|
NEVADANS
UNITE AGAINST WILDFIRES
July
20, 2007
print version
(word)
It is difficult to visualize how much of our state
is burning. As of 3:00 p.m. on July 20th, approximately 72
wildfires are burning in Nevada. A total of 564 fires have consumed an
estimated 341,000 acres already this year.
This week I visited firefighters in both Reno and
Elko as they battled the Hawken fire southwest of Reno and numerous
blazes currently burning across northeast Nevada. In one short
helicopter ride, I saw fires that have consumed 300,000 acres in Elko
County alone. Besides the loss of grasslands, the impact on wildlife
and ecology will be devastating. Businesses that depend on ranching and
hunting will suffer the effects for years to come.
Nevada’s state agencies are working together to
battle these wildfires, and I am proud of how everyone is pitching in.
The Nevada Department of Transportation has joined our Division of
Forestry, the Nevada National Guard and city and county governments in
supplying manpower and equipment. Just today the Clark County Fire
Department sent fire engines to Elko. Nevada is currently at the top of
the federal government’s fire list, so we hold top priority for getting
federal resources. A combined total of nearly 2,000 firefighters from
federal, state and local agencies are now at work fighting wildland
fires across the state.
This week I signed an executive order declaring a
state of emergency in Nevada and directed all state agencies to assist
our counties and towns wherever needed to protect the health and safety
of Nevadans as well as their property. This allows agencies to use the
state’s Disaster Relief Fund to supplement firefighting budgets wherever
necessary.
Together, we are winning the fight against
wildfire. Unfortunately, the peak of this fire season still lies in the
weeks ahead. Plants will get even drier during the heat of summer, and
August traditionally brings the highest probability of lightning. We
cannot control rainfall or lightning, but we can each exercise caution
whenever we venture into the wilderness. Our state and our safety
depend on it.
### |
