Boys admit campfire set Ray May fire

Two 15-year-old boys admitted to setting the campfire that eventually sparked the 3,895-acre Ray May fire that threatened homes in the Pine Nut Mountains.

Both boys appeared in Douglas County District Court on Tuesday morning before Judge Dave Gamble, whose home was among those threatened by the fire.

Both boys said they set the fire while camping near the south end of Pine View Estates. Both also said they put out the fire by urinating on it and then tramping it out.

It was several hours and the boys were several miles away when the wind caught the fire and sent it up the mountainside.

"The fire skunked in the cheat grass for a while before the wind picked it up," Fire investigator East Fork Capt. Terry Taylor said after the hearing.

The boys admitted to a count of destruction of timber, crops or vegetation by fire by gross negligence.

"There was no sign of the fire when we left at 12:30 p.m.," one of the boys said. "We got a ride to town and it was 4 p.m. before we found out about the fire."

Both boys were ordered to remain in custody until a Sept. 13 disposition hearing.

At that hearing they could be ordered to serve additional time in custody or be released on probation.

Arson charges against the boys were reduced last week after it was determined that the fire wasn't deliberately set.

The fire started Aug. 16 in the Pine View Estates neighborhood along Highway 395.

The fire is estimated to have cost $2.195 million to fight. It destroyed 10 structures, including a guest house, an abandoned building and eight outbuildings.

The smoke plume from the fire could be seen from as far away as Fallon and Reno.