Brings back memories of 2002.
ELKO - Three wildfires remained uncontained today and the largest, the Esmeralda Fire, has grown to 100,000 acres as it approaches the community of Tuscarora.
The Esmeralda Fire started northeast of Midas and is heading away from that community, burning mostly grass and sagebrush.
Mike Brown, a spokesman for the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, said the fire was about four or five miles away from Tuscarora and heading toward it. Brown said homes and ranches have protection teams ready.
Sharon Rhoads, who lives about six miles south of Tuscarora, said fires were about three miles away, but the nearest one appeared to die down Monday night.
"It was pretty scary last night," said Rhoads, the wife of state Sen. Dean Rhoads.
She's already taken valuables out of the house and dug a fire break around it.
"We're just waiting and watching, I guess you'd say," she said.
Brown said firefighters were using aerial geographic information systems data to better map the spread of the Esmeralda fire. The perimeter covers about 100,000 acres, but some areas are unburned islands.
The Elko Interagency Dispatch Center reported high winds are causing erratic behavior and flames from 5 to 9 feet high. The fire is also threatening Lahontan cutthroat trout habitat.
The fire has 392 firefighters assigned to it and the blaze is about 10 percent contained. No structures have been damaged, Brown said.
Specialized fire management teams took over the Esmeralda and Wilson Complex Fires on Monday. All three blazes started Friday from lightning strikes.
Wilson and Contact
The Wilson Complex, 75 miles northwest of Elko, had two of its three fires burn together Monday, totaling about 58,000 acres. Brown said the fire was moving west near the Desert Ranch Reservoir and was about 60 percent contained. It's threatening five homes and 10 other structures, Brown said. There are 434 firefighters assigned to it.
Brown expects the Contact fire, about 20 miles south of Jackpot, to be fully contained by this evening. In the morning, it was about 85 percent contained. It burned three small, uninhabited structures and about 3,000 acres. It has 198 people assigned to fight it.
There have been no injuries from the fires.
The National Weather Service issued red flag warnings for low humidity and gusty winds for Humboldt and Elko Counties in effect until 9 p.m.
Randy Settje, a meteorologist for the weather service's Elko office, said he expects the high temperature to be 99 degrees today and winds to be mild out of the west and southwest, but stronger up north.