Multiple Fires sparked In Carson Valley; 7,000 without power

9:00 p.m. update:

This just in from the Douglas County Sheriff's Department: On June 27, 2015, at approximately 6:17 p.m., the East Fork Fire District in Douglas County responded to a report of several wildland fires along the east side of the Sierra Nevada Mountains.

There have been reports of six fires along the west side of the Carson Valley.

East Fork Fire, along with the U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management (BLM) have responded to the multiple fires and are working to access each of the fires.
Currently the fire above Job’s Peak Ranch is being addressed with aerial water drops from a helicopter.

The fire south near Faye Canyon has a containment line surrounding the fire with hand crews working on that fire.

Causes of these fires are suspected to be from the lighting strikes from the storm that pushed through the valley earlier this afternoon. As a reminder similar weather patterns are anticipated for the next few days.

No injuries or exposures to personnel have been report at this time. East Fork is also being assisted by the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office, Douglas County Sheriff’s Posse, Douglas County Search and Rescue, Nevada Highway Patrol, Douglas G.I.S. and Douglas 9-1-1.

They are asking for people to stay away from the Foothill area so emergency personnel can get through. No roads are closed at this time.

8:00 p.m. Update 6/27/15 Crews are working multiple fires on the eastern bank of the Carson Range in Carson Valley Saturday evening after a rapidly moving thunderstorm hammered the Valley with rain and lightning strikes.

The Faye Fire near Faye Canyon has been contained at about 50 feet by 50 feet. The Genoa Fire (or Jacks Fire – there have been two names floated out) is burning on a quarter-acre about halfway up the hill north of Genoa Peak, the Bear Fire is burning half an acre above Autumn Hills Road, and the Stutler Fire (single tree) is burning on Jobs Peak near Five Creek Road.

A helicopter helped with suppression support with additional resources coming from the Stead and Minden Tahoe airports. Ground crews are staging at Foothill Road.

Crews attended to a structure fire on Hidden Brook Court in Minden, which was evacuated, and a wild land fire on Muller Parkway in Gardnerville near Walmart. Another crew responded to a small fire near Courtland.

An additional fire is burning north of Highway 50 in Kings Canyon with two more fires being checked out in Alpine County.

A power outage affecting more than 7,000 NV Energy customers also struck the area during the storm. The number had been reduced to just under 7,000 by 7:30 pm Saturday night. The traffic light at Highway 395 and 88 in Minden was reported out as well.

Saturday 6:30 pm: Firefighters are responding to two fire reports in the Genoa Peak area, a structure fire on Hidden Brook Court off of Lucerne in Minden, a single-tree in the Faye Canyon area, a fire in Autumn Hills area, attending to a fire call on Muller Parkway near Walmart in Gardnerville and a small fire south of Courtland Road as heavy rain and lightning move rapidly over the Carson Valley Saturday evening.

911 dispatch is inundated with calls from the storm. Firefighters are on scene attending to the fire on Muller and responding to Courtland. The Genoa Peak fires are currently rendered inaccessible for East Fork personnel, but said to be building. Additional resources are being ordered.

There have been multiple other calls coming in as the thunderstorm moves across the Valley, with the rain taking care of most lightning strikes.

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