Pile burning continues today on both the Carson Ranger District in the Genoa project area and in the Spring Mountains National Recreation Area on the Potosi project. We will continue pile burning as long as conditions permit. Please be aware that smoke may be visible during pile burning and may continue for several days. Do not report. For more information about prescribed burning and current projects, please go to the 2022 Humboldt-Toiyabe Prescribed Fire page on InciWeb at https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/7310/

 

As part of the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest’s fuels reduction efforts, prescribed pile burning is taking place today on the CARSON RANGER DISTRICT in the Genoa Project area just west of Genoa, Nevada, and along Nevada State Route 207. Smoke may be visible, please do not report. Local fire departments are aware of this project.
To learn more about prescribed fire on the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest, please visit https://bit.ly/HTNFPrescribedFire. #GoodFire #RXFire 

As part of the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest’s fuels reduction efforts, prescribed pile burning is taking place today on the SPRINGS MOUNTAINS NATIONAL RECREATION AREA in the Mt. Potosi area near mile marker 20 on Nevada State Route 160, one mile south of Mountain Springs, Nevada. Smoke may be visible, please do not report. Local fire departments are aware of this project.To learn more about prescribed fire on the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest, please visit https://bit.ly/HTNFPrescribedFire. #GoodFire #RXFire
 
 

These are the planned projects for the Fall 2021 through the Spring 2022 prescribed fire season listed by Ranger District:

• Bridgeport and Carson Ranger Districts (Sierra Zone) - November 2021 through May 2022
• Spring Mountains National Recreation Area - January through April 2022

Sparks, NV.- As part of Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest’s hazardous fuels reduction efforts, both Carson and Bridgeport Ranger Districts’ fire crews will conduct pile burning beginning in November through May, weather and fuel conditions permitting.

Prescribed fire is a proactive tool used to achieve a number of purposes, including the reduction of hazardous fuels (overgrown vegetation). The three general types of prescribed fire are pile burning, understory/underburning, and broadcast burning. They all help decrease the threat of high intensity, high-severity wildfires; reduce the risk of insect and disease outbreak; recycle nutrients that increase soil productivity; and improve wildlife habitat. Another benefit resulting from prescribed fire is a reduction in wildfire danger to local communities.

The actual days of ignition for pile burning will depend on several factors including appropriate humidity levels, wind speed and direction, temperature, and fuel moisture. Burns only occur on days when weather conditions exist for smoke dispersal. The public can get prescribed burn updates by visiting the Forest’s Facebook https://www.facebook.com/HumboldtToiyabeNF/ or Twitter https://twitter.com/HumboldtToiyabe pages.

“Air quality considerations are an important part of prescribed fire, and each fire prescription is planned to disperse smoke rapidly and reduce lingering haze,” said Fuels Specialist Steve Howell. “Before each prescribed fire is ignited, fire managers will get approval from the local air quality district in which the burn is to take place.”

Fire crews divide large landscape burns into blocks of land over multiple days. This allows them to halt burning activity within those areas if anything is out of the pre-established prescription conditions, such as too much wind. Crews can start again when conditions are more acceptable. Fire managers create a burn plan, which includes smoke management details, fire control measures, acceptable weather parameters, and equipment and personnel needs. The burn plan also describes in detail how the ecosystem will benefit from fire.

Please do not call 911 about burning in the areas referred below. Local fire departments are aware of these burning activities.For information on pile burning activities on the Bridgeport and Carson Ranger Districts, please contact Fuels Specialist Steve Howell at steven.howell@usda.gov or 775-884-8114.

An ArcGIS StoryMap that explains how prescribed fire is good for National Forest System land be viewed at https://bit.ly/PrescribedFireStoryMap

Possible burn locations include:

CALIFORNIA

• Alpine County
• Approximately 123 acres of pile burning is planned in the Monitor Pass Project just south east of Markleeville, California.
• Approximately 82 acres of pile burning is planned in the Scotts Green Fuelwood Project near the intersection of California State Route 89 and 88 in Hope Valley, California.
• Sierra County
• Roughly 282 acres of pile burning is planned in the Dog Valley Fuels Reduction Project area located one mile west of Verdi, California. The project area is near Summit One and along Forest Service Road 002 and 010 near Bordertown Casino and RV Resort.
• Mono County
• Approximately 65 acres of pile burning is planned for the Twin Lakes area, 10 miles southeast of Bridgeport, California. Piles are located on the south side of Upper Twin Lake and behind the Twin Lakes Resort on Lower Twin Lake.
• Approximately 343 acres of pile burning is planned in the Mill Creek Project area northwest of Walker, California, off U.S. Route 395.

NEVADA

• Douglas County
• Roughly 42 acres of pile burning is planned in the Clear Creek Fuels Reduction Project area two miles south of Carson City, Nevada. The burning will occur in the Clear Creek drainage off U.S Highway 50 below Spooner Summit.
• Approximately 30 acres of pile burning in the Genoa Project area just west of Genoa, Nevada, and along Nevada State Route 207.
• Washoe County
• Roughly 37 acres of pile burning is planned in the Arrowhawk Fuels Reduction Project area five miles west of Reno, Nevada. Burning will occur in the Mount Rose area near Timberline Road in the Thomas Creek and Whites Creek areas.
• Around 109 acres of pile burning is planned in the North Washoe Valley Fuels Reduction Project area, 10 miles south of Reno, Nevada. The piles are located behind the Chocolate Nugget Candy Factory west of Interstate 580.
• Approximately 66 acres of pile burning is planned in the Little Valley Fuels Reduction area near Washoe Valley about two miles west of Washoe City, Nevada, and 15 miles south of Reno, Nevada.

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CALIFORNIA

• Alpine County
• Approximately 123 acres of pile burning is planned in the Monitor Pass Project just south east of Markleeville, California.
• Approximately 82 acres of pile burning is planned in the Scotts Green Fuelwood Project near the intersection of California State Route 89 and 88 in Hope Valley, California.

• Sierra County
• Roughly 282 acres of pile burning is planned in the Dog Valley Fuels Reduction Project area located one mile west of Verdi, California. The project area is near Summit One and along Forest Service Road 002 and 010 near Bordertown Casino and RV Resort.

• Mono County
• Approximately 65 acres of pile burning is planned for the Twin Lakes area, 10 miles southwest of Bridgeport, California. Piles are located on the south side of Upper Twin Lake and behind the Twin Lakes Resort on Lower Twin Lake.
• Approximately 343 acres of pile burning is planned in the Mill Creek Project area northwest of Walker, California, off U.S. Route 395.

NEVADA

• Douglas County
• Roughly 42 acres of pile burning is planned in the Clear Creek Fuels Reduction Project area two miles south of Carson City, Nevada. The burning will occur in the Clear Creek drainage off U.S Highway 50 below Spooner Summit.
• Approximately 30 acres of pile burning in the Genoa Project area just west of Genoa, Nevada, and along Nevada State Route 207.

• Washoe County
• Roughly 37 acres of pile burning is planned in the Arrowhawk Fuels Reduction Project area five miles west of Reno, Nevada. Burning will occur in the Mount Rose area near Timberline Road in the Thomas Creek and Whites Creek areas.
• Around 109 acres of pile burning is planned in the North Washoe Valley Fuels Reduction Project area, 10 miles south of Reno, Nevada. The piles are located behind the Chocolate Nugget Candy Factory west of Interstate 580.
• Approximately 66 acres of pile burning is planned in the Little Valley Fuels Reduction area near Washoe Valley about two miles west of Washoe City, Nevada, and 15 miles south of Reno, Nevada.

• The Kyle Canyon Old Helispot/Administrative Site
  • Roughly two acres of pile burning is planned near Mile Marker Five off of Nevada State Route 157 (Kyle Canyon Road), across the road from the Forest Service Fire Station.

• The Lee Canyon Borrow Pit
  • Roughly two acres of pile burning is planned along the north side of the road near Mile Marker Seven on Nevada State Route 156 (Lee Canyon Road).

• Potosi Pass
  • Roughly four hundred acres of pile burning is planned in the Mt. Potosi area near mile marker 20 on Nevada State Route 160, one mile south of Mountain Springs, Nevada.

• Camp Stimson
  • Roughly twenty acres of pile burning is planned near Mile Marker Six on Nevada State Route 158 (Deer Creek Highway), one half mile northwest of Deer Creek Picnic Area.

As part of Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest’s hazardous fuels reduction efforts, the Spring Mountains National Recreation Area’s (SMNRA) fire crews will begin pile burning beginning in January through April, weather and fuel conditions permitting.

Prescribed fire is a proactive tool used to achieve a number of purposes, including the reduction of hazardous fuels (overgrown vegetation). The three general types of prescribed fire are pile burning, understory/underburning, and broadcast burning. They all help decrease the threat of high intensity, high-severity wildfires; reduce the risk of insect and disease outbreak; recycle nutrients that increase soil productivity; and improve wildlife habitat. Another benefit resulting from prescribed fire is a reduction in wildfire danger to local communities.

The actual days of ignition for pile burning will depend on several factors including appropriate humidity levels, wind speed and direction, temperature, and fuel moisture. Burns only occur on days when weather conditions exist for smoke dispersal. The public can get prescribed burn updates by visiting the Forest’s Facebook (https://facebook.com/HumboldtToiyabeNF/) or Twitter (https://twitter.com/HumboldtToiyabe) pages.

“Air quality considerations are an important part of prescribed fire, and each fire prescription is planned to disperse smoke rapidly and reduce lingering haze,” said Fuels Specialist Joshua Thalacker. “Before each prescribed fire is ignited, fire managers will get approval from the local air quality district in which the burn is to take place.”

Fire crews divide large landscape burns into blocks of land over multiple days. This allows them to halt burning activity within those areas if anything is out of the pre-established prescription conditions, such as too much wind. Crews can start again when conditions are more acceptable. Fire managers create a burn plan, which includes smoke management details, fire control measures, acceptable weather parameters, and equipment and personnel needs. The burn plan also describes in detail how the ecosystem will benefit from fire.

Please do not call 911 about burning in the areas referred below. Local fire departments are aware of these burning activities. For information on pile burning activities on the Spring Mountains National Recreation Area, please contact SMNRA Fire Management Officer Ray Dombroski at raymond.dombroski@usda.gov or 702-515-5422.

An ArcGIS StoryMap that explains how prescribed fire is good for National Forest System land can be viewed at https://bit.ly/PrescribedFireStoryMap

Possible burn locations include:

• The Kyle Canyon Old Helispot/Administrative Site
  • Roughly two acres of pile burning is planned near Mile Marker Five off of Nevada State Route 157 (Kyle Canyon Road), across the road from the Forest Service Fire Station.

• The Lee Canyon Borrow Pit
  Roughly two acres of pile burning is planned along the north side of the road near Mile Marker Seven on Nevada State Route 156 (Lee Canyon Road).

• Potosi Pass
  Roughly four hundred acres of pile burning is planned in the Mt. Potosi area near mile marker 20 on Nevada State Route 160, one mile south of Mountain Springs, Nevada.

• Camp Stimson
  Roughly twenty acres of pile burning is planned near Mile Marker Six on Nevada State Route 158 (Deer Creek Highway), one half mile northwest of Deer Creek Picnic Area.

Prescribed Fire Questions and Answers 

What is prescribed fire?

Prescribed fire is the planned application of low-intensity fire to the landscape by fire and fuel specialists.

Why do we conduct prescribed burning?

Prescribed fire is one of the most efficient tools we use as a part of active forest management. After many years of fire exclusion, an ecosystem like ours needs periodic fire or it becomes unhealthy. Trees become stressed by overcrowding, fire-dependent plant and animal species disappear, and flammable fuels build up and become a hazardous and unwanted wildfire threat. The benefits of introducing fire back into this system include:

• Protects communities from catastrophic wildfires by reducing hazard fuel build up including dead wood, unhealthy and overcrowded trees, thick layers of pine needles and continuous brush fields.
• Gives firefighters a safer place to engage in the event of a wildfire. Treated landscape slow fire spread, giving more opportunities for firefighters to be successful in suppression operations.
• Recycles nutrients back to the soil, preparing the land for new growth and promoting its health.
• Minimizes the spread of pests, insects, and disease.
• Creates diversity needed by plants and animals, providing new forage for game and improving wildlife habitat.
• Promotes the growth of trees, wildflowers, and other plants. Many native plant and forest communities need fire for their germination and growth. Seed contact with bare soil, such as that exposed by fire, is necessary for some species to naturally regenerate.
• An efficient, cost-effective way of maintaining the integrity of hazardous fuels reduction treatments that have taken place in the past.  

What is a burn plan?

Prescribed fire specialists write a burn plan for each and every prescribed fire project. The plan identifies the best conditions for conducting prescribed fire to get the best results, safely. They also determine the resources needed for a burn such as crews, engines, equipment, etc. The plans are thorough and include information such as: the specific prescription parameters, what notifications need to be made, smoke management specifications, vegetation data, unique features and natural resources in that project area, maps, specified objectives, weather constraints, safety hazards and mitigations, and post burn activities.

A burn plan explicitly outlines the adequate weather windows when fire can safely be put on the ground to obtain the desired results. This includes temperature, humidity, wind speeds, and fuel moistures. The weather considerations that are taken into account when planning a prescribed fire not only include what the weather conditions are at the time of ignition, but also the weather leading up to the prescribed fire, as well as the weather for an extended period of time once prescribed fire operations have been completed.

Who does the burning?

All prescribed fire on the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest is conducted by trained and qualified professionals who are experienced in the areas of fire behavior and fire management techniques. Every prescribed fire has a burn boss in charge of that project.

Who decides where burning happens?

All hazardous fuels reduction and vegetation management projects are planned and implemented by professional fuels specialists and foresters, accompanied by other resource specialists including botanists, archaeologists, recreation specialists, hydrologists, wildlife biologists, rangeland specialists, invasive/noxious weed specialists, etc. Prescribed burning is an important tool for forest management that is analyzed extensively in order to ensure desirable outcomes for all resource areas.

What is a burn boss?

The burn boss is in charge of the prescribed burn. They are responsible for the writing of burn plans, determining when the burn area is in prescription, obtaining smoke clearance and weather forecasts, notifying officials of the upcoming burn, obtaining all equipment and qualified personnel needed, and ensuring all operations are conducted in a safe manner for personnel and the public before, during and after a burn.

What about the smoke?

Smoke is a natural byproduct of fire and some amounts are unavoidable. However, fire managers and prescribed fire specialists look carefully at the proximity of communities and determine the least amount of smoke impact to the public. They also work closely with the local, county, and state Air Quality staff and the National Weather Service to help determine when the best days for smoke dispersal. The burn plan is also written to minimize negative impacts of smoke, especially to those with sensitivities.

It is also important to remember that smoke from a prescribed fire will be less in amount and for a much shorter duration than the dense smoke that is produced from large and uncontrolled wildfires.   
 

How do I know if smoke that I am seeing is a prescribed fire or a wildfire that I need to report?

Prescribed fire takes generally place from November to May. This page has the information of all the planned prescribed fires for 2021 and will continue to be updated. Also, be sure to follow the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest Facebook and Twitter pages for updates on prescribed fires across the forest. You may also see signs along roadways. If you still aren’t sure, feel free to call the Ranger District you are located in to inquire further.   

How is burning accomplished?

There are different types of prescribed fire applications. The primary methods used on the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest are pile, understory and broadcast burning:

• Pile Burning: Hand or machine cut vegetation are stacked into piles and given time to dry out. The piles are then lit during the fall, winter and spring when conditions allow, reducing the damage to the remaining trees and confining the fire to the footprint of the pile.
• Understory Burning: Implementing a low to moderate intensity fire through an area under the forest canopy to reduce surface fuel loading such as grass, shrubs, needle cast, and small trees. This is generally used following a pretreatment such as thinning or pile burning to further reduce the understory fuel loading, maintain the desired vegetation conditions, promote regeneration of native vegetation and enhance the overall health and resiliency of the forest stand.
• Broadcast Burning: Similar to understory burning, but performed in an area that has little to no forest canopy. Broadcast burning is used in areas with grass or shrubs for habitat restoration and to reduce the amount of fuel. It can be beneficial for promoting diversity of vegetation and enhancing habitats such as sage grouse and winter ranges for elk and mule deer. 

Smelter Fire PM Update
Date: 01/14/2021 
Agencies: Potter County FD, Amarillo FD and Texas A&M Forest Service
 
As per the incident commander the Smelter Fire is now 100 percent contained. The fire was confirmed at 75 acres via GPS and forward progression was stopped with out any structure losses. The priority objectives for the fire is mop up of areas that are holding smoke and heat into the next operational period. Estimated control of the fire will be Saturday 16th at 1700 hrs. The fire will be monitored and worked via local Amarillo fire department resources. No control difficulties are projected over the next operational periods. 
 
Tomorrow's forecast is calling for strong winds up to 40 mph which can create potential for additional starts in the area.