Second firefighter hurt in Bison Fire

A second firefighter was injured in the Bison Fire on Thursday morning.

No information was available on the nature of the injuries, but East Fork medics responded to a site in the Pine Nuts to pick the person up.

Fire officials reported making progress in fighting the Bison Fire last night and plan to continue to work on hot spots and rehabilitate the fire.

The size of the fire was revised downward to 24,136 acres on Wednesday night, and its containment has increased to 65 percent.

More than 1,000 firefighters are working on the blaze that burned a 12-mile stretch of the Pine Nut Mountains east of Gardnerville. Started by a lightning strike on Independence Day, the fire is reported to be the largest recorded in Western Nevada.

But as firefighters get a line around the rest of the fire, their numbers will be released to go to other fires around the West.

At its height, 35 hand crews, 33 engines, eight water tenders, four bulldozers fought the fire on the ground, while nine air tankers and 13 helicopters fought it from the air. The price tag for fighting the fire is up to $5.33 million, mostly due to the cost of the aircraft.

Evacuations took place on either side of the Pine Nuts, first 20 homes in the Pine Nut Creek area during the first days of the fire, and on Tuesday 78 homes near Artesia Lake in Smith Valley.