American Flats Fire -- now called human caused -- 90 percent contained

The American Flats Fire, which destroyed a fire engine Saturday, is being called human-caused. It was 90 percent contained Sunday evening. Meanwhile, eight smoke jumpers stationed in Carson City dropped into a fire near Hallelujah Junction northwest of Reno Sunday night.

"That fire was moving pretty good so they're trying to get a handle on it," said fire information officer Mark Struble with the Sierra Front Interagency Dispatch Center in Minden.

The new blaze, called the Correco Fire, is in an area managed by Tahoe National Forest. It's near the Chilcoot Complex blaze, which burned 5,600 acres last week, Struble said. The smoke jumpers who parachuted in about 5:30 Sunday evening are from Boise, Idaho, and had been stationed in Carson for a week.

At American Flats, the site of mill ruins near Gold Hill, fire crews were expecting total containment Sunday night. Full control of the blaze is expected this evening, according to the Bureau of Land Management's incident commander Steve Edgar.

"Full control means it's sufficiently extinguished so that you could turn your back on it and not have it flare up," he said.

The 30-acre blaze was assumed to be lightning-caused, but investigators have since determined it was started by people.

"I guess there were some witnesses," said Struble. "They're in the process of interviewing those people now. I think they're getting a pretty good handle on who started it, but they're not releasing that information until they're sure."

The fire was being controlled by two, 20-person Bureau of Indian Affairs hand crews, a helicopter and six fire engines from the Nevada Division of Forestry, Storey and Lyon counties and the Bureau of Land Management.

An investigation team lead by Paul Hefner was looking into a fire engine that burned Saturday. Initial reports suggest a high-clearance brush engine from Central Lyon County Fire Protection District, carrying about 800 gallons of water, stalled on a steep grade during the first attack on the fire.

The crew escaped to a safety zone before the engine was burned.

"I understand it was almost a brand-new engine so they're pretty heartbroken right now," said Struble.

Progress on the American Flats Fire was slowed by steep and rocky terrain, thick stands of trees and open mine pits. Mine shafts are a significant hazard during night operations, Struble said.

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