BEATTY, Nev. (AP) — Sheriff's officials say a fire was extinguished at a closed radioactive waste site and a 140-mile stretch of a major Nevada highway has re-opened.
Nye County Sheriff Sharon Wehrly says in a statement that U.S. 95, a key north-south highway past the site, was opened again to traffic Monday evening after air quality testing found no contamination.
Several other traffic routes were still closed. Wehrly says Highway 267 to Scotty's Castle and Death Valley had suffered road damage.
A contractor, US Ecology, operates a hazardous waste facility at the site about 115 miles northwest of Las Vegas. Heavy rains swept through the area Sunday, and a US Ecology spokesman says a site manager noticed the fire about 1 p.m.
Wehrly says there was no sign of any smoldering or flames Monday evening.
