CARSON CITY, Nev. (AP) — Fire officials say southern Nevada faces a higher and "significant" risk for wildfires this summer because more precipitation this winter and spring sprouted more grass and vegetation that could burn.
Nevada state Forester and Firewarden Kacey KC told Gov. Steve Sisolak during a fire forecast briefing in Carson City on Tuesday that the above-normal grass growth has rarely been seen in the last decade.
The Las Vegas Review-Journal reports that the snowpack in northern Nevada and higher mountain elevations has left cooler, wetter conditions that make those areas less likely to see wildfires than normal.
More fires in Nevada have been caused by humans in recent years and last year 60 percent of all the acres burned were the result of human-caused wildfires.