Fire managers worried Tuesday that lightning could spark more wildfires in the West, where hundreds of square miles of land have been blackened, as thunderstorms also threatened flash flooding in burned-over areas, AP reported. A flash flood watch was in effect for parts of western Nevada and the Sierra Nevada range, with forecasters warning of the potential for extensive runoff in areas stripped of vegetation by the wildfire that destroyed at least 254 homes south of Lake Tahoe and by a large blaze southwest of Reno. Lightning sparked many of Nevada's current swarm of wildfires, which have blackened some 730 square miles (1890.70 square kilometers). Mandatory evacuation orders remained in effect for tiny Jarbidge, Nevada, within a mile of a blaze that had blackened more than 880 square miles (2,279 square kilometers) on the Idaho-Nevada line, fire information officer Bill Watt said. The fire, which was 20 percent contained Tuesday, was mostly in Idaho but the most active part was in Nevada, authorities said. In northeastern Nevada, the Shoshone-Paiute Tribe declared a state of emergency for the Duck Valley Indian Reservation, most of which has been without power for six days because fires have destroyed more than 240 utility poles. The tribe is providing ice, propane, flashlights and battery-operated fans, and its fire department is filling bathtubs with water. Temperatures in the region have been near 100 degrees (38 Celsius). Crews have been battling dozens of huge wildfires across the West, primarily in Idaho, Nevada, Oregon, California and Utah, according to the National Interagency Fire Center. Fire managers worried Tuesday that dry lightning storms in some of those states could start more blazes, though the systems also were expected to bring rain, the agency said.
