2 Firefighters Killed in NV Wildfire

(AP) -- Two federal firefighters were killed in a crash returning from a wildfire patrol in remote northern Nevada, while crews battled blazes across the Western U.S.

Federal fire managers on Monday reported active fires in at least nine states. Here's a look at some of them:

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NEVADA

Tire failure may be to blame for a firetruck rollover crash that killed two federal firefighters and injured a third on a remote highway about 37 miles north of Winnemucca, the Nevada Highway Patrol said Monday.

The driver, Jacob Omalley, 27, and a passenger, Will Hawkins, 22, both of Winnemucca, were killed in the wreck about 5:20 p.m. Sunday on State Highway 140, about 6 miles from the junction with U.S. Highway 95, Trooper Jim Stewart said.

The other passenger, 23-year-old Zachery McElroy of Reno, was being treated Monday at Renown Regional Medical Center in Reno for non-life threatening injuries, he said.

The U.S. Bureau of Land Management crew members were returning to Winnemucca from fire-spotting patrol following weekend lightning strikes near the Oregon state line town of Denio, BLM spokesman Stephen Clutter said.

The highway patrol and local agencies escorted the bodies of the two dead firefighters during the 165-mile trip on Interstate 80 from Winnemucca to Reno, Clutter and Stewart said.

Stewart said the preliminary investigation indicates the truck overturned due to tire failure.

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COLORADO

Five homes have been destroyed by a Colorado wildfire that authorities say two transient men accidentally started.

Officials said Monday that two more houses burned. Three homes were confirmed lost Sunday near the mountain town of Nederland, roughly 20 miles west of Boulder.

Court documents say 28-year-old Jimmy Andrew Suggs of Vinemont, Alabama, told investigators that he and Zack Ryan Kuykendall didn't put dirt on their campfire to extinguish it, just rocks.

They were arrested Sunday at a shelter for people evacuated by the fire, which has burned about a square mile and has been fueled by hot, dry weather. A day before they were coincidentally interviewed by a reporter from the Daily Camera about the fire with Suggs saying they had "never seen anything like it."

Some residents have lashed out at Suggs on a Facebook page that appears to be his and expressed frustration with people living in campsites in the area.

It's not clear how long Suggs and Kuykendall had been camping in the area along with a 20-year-old woman who investigators say didn't help build the fire. According to the court documents, they told investigators they had been camping in the area at different sites on what turned out to be private property and reading their Bibles.

The campfire that sparked the fire was about a mile away from an established campground popular with transients, Boulder County Sheriff's Office division chief Heidi Prentup said.

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UTAH

An unauthorized drone over a southern Utah wildfire was spotted by crews for the fifth time since it ignited nearly a month ago, stirring fears that firefighting aircraft could be at risk of a collision.

Firefighters will still use their airplanes and helicopters but face random, illegal drone flights as one more hazard, said Megan Saylors, spokeswoman for a team of agencies fighting the 3.6-square-mile fire about 300 miles south of Salt Lake City.

Saylors said aircraft are critical in the battle against the flames burning on a steep ridge above the town of Pine Valley because access for crews on the ground is limited.

No aircraft were flying Sunday night during the latest drone sighting, but firefighters had to ground their planes for several hours Friday night during another drone flight, Saylors said. It's unclear if the same unmanned aircraft has been flying over the fire in all five incidents over the past month.

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CALIFORNIA

Crews bracing for another round of dry winds are dousing hot spots Monday as they continue to build containment lines around a smoky fire that forced weekend evacuations in the Santa Clarita Valley north of Los Angeles.

Officials said late Sunday that the blaze in the foothills of the Santa Susana Mountains was 85 percent contained after consuming about 1.7 square miles of thick chaparral.

The fire sparked Saturday prompted the South Coast Air Quality Management District to issue a smoke advisory through Monday for portions of the valley because of potentially unhealthy air.

About 2,000 people sent fleeing from homes in the Stevenson Ranch area were allowed to return Saturday night.

Aerial photos showed the flames came to the property line of a ridgetop home that was covered in fire retardant.

The cause is under investigation.

(KA)