A brush fire started just after 6:45 p.m. Wednesday night in the hills above Carson City between Jacks Valley Road and Clear Creek Road. Fire officials are calling it the Clear Creek Fire and it had burned 150 acres as of 9:45 p.m. The area is not easily accessible. Hot Shots were dropped onto the hills nearby to fight the fire as well as drops from three air tankers and two helicopters. Hand crews will stay on the fire during the night.
The fire was started by lightning and the region saw dozens more lightning strikes into the evening.
Homes are threatened in the area of the Clear Creek subdivision, North of Jacks Valley Road from Hwy 395, Alpine View Subdivision to Genoa Lake #2. Roads are blocked at Clear Creek near Costco and Jacks Valley Road just past Target.
Hundreds of people lined store parking lots to view the fire and activity surrounding the command centers. Roads were lined with people behind Wal-Mart, Target, Fountainhead Foursquare Church, and across Highway 395 from Home Depot.
Fire equipment will be staged in the neighbor surrounding the fire for residential structure protection if needed. There are no evacuations at this time.
As of 9:45 p.m. there is no containment.
Photos by Paula Peterson and video by Andrew Correia.