In a June 14, 2011 photo, an airplane drops retardant near a neighborhood off of Highway 92 as the Monument Fire burns in the Huachuca Mountains near Sierra Vista, Ariz. Fires have devoured hundreds of square miles in the Southwest and Texas since wildfire season began several weeks ago. (AP Photo/Arizona Daily Star, Greg Bryan) MANDATORY CREDIT
Carson City Fire Chief Stacey Giomi said he has sent four firefighters and an engine to Arizona to help with wild fires there.
"This is not uncommon," Giomi said. "The last three years have been pretty quiet, but during the last busy season, we went on 25 out-of-area assignments, and we got tremendous support (from other agencies) during the Waterfall Fire."
About a week ago, Central Lyon County Fire District received a request to send a brush engine to the largest fire in Arizona, the Wallow Fire - burning more than 450,000 acres near the Arizona, New Mexico border. It is about 20 percent contained.
Although Lyon was able to send the engine, it didn't have any experienced captains they could send to be in charge of the engine so they requested one from Carson City, Giomi said.
He said he received another request for assistance earlier this week on a new fire that had started over the weekend, the Monument Fire, which has burned more than 5,200 acres in national park land southeast of Tucson. It is only about 10 percent contained. He sent an engine and three firefighters out on that fire.
Firefighters make a two-week commitment to the fire line, and Carson City is reimbursed for their time, he said.
"We maintain daily contact with our crews when they respond out of the area. We also ensure we are properly protected back here in Carson City, by limiting the number of resources we will send. We have a pre-determined level of assistance we can provide that still allows us to maintain our daily minimum staffing," Giomi said.
"I often get asked why Southern Nevada agencies don't send resources. The reason is that they do not really fight wildland fires in Southern Nevada. They do some of it, but they generally don't have agreements with federally agencies, nor do they have the proper training or equipment, so they get bypassed," Giomi said.
As of Monday, the Southwest Region, generally including Arizona, New Mexico and the western portion of Texas, had 34 large uncontained wildland fires, which includes eight large, new uncontrolled fires. These fires total in excess of 760,000 acres or about 1,187 square miles, Giomi said.