The Royal Fire is burning in heavy timber along the North Fork of the American River west of Lake Tahoe. Aircraft have been fighting the fire in rough terrain. U.S. Forest Service photo
Smoke from wildfires curled around Western Nevada, carving out a clear spot that might not hold.
High pressure that brought hot weather to Carson Valley has also kept the smoke at bay for the most part.
Typically the Valley’s worst smoke comes from fires burning near Yosemite, but that isn’t making it over the Sierra, according to airnow.gov.
Skies will be generally hazy with the amount of fires in California, Oregon and Northern Nevada,” Reno Meteorologist Hector Crespo said early Monday. “Some areas will be more smoky due to the proximity of the fire, around the Tahoe Basin towards Carson City and southern Reno during the afternoon hours due to the Royal
Fire.”
Named after Royal Gorge on the North Fork of the American River, the fire is officially burning around 200 acres about 15 miles northwest of Lake Tahoe. Satellite mapping indicates the fire might be closer to 1,000 acres.
Discovered around 4 p.m. Sunday, firefighters haven’t made any progress in building a line around the blaze as of Tuesday morning.
The fire is burning in rugged territory and most of the attack so far has been aerial.
A large grass fire burning near Denio on the Nevada Oregon border is only generating a little smoke today as it burns east. The Wilder fire is officially at 16,380 acres with a line around a third of its perimeter.
Of more concern is the Shelly fire burning west of Yreka in Siskyou County, 220 miles northwest of Lake Tahoe.
That fire has tripled in size to around 11,000 acres since Monday, according to satellite mapping. As of Tuesday morning, there is no report of containment.
Carson Valley resident Nate Leising is working the fire and said temperatures are running 105-110 degrees. He said the fire is burning actively.
