Las Vegas Valley sees poor air quality from York Fire

The York wildfire that’s burning in the desert near Searchlight continued to grow, sending a thick haze of smoke over the Las Vegas Valley that delayed flights and caused the air quality in parts of the valley to decline to unhealthy levels.

The fire started in the Mojave National Preserve on private land in California around noon on Friday and grew to about 30,000 acres by Saturday. On Sunday, the blaze ballooned to 70,000 acres and crossed into Nevada before growing to 77,000 acres Monday morning, federal officials said.

Updated numbers about the fire’s size and containment would be released after an early Tuesday flight over the fire, said a spokesperson for the incident management team that is overseeing the fire response.

“Has the fire grown? More than likely,” said Marc Peebles, a spokesperson with the U.S. Forest Service. “Is it contained? I’m sure there is some containment.”

Peebles said an aircraft equipped with infrared would be able to gather data to provide an accurate picture of the wildfire.

“We don’t want to put out numbers erroneously,” Peebles said.

While there were some rain and thunderstorms near the northern edge of the fire, producing about a quarter-inch of rain, much of the area where the fire is burning remained dry on Monday, said Ashley Nickerson, a meteorologist with the Las Vegas office of the National Weather Service.

Nickerson said Tuesday’s chance of precipitation in the area of the fire stood at 60 percent, but that the precipitation would likely be scattered and isolated. The location of where the rain might fall is difficult to predict, she said.

Nickerson also said that Tuesday might be better in terms of the amount of smoke over Las Vegas. The winds aren’t expected to be as gusty on Tuesday afternoon, which would mean not as much smoke blown over the valley, she said Monday night

“The smoke might be a little bit better tomorrow compared to today,” Nickerson said.

The fire was 0 percent contained, the National Park Service said in its 8:30 a.m. Monday update. Officially, that was still the case Monday night, Peebles said, adding that the infrared flight over the fire early Tuesday may show that some containment has taken place.

The update, posted on the federal government’s InciWeb site, said firefighters would focus on containment and suppression throughout the day.

“Firefighters saw minimal fire activity last night, along with some precipitation,” the update read. “This means the fire’s intensity and spread were relatively low, which could help in their containment efforts and reducing the risk to property and lives.”

Peebles said 389 people were assigned to battle the blaze, with no reports of any injuries as of Monday evening.

Communication, movement and support from planes flying over the fire was limited Monday morning because of visibility of a mile or less in some areas of the fire, authorities said.

Harry Reid International Airport saw nearly two-hour arrival delays Monday morning with departure delays around half an hour due to low visibility and poor weather conditions, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.

Clark County’s air quality data map on Monday showed Sunrise Manor, east valley neighborhoods near Interstate 515, Spring Valley, Green Valley and Boulder City with “unhealthy to sensitive groups,” “unhealthy” and “hazardous” air quality levels.

Clark County officials wrote Monday that the fire was causing moderate smoke and that they expected the air quality to stay consistent over the next few days.

“Right now, our monitoring stations in Boulder City, Henderson and east Las Vegas are showing elevated readings for particulate matter due to the smoke and dust generated by distant thunderstorms blowing directly toward them,” the county statement read. “Other portions of the valley are also likely to be impacted.”

The fire crossed into Clark County on Sunday, after days of orange haze across the Las Vegas Valley. Evacuations had not been announced for Nipton and Searchlight as of Monday morning.

Clark County wrote in a post Monday morning that as of 11:30 a.m., the fire had slowed its progression toward Nipton and Searchlight but that the Clark County Fire Department would remain vigilant if the wind’s direction changed or if the speed of the fire increased.

In the Mohave and Castle mountains, parts of Ivanpah and Hart Mine roads, and Walking Box Ranch were closed. Local campgrounds, including Hole-in-the-Wall, Mid Hills and Black Canyon Group and Equestrian Campground also were closed.

Residents preparing

Pasquale Angelone said he saw firefighters on Sunday driving up and down the dirt road to his house, off State Route 164 in Searchlight. They did not stop, and they did not suggest he evacuate.

“We’ve been pretty lucky,” he said just before noon Monday. “You can see it just on the outskirts. So it’s been blowing away from us. Earlier today, about three or four hours ago, it was really bad. But it just shifted.”

Searchlight had clearer skies Monday morning than most of Henderson, and Angelone said he didn’t plan to evacuate unless authorities told him to. He was confident the new wind pattern would keep him safe, for now.

He said that on Sunday morning he woke up to ash in his outdoor sink, which washed away quickly. In preparation for nearing flames, he hosed down his whole property Sunday night, including 7-foot-tall corn stalks.

Along his dirt road, cars were parked outside the other 10 mobile homes. Some residents had their screen doors, and there was no hazy air or smoky smell.

Archie Fegert came to Searchlight to have lunch at the Denny’s inside the Terrible’s Searchlight Casino on Monday.

The Cal-Nev-Ari resident was surprised to see State Road 164 back open, because he said Nevada State Police had the road blocked through Searchlight on Sunday.

“It looks a little better today,” he said of the clear conditions.

A few miles over the California border, in Nipton, Tim Collingham and his mother, Joanne, spent Sunday night watching the flames along the New York Mountains behind their home. They said they could see the bright orange fire in the dark.

‘Ready to leave if needed’

The family owns a 47,000-gallon water tank with a helipad on their property. They offered firefighters their supply, but said authorities had not needed it yet.

The conditions in Nipton were better on Monday, the Collinghams said, but like Las Vegas, Nipton’s nearby mountains had disappeared in haze.

“My son-in-law and daughter have lived across the way for 25 years and there’s never been a fire,” Joanne Collingham said.

Tim Collingham said they could see the fire rise from the mountains and jump the railroad Sunday into Searchlight, which is 20 miles away.

“We’re packed up and ready to leave if needed,” Tim Collingham said.

Between Nipton and Searchlight, two trucks full of Crane Valley Hotshot firefighters were ordered to wait off Walking Box Ranch Road.

A firefighter who declined to give his name said they had parked at 10 a.m., and at 12:30 p.m., an aerial crew told them over a radio broadcast that they were to remain there until further notice. Other crews were called out to fight the flames in the same broadcast.

Contact Sabrina Schnur at sschnur@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0278. Follow @sabrina_schnur on Twitter. Contact Brett Clarkson at bclarkson@reviewjournal.com.