Firefighters stretched thin

RENO -- Federal crews unleashed an aerial attack Tuesday on a 2,000-acre wildfire that was threatening hundreds of homes on the southwestern edge of Reno and burning heavy timber in a protected wilderness in a neighboring national forest.

No homes had burned and no evacuations were ordered Tuesday, but Washoe County officials issued a declaration of emergency in hopes of getting additional resources to fight the fire.

Firefighters also were battling an estimated two dozen lightning-sparked fires ranging in size from a few acres to 6,000 acres stretching across northern Nevada from north of Reno to about 200 miles east near Battle Mountain.

In northeast Nevada's Elko County, one fire about 10 miles northwest of Wells had burned about 4.5 square miles and another about 20 miles west of Wells had burned about 6 square miles.

With winds gusting up to 30 mph, crews in Reno were hampered by a shortage of fire engines and other equipment due to the large number of fires burning in the West.

"We have a lot of fires throughout the state. We're all up against the same resource crunch," Reno Fire Department spokesman Steve Frady said.

In addition to 240 personnel fighting the Hawken Fire on the ground, five air tankers and three helicopters were dumping water and retardant on the blaze that broke out about 2:30 p.m. Monday. It quickly spread through tinder dry brush, grass and some timber near the Caughlin Ranch area.

Flames whipped by gusting winds on Monday forced the evacuation of hundreds of residents from the neighborhood, which includes everything from $600,000 homes to multimillion-dollar estates.

"We saw last night burning conditions much like we see in the daytime. There were some dynamic flare-ups," Frady said Tuesday. "Today, we have had a lot of good work with the aircraft coordinating with the ground resources."

Most of the residents returned by Tuesday morning, but the fire picked up with Tuesday afternoon's winds, raising concerns that new evacuations could be ordered.

"So far, the winds have worked with us during the day, but there is always the potential for those gusts to change directions and cause us problems. We have been very successful on some burnout operations on the east and southern flanks of the fire to eliminate some of the fuel."

The column of black and gray smoke was visible up to 50 miles away.

"The winds have just been crazy, just nuts," local resident Michelle Heinrich told the Reno Gazette-Journal. "They're going every single direction since I've been here. They just can't decide which way to go."

The wilderness area is part of the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest, where officials also closed numerous recreational trails near the Mount Rose Wilderness between Reno and Lake Tahoe.

"We've had a wonderful view out our door. Now it won't be the same in my lifetime. The aspen groves, all the tall pines," said Dale Clark, resident of the neighborhood bordering the wilderness area.

A cold front pushing in from the West was expected to continue to bring windy conditions to the area through today.

North of Reno, a fire had burned about 2,000 acres about seven miles northwest of Pyramid Lake and was threatening the Union Pacific railroad.

Most of the fires across the rest of northern Nevada started Monday evening and were burning on federal rangeland managed by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, with no estimate of containment.

The fires are scattered across the BLM's Winnemucca and Battle Mountain field offices, roughly from near Gerlach to 20 miles east of Battle Mountain, fire manager Kai Olsen said.

Associated Press writer Sandra Chereb also contributed to this report.