Carson City BLM stresses wildfire danger awareness

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM), Carson City District would like to remind the community to be aware of the increased chance of wildfire during critical fire weather conditions resulting from high winds and low humidity.

“The public needs to be mindful on days when critical fire weather conditions warrant a Red Flag warning because of high winds and dry conditions.” said Shane McDonald, Interagency Fire Management Officer. “During these extremely critical weather conditions, a small fire can rapidly escalate to one that is out of control.”

Red Flag Warnings are issued when critical fire weather conditions are occurring. A combination of strong winds, low relative humidity, and warm temperatures will create explosive fire growth potential, or a Fire Weather Watch (critical fire weather conditions are forecast to occur). Both are issued by the National Weather Service.

The following precautions should be taken:

Never leave a campfire unattended. Extinguish all campfires completely and stir ashes to make sure no hot coals remain and always make sure they are dead out; dispose of cigarettes in proper containers away from any flammable material; if off-road vehicle use is allowed, internal combustion equipment should have a spark arrester; avoid driving though dry vegetation or parking your vehicle in high grass or dry vegetation.

Never use stoves, lanterns or heaters inside a tent; store flammable liquid containers in a safe place; don’t shoot tracer bullets or incendiary ammunition; don’t shoot in areas of dry fuels especially in times of extreme conditions such as Red Flag Warnings; shoot only at cardboard or paper targets or manufactured thrown-type clay targets.

Remember, shots fired across open desert can travel more than a mile and can cause a wildfire.

At the first sign of a wildfire, contact Sierra Front Interagency Dispatch Center at 775-883-5995 or call 911.

In collaboration with local wildfire cooperators, the Carson City BLM District will monitor fuels conditions and the potential need for fire restrictions as the season progresses.

For more information call Lisa Ross at 775-885-6107 and go to: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H6Woc5it_HI.