The governors of California and Nevada on Wednesday planned to tour the state line area blackened by one of two massive wildfires that have destroyed dozens of homes in the U.S. West.
Cooler weather and even some rain helped in the battle against some of the largest blazes but fire officials warned that hotter, drier weather will return later in the week and could pose a threat of renewed fire ferocity.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Nevada Gov. Steve Sisolak, both Democrats, planned a brief morning tour of damage from the Tamarack Fire south of Lake Tahoe.
The 106-square-mile (275-square-kilometer) blaze was chewing through timber, grass and sagebrush, but it was more than halfway surrounded by fire breaks. At least 23 buildings have burned since lightning sparked the fire on July 4.
Evacuation orders for about 2,000 residents on both sides of the state line were lifted early in the week.
Tuesday saw thunderstorms that brought some rain and cooler and more humid weather that made grass and brushy areas less prone to burning, fire officials said. The chance of thunderstorms with some rain, possibly heavy at times, was expected to continue through Friday.
“This wet stuff fell out of the sky yesterday that I barely remembered and recognized,” Dan Dallas, an incident commander for the fire, said Tuesday evening at a briefing.
It fell gently overnight over the whole fire and coupled with firefighter efforts moderated the ferocity of the blaze.
“We’re not doing hand-to-hand combat” on the blaze, he said.
It was a welcome relief from the fiercely dry, hot weather that had scorched much of the West only a week or two earlier, when flames feeding on bone-dry fuel raged through a dozen states.
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