Human link is cited in past Tahoe wildfires

RENO -- Unlike California's recent barrage of lightning-caused blazes, most of the Reno-Lake Tahoe area's major wildfires in recent decades have been sparked by humans, fire officials said.

Of 18 major fires in the region between 1980 and 2007, 12 were started by people, officials said.

"The most serious ones are all human-caused," Mike Dondero, fire management officer for the Nevada Division of Forestry, told the Reno Gazette-Journal.

The region's worst wildfire was among those started by illegal campfires. The Angora Fire destroyed 254 homes, caused $140 million in property damage and scorched 3,100 acres on Lake Tahoe's south shore in June 2007.

An illegal campfire also touched off a 14,500-acre wildfire in the Carson Range between Reno and Truckee, Calif., in June 2001. A cabin and mobile home were destroyed.

In August 2004, a male target shooter was blamed for igniting a 2,700-acre wildfire that destroyed six homes and 22 vehicles in the Andrew Lane and Toll Road areas south of Reno.

A 24,000-acre fire that threatened the town of Walker, Calif., was started by U.S. Marines training in the mountains in June 2002. A three-man air crew was killed when an air tanker broke apart in midair and crashed.

Two teenagers setting lizards on fire were blamed for starting a Douglas County wildfire in July 1996 that destroyed four homes and scorched 3,400 acres.

On Friday, California's 335 active wildfires were down from a peak of roughly 1,500 fires a few days ago.