Six Mile Canyon fire under control

VIRGINIA CITY -- A 250-acre fire east of Virginia City, which began on the side of the road near the city's sewer treatment plant Tuesday night, was under control by Wednesday.

The fire on Flowery Peak smoldered through the night with isolated pockets of glowing embers or small fires dotting the blackened mountain.

A backfire set by firefighters at Seven Mile Canyon helped knock it down.

Gusting winds helped fan the flames of the fire at the south end of Six Mile Canyon.

John Tyson, Storey County public information officer, said the winds contributed to the jump in size of the fire.

"It jumped to the north side and blew up on 'em," he said. "But no structures were threatened. Mine was the closest and that was a half mile away."

According to Tyson there were at least eight agencies involved with the incident. Among those involved were Storey County paid and volunteer fire departments, the Bureau of Land Management and the Nevada Department of Forestry, in addition to crews pulled from other fires, including a hot-shot crew from the Tahoe National Forest joining in the fight.

Two-hundred firefighters, 20 fire engines, six water tenders, three handcrews, two bulldozers, two single-engine air tankers, one helicopter and one large airtanker and were fighting the Six Mile fire.

The fire was 90 percent contained at 10:45 p.m. according to Tyson.

An earlier fire was caused by shooting practice two weeks ago in the same area. Authorities believe this fire may have had a similar cause but were still investigating.