The Associated Press
SIERRAVILLE, Calif.- A wildfire is burning about 35 miles northeast of Lake Tahoe near the town of Sierraville.
Forest Service officials say the fire broke out about three o’clock this afternoon on the edge of the Tahoe National Forest.
At last word, it had burned about 100 acres of mostly grass and shrubs. A large plume of smoke is visible about 40 miles away in Reno.
Forest Service spokeswoman Deborah Urick says there currently are no structures threatened. The blaze is burning about two miles northeast of Sierraville and moving away from town to the northeast.
Urick says six airtankers and three helicopters are on the scene. There also are numerous fire engines and hand crews there, but she doesn’t know yet how many.
The fire, dubbed the Harding fire, has been fueled by strong winds this afternoon. But Urick says the winds started calming down about five-30 this evening.
The fire is near the area where the Cottonwood fire burned more than 30-thousand acres in 1994.