Sandoval tours Nevada wildfires by air

Nevada is asking the federal government to help fund efforts to battle 15 major wildfires burning across the state, Gov. Brian Sandoval said Sunday.

Sandoval conducted an aerial tour of wildfires Sunday across Northern Nevada, the Reno Gazette-Journal reported.

The largest fire has burned nearly 500 square miles overlapping the Nevada-Oregon border. The Holloway Fire was 40 percent contained Sunday and labeled "dangerous" by federal officials.

In all, Nevada's 15 active wildfires are burning 780 square miles of land , according to a federal interagency team.

Thousands of firefighters are trying to contain the blazes.

Nevada has applied for relief through the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

"We've some devastating fires," Sandoval said inside an airplane hangar at the Carson City Airport. "We flew over the small town of Mountain City, Nev., which was almost destroyed by these fires. There's a tremendous amount of habitat that affects the sage grouse and wildlife that has been affected as well."