A wildfire raging Wednesday along Carson City's wooded west side destroyed nine houses and at least one commercial building and drove hundreds of people from their homes in the capital city.
Officials reported injuries to two firefighters and one civilian. There had been no deaths.
As darkness fell, the Waterfall fire was estimated to have consumed 2,000 acres after starting before 3 a.m. in Kings Canyon and sweeping into the foothills of the Eastern Sierra.
Carson City Sheriff's Investigators were following information that leads them to believe the fire was caused by juveniles "partying," Sheriff Kenny Furlong said. It was named for the waterfall on Kings Canyon creek, a short hike from a firefighter memorial.
About 7:30 a.m., Vicki and Mark Preston stood in the driveway of their Kings Canyon Road home and watched the fire on the ridge above them that seemed miles away.
By 2 p.m., the Prestons were standing in a park on Longview Drive having long abandoned their home and watching the fire eat its way across town, wondering how it ever got that far.
They should have had this," Vicki Preston said angrily. The Prestons' home survived.
Several bystanders also questioned the initial response to the fire. The first report to Carson City fire dispatch was 2:57 a.m. Sierra Front was notified at 3:14 a.m., and a hand crew was fighting the fire on a ridge slightly south and above the waterfall 36 minutes later, the agency said.
Western Nevada Community College, which was evacuated and classes canceled for the day, and the Nevada State Railroad Museum were among landmarks threatened by the fire, which was driven by gusty winds and fed by pines, sagebrush and cheatgrass dried by five years of drought.
Neither the college nor museum was damaged. Eight homes that burned were reported to be in the Kings Canyon area and one home on or near the Carson Indian Colony off Curry Street.
Cost to fight the fire was estimated at $500,000 so far. The fire was classified as Type I, the most serious and dangerous of fires.
Carson City's Board of Supervisors declared a state of emergency and asked Gov. Kenny Guinn for assistance. Guinn, who had left Carson City in the morning and returned by afternoon, sent state workers home for the day. The smoke from the blaze that kicked up about noon almost prevented the governor from landing at the Carson City Airport, he said.
At one point, the fire closed Highway 395, the main artery through Carson City, as flames swept down the hillsides and began to enter commercial areas on the south end of town.
"We're thin," said Carson City Fire Marshall Stacey Giomi. "It's stretching across the worst possible spot in Carson City to have a wild fire."
Lake Tahoe State Park was evacuated from Spooner Lake north to Little Valley. Approximately 400 firefighters were battling the blaze, including several California crews called to assist.
Three emergency vehicles were reported to have been destroyed by the fire, which exploded into an inferno as winds rose about 1 p.m., forcing hand crews fighting the fire to withdraw quickly from Kings Canyon followed closely by fleeing residents.
"The combination of downslope winds, warm temperatures, dry fuels and the slope at the same time made it a firestorm," said Carson City Battalion Chief Dan Shirey.
From its small beginnings at 2:57 a.m. - an estimated 15 acres - the inferno raced north toward Ash Canyon, east to C Hill, and south toward Voltaire Canyon.
Flames nearly consumed homes at the foot of C Hill on Terrace Street and reached a chainlink fence surrounding the parking lot for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Fire crews and homeowners were able to keep the flames from spreading to homes along West Fifth Street, but the fire raced along the ridge and came onto Curry Street behind the Shell gas station.
Next door, Gas and Save owner Mohammed Ahmad stood behind his closed business talking with Ashley Sharma and Hussain Roshan about 5 p.m. The trio watched small spot fires burn on the blackened hillside.
"This is the first time I've ever seen this in 14 years living here. You always see this on TV. It's so sad," Ahmad said.
Once it reached Curry Street at the Shell station, the fire continued south where it narrowly missed a home on the west side of Curry, ran behind the railroad museum, burned outbuildings and hay bales behind S&W feed, raced past Greenhouse Garden Center, and set it sights on Preston Auto/Electric at 291 Rhodes St. The business was destroyed.
Air tankers and fixed-wing planes bombarded the flames throughout the day with red clouds of retardant, while helicopters dropped buckets of water.
Neighborhoods throughout the city's west side were evacuated, sending residents and their pets to evacuation centers set up at an elementary school and Carson High School. About 10:30 p.m., officials called for the voluntary evacuation of the Timberline area in northwest Carson City for the second time.
"Our firefighters have done a heroic job to save many, many homes," said Incident Commander Marty Scheuerman. "We have to realize this is always a possibility where the forest meets the home."
One firefighter broke a leg, another suffered back and neck injuries and two others suffered burns, said Christie Kalkowski, spokeswoman for the Sierra Front Interagency Dispatch Center in Minden.
"I just can't believe it," said Sierra Gitlin, 26, who fled from her house with her dog and cat, some pictures, her grandmother's jewelry and a computer. "At first it didn't look like that much of a threat."
"I thought there was no way it could get to our house."
"It's not the stuff. It's the heart and soul we've put into it. We've been renovating it with our own hands for two years. It's our dream house," said Gitlin, who with her husband was nearing completion of a remodeling job on their $500,000 home.
The Gitlins home survived.
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