A Las Vegas resident who was fishing the Carson River with his family believes he saw the people who were responsible for igniting last week's 70-acre fire at the old power dam.
Joey Soprano, 42, said he and his family were fishing near the site most of last Tuesday.
"Two kids were up there first, and as the day progressed, more and more kids came up and were hanging out," Soprano said.
He said there were a number of vehicles in the area including pickup trucks, quad runners and other off-road vehicles.
"About 3:45 p.m., we saw a small fire that must have just been lit. My thinking was 'why?' It wasn't cold and they were not cooking," he said.
Fueled by 15-mph winds and the area's tinder-dry conditions, it didn't take long for the fire to spread.
"It went from a small fire to a humongous fire in about 10 seconds," Soprano said.
He said two boys and a girl tried to put it out.
"It got out of control way too fast," Soprano said. "It scared the hell out of them. From what I could see, they jumped back into their vehicle and headed out of there."
Soprano said he called 911 immediately.
"If we hadn't called 911 when we did, it would have been a lot worse," he said.
Soprano supplied license numbers of some of the vehicles to investigators.
As of Friday, officers were still looking for the people responsible for the fire which was believed to be accidental.
It burned along the west side of Highway 395 on U.S. Forest Service land about six miles south of Gardnerville.
At the height of the fire, some 150 emergency responders were on scene including career firefighters from East Fork Fire District, the forest service, Bureau of Land Management, and Nevada Division of Forestry.
Volunteers responded from Ruhenstroth, Gardnerville Ranchos, Fish Springs, Gardnerville, Sheridan and Topaz Lake.
DETAILS
Anyone with information about the Aug. 14 Power Dam fire is asked to call the Douglas County Sheriff's Office at 782-9991.
