Fire burns cars in Mound House wrecking yard

Lightning appears to have ignited a wrecking yard fire in Mound House Thursday evening which burned 50-100 cars, according Central Lyon County Fire District Fire Investigator Mary Ellen Holly.

"We had a lot of lighting up here," said Holly. "One of the guys who works here said he saw a strike near where the fire was so that's a possibility," she said.

The fire, which started in the Pic and Save lot owned by Gary Borst, spread into the Buena Vista lot owned by Peter Gates.

The fire was called in about 4:20 p.m. according to Holly. It burned between Kit Kat and Newman roads in Mound House.

"We could see the smoke from Dayton before we left the station," she said.

Lyon County firefighters had help fighting the blaze from East Fork and Storey County firefighters. Bureau of Land Management firefighters assisted with the water tender.

"We basically had to do a water shuttle because there are no hydrants out here," said Holly. She described a folding tank where water was stored for the firefighting effort.

Lyon County Utilities has approved funding to expand hydrants into the area by the end of summer, according to Holly.

"There's still a lot of mopping up to do," said Holly at 6:50 p.m.

Investigators thought the fire was limited to the rubber and plastic of automobiles, as opposed to burning brush.

"There might have been a little ground fire but it was mostly in the cars," said Holly.