Lightning possible cause of fire

Early morning lightning strikes may be responsible for a wildland fire that briefly closed Highway 50 on Thursday morning.

Firefighters responded to the report of the blaze 11:10 a.m., finding a small fire burning on U.S. Forest Service land, about a half mile from the roadway in the 3700 block of Highway 50. The fire had burned approximately one and a half acres.

The fire was quickly extinguished, according to Douglas County Sheriff's Sgt. Jim Halsey.

"A single power pole was discovered to be the only property loss as a result of the fire. There have been no reports of power outages as a result of the burned pole, and utility companies have been notified of the damage."

Halsey said the fire may have started small and smoldered throughout the night and early morning hours as a result of the numerous lightning strikes that occurred throughout Douglas County the previous night.

East Fork Fire and Paramedics District Fire Chief Tod Carlini thanked the East Fork Fire & Paramedics Districts, Tahoe-Douglas Fire Protection District, Carson City Fire Department, U.S. Forest Service, Douglas County Sheriff's Office, Nevada Highway Patrol, and Douglas County Emergency Communications Center.