Fire restrictions across much of western Nevada are lifted after 6 weeks as weather cools

RENO, Nev. (AP) — Cooler temperatures and increasing moisture levels allowed state and federal public land managers on Friday to lift fire restrictions that have been in place across much of western Nevada since late July.

An unusually mild wildfire season, combined with the improving conditions, made it possible to remove the restrictions nearly a month earlier than last year when they remained in place until Oct. 1, authorities said.

The Bureau of Land Management Carson City District Office, Bureau of Indian Affairs, Fish & Wildlife Service, Bureau of Reclamations, and Nevada Division of Forestry announced the lifting of the restrictions in place since July 29 in 11 western Nevada counties and parts of eastern California.

The Truckee Meadows Fire Protection District in Reno said it was also lifting most restrictions on public lands in the area but open burning remains prohibited.

“With the recent rainfall and as cooler temps begin to take hold and humidity increases, we are lifting some fire restrictions,” Fire Chief Charles Moore said.

Officials emphasized that it is illegal to leave a campfire unintended. The use of incendiary or tracer rounds while recreational shooting is always prohibited and firewood cutters must have a chainsaw with a functioning, approved spark arrester screen on the exhaust, they said.

While the wildfire season typically continues into October, the amount of land burned so far this year has totaled less than one-fourth of the amount last year across the Great Basin Region including all of Nevada, Utah and southern Idaho.

A total of 93,350 acres (37,777 hectares) had burned as of Thursday, compared to 436,598 acres (176,684 hectares) for all of 2022, according to the U.S. Great Basin Coordination Center.

Nationally, 2.1 million acres (849,839 hectares) have burned — down from 6.4 million acres (2.6 million hectares) last year, according to the National Interagency Fire Agency.