Hot weather increasing fire hazards

June has seen an average high temperature 6.5 degrees hotter than usual and two weeks where high temperatures were 90 degrees or warmer.

With three red flag warnings so far this year, firefighters are anticipating a busy fire season.

“All the grass and brush basically dried out and transitioned into the brown state,” East Fork Battalion Chief Larry Goss said Monday. “We’ve had this really extended period of 90-degree weather and winds every day. Our grasses right now are basically at zero moisture content.”

Goss told members of the Local Emergency Planning Committee that conditions are more like August than June after nearly six weeks without a drop of rain falling in Minden.

“We’re kind of in for it,” he said. “All it needs now is ignition sources.”

With Independence Day on Thursday, fireworks could be a major source of that ignition.

On Wednesday, the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office reminded residents that possession, sale, trade, exchange, or discharge of fireworks are prohibited

“It is also unlawful to possess or discharge fireworks within Douglas County without having obtained the proper permits,” officials said.

Anyone concerned that other residents are selling or using fireworks may call the non-emergency dispatch number at (775) 782-5126.

Fireworks are illegal across the Sierra Front and have been for decades, with Douglas County implementing its first restrictions in the 1930s.

“All personal use fireworks are illegal in the Tahoe Basin because they pose a significant wildfire danger to local communities and forests,” Forest Service Public Affairs Specialist Lisa Herron said. “Be kind to our forests by leaving personal use fireworks at home and attending one of the professional displays over Lake Tahoe instead.”

Fire restrictions are in place on lands in the jurisdiction of the Bureau of Land Management, Carson City District Office; the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Western Nevada Agency; Bureau of Reclamation, California - Great Basin Region; Nevada Division of Forestry, Public Domain Allotments; and the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, Stillwater National Wildlife Refuge Complex.

As of Thursday morning, no fire restrictions had been implemented in the Carson Ranger District of the Humboldt Toiyabe, though they are headed this way.

Today restrictions were implemented for the Winnemucca and Battle Mountain Ranger districts.

Goss said that significant fire seasons typically occur two summers after a big winter, referring to the record 2022-3 winter.

He said late season precipitation this year contributed to more grass in the wildlands.

“We did get another crop of grass and have a ton of light flashy fuels out there,” he said. “Low elevations will be subject to fire danger in the burn scars.”