Slinkard Fire near Topaz now at 49 percent contained; 9.091 acres burned

The Slinkard Fire is currently located on the west slope of Antelope Valley, west of Topaz Lake and eight miles north of Walker, Calif. After being started by lightning on August 29, it has burned through cheat grass, sagebrush and pinyon/juniper.

418 firefighting crew members are working the fire which is located in Alpine and Mono counties in California and Douglas County in Nevada.

Highway 395 is open. Highway 89 over Monitor Pass remains closed due to fire activity. Motorists traveling on Highway 395 are reminded that there will be large amounts of holiday, fire, and Burning Man traffic. Please drive with additional care.

Fire activity was minimal overnight. Firefighters will continue to patrol and monitor in and around structures in the Holbrook Highlands area. Crews will continue to construct and improve containment lines. Line construction and mop-up continues in the north and westerly portions of the fire. Crews will continue to patrol for hot spots along the U.S. Route 395. Yesterday, Highway 395 was closed temporarily for fire suppression efforts.

Residents and visitors may see occasional flare ups especially at night. These flare ups are well within the burned area and do not represent a threat to containment lines. Night shift firefighters are monitoring these flare ups and will take suppression action if needed.

A high pressure weather front will remain over Nevada bringing light southeast winds to the fire the next two days. Chances of thunderstorms will increase with afternoon winds more likely to be governed by thunderstorm outflows. It will continue to be hot with poor relative humidity recovery. Cooler temperatures are expected later in the week. Today will be partly cloudy becoming mostly cloudy after 1 p.m. with a slight chance of showers and thunderstorms.