Fire demonstration today

A fire safety demonstration will be conducted by the Department of Corrections and the Nevada Division of Forestry at 2 p.m. today at Holbrook Junction, the site of a 6,000-acre fire in 1994.

The area of densely packed 100-year-old pi-on-juniper trees has experienced a beetle population explosion. The importance of such characteristics and their relationship to fire hazards will be discussed.

The demonstration is a result of a project involving the Department of Corrections, the Division of Forestry, 10 other public agencies, and 25 private landowners.

The program, called the Holbrook Landowners Fire Safe Community, is designed to assist landowners in the development of land management plans outlining the steps and actions needed to improve forest health, aesthetics and fire safety on private lands.

Inmate work crews from rural conservation camps are working in the clearing efforts, and will also be conducting fuels work in the Nevada Department of Transportation right-of-way near the community.

"Our inmate work crews are very pleased to be working with this project. The education and experience they are gaining is tremendous, and the landowners have been very positive about their work," said Jackie Crawford, director of the Department of Corrections.

"The joint effort displayed by public agencies and private citizens has been amazing. Without this cooperative effort, our project would not have been such a success," said Jennifer Scanlon, of the Division of Forestry.

"I am pleased that so many agencies are joining forces to protect our lands. The support of the community has been tremendous," said Gov. Kenny Guinn.

It has been nearly eight years since a large fire started just north of Holbrook Junction and burned into Topaz Ranch Estates.

The Holbrook fire started Aug. 8, 1994 near the intersection of highways 395 and 208 and burned for three days. Nearly 300 Topaz residents were evacuated as a result of the blaze which was whipped into a frenzy by 30-mile per hour winds.

It cost about $1.5 million to fight the fire.