Nevada warned about threat of wildfires
Kit Bailey is the fire guru for U.S. Forest Service in the Lake Tahoe Basin. Photo/LTN file
By Ray Hagar, Reno Gazette-Journal
The ongoing drought, warmer-than-usual weather conditions and the fuel for fire those conditions produce could lead to a “perfect storm” this summer where multiple states in the West could be having large, simultaneous fires, state and federal fire officials told Gov. Brian Sandoval Monday.
“The system is going to be heavily taxed this year,” said Kit Bailey of the Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit. “We have preparedness levels of one through five and I’m a little concerned that we may get to an unprecedented level, a level six, and that is kind of a worst-case scenario.
“We have been preparing for and have had dialogue on what is going to look like when Southern California, Northern California, Nevada, Oregon and Washington all have simultaneous large fire events,” Bailey said.
Despite the seriousness of the situation, Sandoval left the 2015 Governor’s Wildlife Fire Briefing knowing that the various state and federal agencies are prepared for the worst.