It began, at least for me, at about 12:25 Friday morning. I was listening to the scanner in the station’s newsroom, when I heard a fire crew tell dispatch they were unable to get a handle on brush fire burning in a ravine, between Cashill Drive and Skyline Blvd.
A second crew was sent and even before they arrived, it seemed as if the first crew was requesting more assets be dispatched to the area. From the description the crews were giving, the blaze was caught up by gusting winds and was sent southwest up the draw.
Next thing I heard was that the blaze had split in two, one burning towards Gibraltar. The other, racing up hill towards McCarran Blvd.
Crews immediately closed down McCarran between Skyline and Caughlin Ranch Parkway. They would make a stand in that area, fighting to keep the wind from carrying the fire to the opposite side of McCarran.
Shortly before sunrise authorities discovered the fire had jumped their line, starting a new blaze near the base of Windy Hill. That fire eventually burned a portion of the Bartley Ranch area, before it was stopped.
For the remainder of my morning I listened to fire crew arriving from throughout Northern Nevada and Eastern California. My shift ended at around 4:30am and I headed for home, smelling smoke and seeing the eerie orange-glow of the fire reflected in my truck’s rearview mirror.
Officials stopped the major portion of the Caughlin fire by that mid-afternoon. At one point more than 470 firefighters were on the lines.
A state of emergency was put in place for the effected area, but has since been lifted. In the end the fire destroyed 32 structures, burned 2,000 acres.
Fire crews did save 4,000 homes and were able to stop the forward movement of the sudden and unexplained blaze. The fire forced the evacuations of more than 95-hundred people, caused the death of a 74-year-old man, who died from a heart attack while evacuating his home.
It left 17 people injured, including a firefighter, who was hospitalized with first and second degree burns. He’s listed in stable condition and is expected to make a full recovery.
About 2,300 customers were left without power overnight as the result of the fire. Late into the night and early Saturday morning, the weather turned from heavy winds, to a light snow to the valley floor and near freezing temperatures.
By Saturday night’s sunset, fire crews had the blaze 80-percent contained, with full-containment expected by mid-week. Now the hard part gets underway — the recovery and rebuilding of lives.
The Old Blog in the Desert 
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