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Broom Canyon Fire

Unit Information

1200 Franklin Way 
Sparks, 
Nevada 
89431 
1200 Franklin Way 
Sparks, 
Nevada 
89431 

Incident Contacts

Erica Hupp
Email: erica.hupp@usda.gov
Phone: 775-771-4777

Highlighted Media

Smoke from the Broom Canyon Fire

The Broom Canyon Fire is burning within the Currant Mountain Wilderness on the Humboldt-Toiyabe National's Ely Ranger District. The lightning-caused fire is located nine miles east of Duckwater or 60 miles southwest of Ely, Nevada. It was first reported at approximately 8 p.m. on Monday, July 29.

Basic Information
Current as of Tue, 09/03/2024 - 11:11
Incident Time Zone America/Los_Angeles
Incident Type Wildfire
Cause Lightning
Date of Origin
Location Burning on Currant Mountain in the Current Mountain Wilderness, which is nine miles east of Duckwater or 60 miles southwest of Ely, Nevada.
Incident Commander Type 3 Incident Commander Davis Oatway
Incident Description The Broom Canyon Fire is burning in steep, rugged, and inaccessible terrain above 7,000 Feet on Currant Mountain within the Currant Mountain Wilderness. The Ely Ranger District is managing the fire under a confine and contain strategy. This Lightning-caused fire is currently located in an area where firefighter safety mitigations cannot be achieved therefore fire suppression actions are not being taken at this time. Areas within the planning boundary have been identified for safe opportunities for suppression actions. Firefighters are also improving roads that have been identified as contingency fire lines should the fire move outside the planning boundary to the west.
Coordinates 38° 53' 13'' Latitude
-115° 26'
38
'' Longitude
Current Situation
Total Personnel: 117
Size 7,375 Acres
Percent of Perimeter Contained 15%
Fuels Involved

The fire is burning in white fir, pinyon pine and juniper, but also leaving lots of unburned vegetation resulting in a mosaic pattern. 

Outlook
Planned Actions

Personnel will continue efforts to locate areas where firefighters can engage and monitor the behavior and movement of the fire. They will continue improving roads to be used as contingent fire lines.

Projected Incident Activity

More active fire behavior is expected with temperatures returning to seasonal norms and breezy afternoon winds. As a result of the seasonal weather, there is expected to be an increase in fire behavior including creeping and isolated torching with terrain driven runs and moderate fire activity. Fire spreading to the North is expected as well as some spotting to the East. Management action point three work, as per the WFDSS, is well underway improving the Currant Creek road. On the Southern flank of the incident, activity is showing on interior pockets but no expected threat of fire movement. Though the fire is not actively moving to the West or South flanks, advanced preparation of constructing containment lines is ongoing.

Remarks

On Wed., Aug 21, an increase in fire activity on the Broom Canyon Fire produced a large column of smoke highly visible from southern Nevada and western Utah. The forecast for this weekend calls for increased winds which is expected to result in more fire activity and a large smoke column. 

Smoke and fire activity will likely be seen into September and October until the first snow hits the mountain. For updates on air quality, visit: www.fire.airnow.gov.

Current Weather
Weather Concerns

Tuesday, Sep. 3, weather is predicted to be partly sunny and cooler with isolated dry thunderstorms possible in the afternoon. Winds will gust to 25 mph in the afternoon as well. Dry with less wind expected Wednesday, Sep. 4, and Thursday, Sep. 5.

For updated weather for Ely, Nevada, visit: https://forecast.weather.gov/MapClick.php?CityName=Ely&state=NV&site=LKN&textField1=39.2475&textField2=-114.888&e=0