Night operations near the Mount Rose Highway to improve lines before today's critical fire danger.
U.S. Forest Service photo
A public safety power outage watch for Genoa, Glenbrook and South Carson City has been cancelled by NV Energy due to updated weather forecasts.
The outage watch was issued on Monday after the National Weather Service predicted extreme fire danger for the Carson Range.
It would have affected 322 customers.
“The company reminds customers that due to higher than normal winds, unplanned power outages may still occur,” said Public Information Officer Katie Nannini.
Winds are forecast for the Sierra Front today.
Additional information, including outage preparedness tips, are available here. Customers can also enroll in MyAccount to receive automatic text and email notifications about outages and other important updates.
While not related to the Davis Fire, the outages are intended to prevent energized power lines from igniting new fires in high-wind conditions.
Meanwhile, firefighters have been using bulldozers to build lines near Sky Tavern, in addition to both sides of the Mount Rose Highway.
Flames seen overnight were part of a backfire operation to improve fire lines.
“Last night, a successful burnout operation was conducted near Highway 431 to help secure fire lines,” fire officials said on Wednesday morning. “Firefighters continue to provide structure protection in all affected communities. Additional firefighting resources from across the country are arriving to bolster efforts.”
With the majority of the fire burning in rugged terrain near the Mount Rose Highway, aircraft were a critical part of the effort on Tuesday.
But with today’s high winds, their participation will be reduced.
“Today's aerial operations will be limited due to wind and smoke conditions,” officials said. “As of yesterday, rotor-wing aircraft delivered 208,000 gallons of water, with Super Scoopers contributing 196,000 gallons. Additionally, fixed-wing aircraft dropped 98,000 gallons of fire retardant. Dozer lines have been constructed near the Sky Tavern area, as well as to the north and south of Highway 431.”
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Sixty-five structures were reported lost in the Davis Fire in Wednesday morning’s National Interagency Coordination Center situation report.
According to the report, issued at 6:30 a.m., the Davis fire has burned through 5,646 acres and $2.8 million.
The increase from the previous report of 14 structures likely reflects the ability to enter areas previously made too dangerous by the fire.
There wasn’t as much smoke rising from the Davis Fire on Wednesday morning as firefighters report completing a line around nearly a third of the blaze burning in Washoe County.
The Calaveras Alert Wildfire camera showed the fire burned through the night, but by daybreak the fire laid down some. That gave firefighters a brief spell to shore up their lines before a “particularly dangerous situation” arrives on the wind later this morning.
The entire Sierra Front is under a red flag warning, with forecasters predicting six or more hours of critical fire conditions this afternoon from 15-30 mph winds gusting to more than 70 mph on the ridgelines, according to Truckee Meadows Fire and Rescue.
That’s where most of the fire was burning overnight, according to Fire Information Resource System satellite mapping, which showed hot spots on either side of the Mount Rose Highway.
Computer models at pyrecast.org predicted the next 12 hours would see the fire continue to burn into the Carson Range and north toward Galena.
