Mud Lake fire down to embers

The cause of a 580-acre Mud Lake fire is still under investigation, but the fire itself should be just a smoldering memory today.

The fire, which sent a column of thick black smoke into the sky at about 3 p.m. Saturday, was expected to be out by 8 p.m. Tuesday, with a single engine remaining on station to look for flareups today.

A rancher from Jackson, Calif., called deputies Saturday evening to report that he'd heard approximately four gunshots west of his location.

He said he'd been working cattle on Brook's Ranch about 2 p.m. on Mud Lake Road, two miles south of the Indian Creek Ranch Road intersection. The 63-year-old man said that some time after he'd heard the shots, he saw smoke then a fire in the same general vicinity.

The fire was three miles northeast of Woodfords in the hills just east of Mud Lake in southern Carson Valley.

No structures were threatened by the fire, but it did burn up to the Carson River's East Fork, which is designated a wild-and-scenic corridor by California.