Prescribed burn to close section of Red Rock for two days
A popular hiking area will go up in flames next week at Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area, but the Bureau of Land Management should have it all under control.
Weather permitting, a prescribed fire is planned between Tuesday and Thursday in the Pine Creek drainage as part of a two-year effort to protect the area’s signature stand of Ponderosa pines from a much larger wildfire.
The first phase of the work began in 2013, when vegetation was trimmed and cleared over a 60 acre area surrounding the trees. That resulted in about 150 piles of debris that were left to cure and dry last year. Those piles will now be burned off as part of a controlled, low-intensity fire that will also clear out the so-called “understory” of potential wildfire fuel within the stand of pine trees.
There are no buildings close to where the fire will burn. Pine Creek is on the Red Rock Scenic Loop, about three miles southwest of the visitor center and four miles north of Spring Mountain Ranch State Park as the crow flies.
The popular trail will be closed during the operation, which will be conducted by a wildland fire engine and 12 firefighters from the BLM and one fire engine and five firefighters from Clark County.
No other sections of Red Rock should be affected by the fire.
This will mark the first prescribed burn int he Pine Creek area since 1992.
Contact Kimberly De La Cruz at kdelacruz@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0381. Find her on Twitter: @KimberlyinLV. Contact Henry Brean at hbrean@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0350. Find him on Twitter: @RefriedBrean.
