Clark County Wetlands Park burns again; 4th fire in area this year — PHOTOS
A brush fire that broke out at Clark County Wetlands Park in the east Las Vegas Valley on Tuesday had burned over 100 acres as of 8 p.m., officials said.
Dark smoke could be seen from many areas of the valley Tuesday afternoon as officials from the Clark County Fire Department, aided by the Bureau of Land Management, battled the growing blaze.
On Wednesday, officials estimated the brush fire to be 110 acres in size, with 20 percent containment.
“Crews are continuing to extinguish hot spots near the fire perimeter with the goal of reaching full containment on the fire by the end of the day,” said Stacey Welling, Clark County public information officer, in an emailed statement. “Four engines and 16 wildland firefighting personnel from the U.S. Bureau of Land Management remain on scene.
“The cause of the fire is undetermined.”
It was at least the fourth fire at the wetlands this year. The Las Vegas Review-Journal reported previous blazes at the park in March, April and earlier in June.
At about 5 p.m., dozens of vehicles had stopped at different points along Broadbent Boulevard, just north of Sam Boyd Stadium, as people took photos and videos of the fire.
Others came from nearby neighborhoods on foot to view the blaze, which sent large flames into the sky and led to small pieces of ash falling into residential areas near the park.
Las Vegas resident Emilio Castro, 41, was one of those who came to watch the flames. He lives roughly about a mile from where the fire burned.
“I’ve been over here for almost three years and this is the biggest fire I’ve seen at the park,” Castro said. “There are homeless people who do live there, so sometimes we see a campfire or something, but nothing like this.”
Kade Valez also looked on from the sidewalk along Broadbent.
“I was in Lake Las Vegas a couple of hours ago and I saw it start over there,” Valez said. “I was seeing it when it was tiny, but it got huge.”
Contact Bryan Horwath at bhorwath@reviewjournal.com. Follow @BryanHorwath on X. Contact Arlette Yousif at ayousif@reviewjournal.com and on Instagram at @arletteyousif.
