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Nevada Wildfire Started Near Shooting Range

ELKO, Nev. (AP) — Authorities say a northeast Nevada wildfire that trapped eight hikers and a sheriff's deputy in the Ruby Mountains near Elko before they were escorted to safety started near a shooting range.

Forest Service spokeswoman Erica Hupp said Monday no residential homes have been destroyed but some structures have been lost.

She said the official cause of the fire that was reported about 9 a.m. Sunday remains under investigation, but she confirmed its origin was in an area of private land behind the Spring Creek shooting range at the base of the mountains.

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Hupp says there's no cell service in the Lamoille Canyon surrounded by wilderness about 100 miles (160 kilometers) west of the Utah line so they've been unable to provide an update on the size of the fire. The service said earlier Monday it had burned an estimated 7 square miles (18 sq. kilometers).