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Wildfire south of Reno accidentally caused by worker

This Friday, Aug. 30, 2013 image provided by the U.S. Forest Service shows a member of the BLM Silver State Hotshot crew using a drip torch to set back fires on the southern flank of the Rim Fire in California. The blaze has scorched 343 square miles of brush, oaks and pines and 11 homes, as of Saturday Aug. 31, 2013. (AP Photo/U.S. Forest Service)

This Friday, Aug. 30, 2013 image provided by the U.S. Forest Service shows a member of the BLM Silver State Hotshot crew using a drip torch to set back fires on the southern flank of the Rim Fire in California. The blaze has scorched 343 square miles of brush, oaks and pines and 11 homes, as of Saturday Aug. 31, 2013. (AP Photo/U.S. Forest Service)

Wednesday, July 7, 2021

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RENO, Nev. (AP) — Fire investigators say a construction worker accidentally started a wildland blaze that charred nearly a square mile of mostly grass and brush in the Steamboat area south of Reno last month.

No homes were damaged or injuries reported in the fire that was fully contained three days after it broke out on June 16.

The Truckee Meadows Fire District investigators determined Tuesday the human-caused fire was accidental and the person responsible will not be held liable for any damage or costs incurred fighting the fire.

District spokesman Adam Mayberry said the worker was cutting cinderblocks and inadvertently hit a reinforcement bar, which sparked the blaze.

"It was a fluke accident for them and the individual was very forthcoming and very remorseful," Mayberry told the Reno Gazette Journal on Tuesday.

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