By Ken Ritter
The Associated Press
LAS VEGAS — Wildfires bracketed the southern Nevada town of Beatty on Monday, with about 400 firefighters digging in to keep flames at least three miles away, a fire incident commander said.
The fires were 10 percent contained, said fire incident Cmdr. Merrill Saleen, who planed to meet with some of Beatty’s 1,032 residents later Monday.
Lightning started the blazes Saturday, and they burned through dry desert grasses and brush in rocky mountain terrain. Crews hoped to contain the fire before Wednesday, when forecasts called for hot, dry wind, Saleen said.
No injuries were reported, Saleen said, and no structures were immediately threatened.
Neither the 18,600-acre Beatty Fire, burning about five miles east of Beatty, nor the 3,500-acre Sawtooth Fire, about three miles west of town, threatened U.S. 95, the main road to Las Vegas and Reno.
Firefighters also made progress Monday against the largest of several wildfires burning in Southern California.
A 2,200-acre blaze in a remote area of Joshua Tree National Park was 90 percent contained, park spokesman Joe Zarki said.
The fire, sparked by lightning Friday, slowed substantially and was no longer moving toward a valley that is home to the endangered desert tortoise, Zarki said.
In the Tehachapi Mountains north of Los Angeles, a 780-acre wildfire along the west side of Interstate 5 north of Fort Tejon was 50 percent contained, said Kern County fire Capt. Doug Johnson. There were no reports of injuries or damage to buildings. The blaze brought southbound traffic on I-5 to a halt for several hours Sunday.
Voluntary evacuations for O’Neil Canyon and Lebec Oaks were lifted, but firefighters were still urging residents of Digier Canyon to stay away. At one point, more than 100 homes were evacuated.
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On the Net:
National Interagency Fire Center Incident Management Report: http://www.nifc.gov/nicc/sitreprt.pdf