Executive Summary
The Healthy Forests Initiative was announced by the White House in 2002 to implement the core components of the National Fire Plan Collaborative Approach for Reducing Wildland Fire Risks to Communities and the Environment 10-year Comprehensive Strategy. The Plan calls for more active forest and rangeland management to reduce the threat of wildland fire in the wildland-urban interface, the area where homes and wildland meet.
This report was prepared specifically for the communities in Lyon County identified in the 2001 Federal Register list of communities at risk within the vicinity of federal lands that are most vulnerable to the threat of wildfire. The communities assessed in Lyon County are listed in Table 1-1.
The Nevada Fire Safe Council contracted Resource Concepts, Inc. (RCI) to assemble a project team consisting of experts in the fields of fire behavior and suppression, natural resource ecology, and geographic information systems (GIS) to complete the assessment for each Lyon County community listed in the Federal Register. The RCI Project Team spent several days inventorying conditions in Lyon County and completing the primary data collection and verification portion of the risk assessment.
This report describes in detail the data and information analyzed and considered during the assessment of each community. The general results are summarized in Table 1-1. Four primary factors that affect potential fire hazard were assessed to reach the community hazard assessment score: community design, structure survivability, availability of fire suppression resources, and physical conditions such as the vegetative fuel load and topography. Information on fire suppression capabilities and responsibilities for Lyon County communities was obtained through interviews with local Fire Chiefs and agency Fire Management Officers. The RCI Project Team Fire Specialist assigned an ignition risk rating for each community of low, moderate, or high. The rating was based upon historical ignition patterns, interviews with local fire department and state and federal and fire agency personnel, field visits to each community, and professional judgment based on experience with wildland fire ignitions in Nevada.
Fire suppression responsibility is delegated to four fire protection districts in Lyon County. Central Lyon County, Fernley, and Mason Valley Fire Protection Districts are combination career and volunteer fire departments. The Smith Valley Fire Protection District is an all-volunteer department. Additional wildfire suppression resources are available from the Bureau of Land Management, the Nevada Division of Forestry, and the US Forest Service upon request. Additional resources would be automatically dispatched to a wildland fire through the Sierra Front Interagency Fire Dispatch Center in Minden, Nevada from the closest available sources.
The predominant fuel type throughout most of Lyon County is characterized as salt desert shrub, which is usually considered either a low or moderate fuel hazard. The other fuel type frequently encountered is irrigated agricultural land near homes in both Mason and Smith Valleys, which is considered a low fuel hazard. Many wildfire ignitions have been recorded in Lyon County, however, no large fire occurrences are on record.
| Community | Interface Classification | Interface Fuel Hazard Conditions | Ignition Risk Rating | Community Hazard Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dayton | Classic Interface, Intermix | Low to Moderate | High | Moderate |
| Fernley | Classic Interface | Low | Low | Low |
| Fort Churchill - Weeks | Rural | Low to Moderate | Low | Moderate |
| Mark Twain | Classic Interface, Intermix | Moderate | Moderate | Moderate |
| Mason Valley | Classic Interface, Intermix, Rural, Occluded | Low to High | Low | Moderate |
| Mound House | Classic Interface, Intermix | Moderate to Extreme | High | Moderate |
| Silver City | Intermix | Moderate to Extreme | High | High |
| Silver Springs | Intermix | Low to Moderate | Low | Low |
| Smith Valley | Intermix | Low to High | High | Moderate |
| Stagecoach | Intermix | Low | Low | Low |
| Wabuska | Rural | Low to Moderate | Moderate | Moderate |
| Weed Heights | Classic Interface | Low | Low | Moderate |
| Yerington | Classic Interface | Low to High | Low | Low |
High and extreme hazard sagebrush or sagebrush/pinyon/juniper fuel types are a concern near the communities of Mound House, Silver City, and Smith Valley. Fuel treatments are recommended near these communities on both public and private lands in Lyon County to reduce the fuel hazard and the potential for the worst-case wildfire scenario.
There is no way to completely eliminate the threat of wildfire in the wildland-urban interface. The recommendations in the Community Wildfire Risk/Hazard Assessment Report are based upon analyses of community-specific conditions in Lyon County. There are three recommendations:
- Increase public awareness;
- Encourage community-wide involvementto effectively reduce the risk of wildfire ignitions in and near communities; and
- Implement defensible space and fuel reduction projects where needed to reduce the hazards inherent in wildland interface areas.
Close and continued coordination between citizens, local fire agencies, the Bureau of Land Management, the Nevada Division of Forestry, and the US Forest Service is crucial to increase human safety, reduce the potential loss of property, and safeguard natural resources in Lyon County. Obtaining funding and successfully implementing risk and hazard reduction projects requires thoughtful and collaborative efforts from stakeholders at all levels to demonstrate a long-term commitment for maintaining fire safe communities.
Communities are encouraged to form a local chapter of the Nevada Fire Safe Council. The Nevada Fire Safe Council facilitates solutions to reduce the loss of lives and property from the threat of wildfire. Local Fire Safe Council Chapters become part of a large network for sharing information and receiving notification of programs and funding opportunities to implement wildfire risk mitigation projects. More information on forming a Fire Safe Council Chapter can be obtained by contacting:
Nevada Fire Safe Council
1187 Charles Drive
Reno, Nevada 89509
www.nvfsc.org