burnout operations, dozer use and other methods that would increase fire size or cause extensive resource damage. Instead, firefighters used 23 miles of roads as the fire’s perimeter with 26 miles of backline.
Desert Dangers
Aside from protecting themselves from the regular hazards of a fire, firefighters had another safety concern: the Mojave rattlesnake. The snake, which can reach four feet in length, has a very potent venom. This venom, which works as a neurotoxin, is considered 10 times more toxic than the venom of any other North American rattlesnake. Because a bite is not painful, it can be deceiving, leading to late response by the victim for medical help and, therefore, possible death.
Additional hazards for the firefighters included heat-related injuries and dehydration. And despite heavy road signage and a strong police presence along Highway 160, drivers in this area still used high speeds and caused one minor accident with a fire vehicle.
Boy Scout Training Pays Off
More than 250 scouts and scout leaders who were camping in the forest at the Potosi Boy Scout Camp were evacuated during the first two hours of the fire’s run. “The sky was bright orange,” says 16-year-old Boy Scout Steven Heimark. “It was pretty hard to see anything too far from you. The smoke was getting heavy in some parts of camp.”
The camp was well-prepared for an evacuation, though, as it had a warning siren and evacuation procedures on which the scouts had been previously coached. Following the evacuation, most of the scouts spent the evening at a Red Cross evacuation center at a middle school in Las Vegas.
“Being prudent, as we need to be, we put our emergency plan in effect,” says Frank Hutchings, director of Boy Scout support services. “Some of the younger scouts were frightened, but overall, it was a calm situation.”
When the camp was reopened the following week, the scouts returned to pick up their tents and gear, allowing the next camp session to resume. A church camp next door, which was also evacuated, resumed camp after the fire threat was reduced.
Viva Las Vegas
Firefighters worked around the clock to protect the city, its suburbs and surrounding critical natural resources. The Rocky Mountain Region Type 1 IMT returned command of the fire to the local district on June 29, at which point the fire was 95 percent contained. There were no structure losses and only a few minor injuries. In addition, for some firefighters, this was their first time seeing the Las Vegas strip, which was visible from the fire camp.
Some information from this report was taken from The Las Vegas Sun.
Justin Dombrowski can be reached at dombrowskij@gmail.com.
