On the way up the hill to our hiking spot near Spooner Summit, I noticed a plume of smoke rising from the Pine Nut Mountains. I made a mental note to stop on the way home to make an image or two. Then, on arrival home (or at a convenient parking spot), I would load up my fire watch app and find out more about the fire.
The location is some miles from home, so I am not concerned for my place and my things. A lot of south Carson City would burn before the fire got to my location and that would be very unusual. The risk is pretty low.
On the way home, just an hour or two later, I was shocked at the increase in the size of the fire. The plume had grown tremendously and it was clear that the fire was raging. The dry winds that blew in early Friday morning were not helping.
I paused at a turn-out on eastbound US50 and stepped out of the rig to make a couple of photographs. A few other motorists were also pulling out to gawk and take snapshots.
When we got home, I got The Girl settled in (she is always ready to nap) and checked on the fire. It is called the Connor Fire and began as a structure fire that spread from the house to the wildlands and got away from fire fighters sent to work on the blaze. It had abruptly spread to about 2,000 acres (~3 mi2) and the winds were rapidly spreading it. Assets were on station and being called in.
I noticed that the trend was not northerly, but to the northeast farther into the Pine Nuts. The good thing is that there are few domiciles in that area. The bad thing is that the terrain becomes rougher.
I hope folks are alright.
Edit Sunday Morning: At this time the fire had an area of about 20,000 acres (~31 mi2). I learned later that the Connor Fire is burning a burn scar from a previous blaze. That means there is reduced ground level fuel. I hope this means that it is more easily extinguished.