A wildfire that traveled up through the grasslands of Red Rock Canyon Monday is expected to be contained by Wednesday at noon, according to the Bureau of Land Management. The BLM said that the Bird Springs fire was caused by target shooting, a common cause of fires that is illegal in Red Rock Canyon Conservation Area. A suspect has not yet been named, according to Shane Kelly, a fire mitigation and education specialist at the bureau.
The fire was first reported before noon on Memorial Day and is located near the Late Night trailhead along Route 160, west of Las Vegas. According to the BLM, there have been no injuries or damaged structures. More than 80 percent of wildfires in the area are caused by human activity, according to Kelly, who called this number “pretty high.
” He urged the public to “be cautious when you’re out in the public lands.” An estimated 150 acres of land have been impacted by the fire, which reached 70 percent containment Tuesday afternoon. “There has been no new activity nor growth on the perimeter of the fire all day,” a BLM spokesperson said.
The region is part of the conservation area and home to the endangered desert tortoise. Emergency vehicles need prior permission before entering desert tortoise habitat. The breed is known to hibernate in burrows for most of the year but is highly active from March to June, according to the U.
S. Fish and Wildlife Service. While wildfires can damage important habitat, they can also limit the spread of .
