Blaze near Ramsey burning fast

SILVER SPRINGS - An estimated 10,000 acres have burned near the Ramsey Mine between Fernley and Silver Springs and firefighters don't expect to have the fire contained until Monday.

The Ramsey fire, driven by 30 to 40 mph winds, went from 2,000 acres to 10,000 acres Friday afternoon, according to U.S. Forest Service spokesman Nick Zufelt

"The winds are what made it blow up so bad," Zufelt said. "It got that wind in the afternoon and it puffed right up."

More than 200 firefighters are battling the blaze, including two helicopters and three air tankers.

Zufelt said that until Friday evening most of the work on the fire was done from the air.

"It was mostly an air show for a number of reasons," he said. "The fire was pretty inaccessible and we haven't had the crews. Now it is going to be an air show and a land show."

No homes were threatened by the fire on Friday, but Zufelt said two radio towers were in the path of the blaze and that one may already have succumbed.

"Some power poles were damaged," Zufelt said.

The fire is burning into juniper and is very hot, he said.

Two bulldozers, three water tenders and four engines were the extent of the units devoted to fight the fire. Zufelt said firefighters from the Forest Service, BLM, Park Service, the Nevada Division of Forestry and the Truckee Meadows Fire Department were fighting the fire.

Firefighters battled three small fires near Markleeville. The largest of the set was an acre in size with a second just over a half acre in size. The third fire was a single tree.

Closer to home, Carson City and Bureau of Land Management firefighters responded to one new blaze.

A noon fire in Brunswick canyon was battled using two Carson City ground crews, an air tanker and a helicopter. A firefighter who was on the scene said thick juniper and sagebrush required the construction of a fire line around the edge.

The fire was under control with approximately two acres burned when the BLM crews came to relieve Carson firefighters for "mopping up" efforts.

The fire was near the site of another fire reported Wednesday. It was believed to be caused by embers that resulted from lightning.

The 7,690-acre Antelope Valley fire was 80 percent contained and the 4,000-acre Hungry Valley blaze was fully contained, fire information officer Mark Struble said Friday.

The brush fires burned within 200 feet of homes Wednesday night about 15 miles north of Reno and prompted a voluntary evacuation of residents.

Hundreds of firefighters have been battling the fires around the clock since they began Wednesday afternoon.

In all, the blazes have blackened about 15,000 acres of public and private land.

There were no reports of injuries or damage to homes.

''We definitely dodged a few bullets,'' Struble said. ''When you have 1,800 lightning strikes in a 12-hour period and lose no homes, you're pretty lucky.

''I think our firefighters have done a pretty incredible job. There are a lot of tired firefighters out there.''

Struble said two other fires threatened wildlife habitat but posed only outside threats to homes.

They were a 2,000-acre blaze near Nixon east of Reno and a 1,000-acre fire near Doyle, Calif., north of Reno .

Each fire was no more than 20 percent contained.

Containment of the Reno area's two largest blazes allowed firefighters to be shifted.

''It's allowed us to attack the smaller ones,'' Struble said.

Fire crews welcomed forecasts calling for cooler temperatures and a diminishing chance of thunderstorms over the weekend.

''We are optimistic we can contain the smaller fires if the weather cooperates,'' Struble said.

Wildfires blackened more than 1.6 million acres across Nevada last year, the state's worst wildland fire season on record.

Fire officials have warned conditions are ripe for another bad fire season this year.