Transient could be charged in Curry Street fire

A transient may be held criminally liable for a 30-acre wildland fire on Curry Street that began at his campsite, investigators said Tuesday,

"We traced it back to the transient's camp site and I am pretty sure that the campfire he had there the night before started this fire," said Duane Lemons, fire inspector for the Carson City Fire Department.

A man questioned by police Monday after witnesses reported seeing him walking away from the fire, which began just south of Voltaire Canyon Road in the sagebrush west of Michael Hohl Motors, is not the same man police say was living in the location Sunday night.

"This transient is someone we've dealt with before," said Sgt. Bob White of the Carson City Sheriff's Department. "He said (the campsite located by investigators) was his site and he'd had a fire, but he put it out."

White, who didn't name the man, said the investigation will be forwarded to the District Attorney's Office to see if they want to file charges of negligent burning against the man.

The fire, which began about 11 a.m. Monday morning, grew quickly to 30 acres thanks to a southwest wind, said Battalion Chief Dan Shirey.

Witness Ted White, security manager for Casino Fandango, said when he first saw the flames, they were burning in an area 8- to 10-feet in diameter.

"All of a sudden this wind hit, and I mean it was gone," White said.

The flames threatened homes on the Carson Indian Colony and businesses along South Curry Street before crews were able to contain the blaze. No structures were damaged.