Spring Valley Fire claims residence

One residence was lost on Tuesday in the 229-acre Spring Valley fire that swept through the neighborhood located south of Gardnerville, East Fork Fire Chief Tod Carlini confirmed.

Commissioner Mark Gardner said he was driving home from the airport on Tuesday when he saw the smoke.

“I was convinced we would lose more structures and life,” the south county resident said.

At its height, the fire threatened 1,200-1,500 homes across Double Spring, Holbrook Junction and Topaz Ranch Estates.

The fire was first reported at 4 p.m. Tuesday when a caller indicated the trees were on fire in the middle of the neighborhood on the southern edge of Double Spring Flat. The fire started on private property and the cause was listed as human activity.

Firefighters responding from Topaz Ranch Estates reported seeing the smoke plume from the station on Albite. Black smoke could be seen rising out of the Pine Nuts from as far away as Genoa.

Deputies and Douglas County Sheriff’s Search & Rescue team members contacted 1,000 residents while going door to door, Douglas County Emergency Manager Kara Easton told county commissioners on Thursday.

The fire crossed Highway 395 and burned into an area on the north side that had been involved in the Tamarack Fire.

More than 200 firefighters in 40 engines were aided by a substantial air attack, including single-engine tankers and helicopters.

The Topaz Ranch Estates Community Center was opened as a potential evacuation location, but Easton told county commissioners that if the fire had continued burning that direction, they were prepared to have evacuees go to Smith Valley. The Douglas County Community Center was opened as a cooling center because power was out north of the fire.

Four-legged evacuees included four cats, a handful of goats and a horse.

The county’s Reverse 911 evacuation software suffered a glitch and failed to transmit evacuation alerts to residents, spokesman Eric Cachinero said on Wednesday. Evacuations are voluntary in Nevada unless ordered by the governor or his designee.

On Wednesday, the Federal Emergency Management Agency authorized the use of federal funds to assist the state in fighting the fire.

Nevadafireinfo.org reported the fire grew to 229 acres before it was fully extinguished.  Firefighters had a line around the smoldering remnants of the fire by 8 p.m. Wednesday and there were just a few hotspots left to douse by Thursday morning.

Highway 395 fully reopened shortly after noon Wednesday after three hours of escorting motorists with a pilot car.

Power was restored to Spring Valley early Thursday morning after being off since around 4 p.m. Tuesday.

“All customers were successfully restored to power around 1:40 a.m.,” NV Energy Spokeswoman Meghin Delaney said. “Our crews will remain in the area of the fire doing additional clean up work, but we do not anticipate any power outages related to that clean up work.”

The fire occurred three years to the day that the Tamarack Fire picked up and threatened Markleeville before burning over the Nevada state line in Double Spring, claiming several homes along the Highway 395 corridor.