By Mike Donahue
Moapa Valley Progress
The Southern Nevada Water Authority (SNWA) this month started a huge cleanup operation on the company’s Warm Springs property that was ravaged by fire in July, including cutting a 30-foot-wide fire break in key areas in an attempt to isolate and contain any future blazes.
The fire break and other fuel reduction cleanup efforts were started in response to residents’ concerns voiced at the Sept. 7 Moapa Town Board meeting that their homes might be in jeopardy in the event of a future fire, according to Robert Johnson, manager of SNWA’s Warm Springs Natural Area.
Within a week or two of the board meeting, crews were bulldozing fire breaks between SNWA land and private property, much of which is occupied by homes. Additionally, crews trimmed scorched palm trees.
“Our goal is to remove the palms where they impact endangered dace habitat,” Johnson said. “Residents have expressed a desire for us to leave as many palms as possible and we’ll do that as much as we can.”
Approximately 600 of the 1,218-acres owned by SNWA in Warm Springs was devastated by a massive brush fire that was believed to have been ignited July 1 by equipment being used by a SNWA-contracted crew trimming palm trees and clearing dense brush. Although a wood chipper was originally blamed for the blaze, it is now believed it started beneath the truck towing the chipper.
Ironically, the work trimming the palms and removing vegetation was being done prior to the blaze as a fire fuel reduction effort – apparently for good reason. Once the brush on the property ignited, it quickly flared into an inferno.
Crews from all over Moapa Valley and Las Vegas raced to fight the blaze and fire retardant was dropped from aircraft. The blaze raged out of control for almost a day and was not fully contained until July 7, Johnson said.
Several structures were completely destroyed including the home and property of Mary Premo and two mobile homes and a large ranch-style home called The Big House on the LDS Church’s Warm Springs Recreation Area.
Almost the entire Warm Springs area is criss-crossed with waterways that include the Muddy and Apcar rivers that are fed from natural springs. Nearly all the natural water is home to the Moapa Dace, a tiny fish that has been on the endangered species list for decades.
Johnston said authorities believe dace threatened by the fire swam upriver and were not harmed, although much of their habitat on SNWA property was damaged. That property is directly across the street from the Moapa Valley Wildlife Refuge, the protected home of the Moapa Dace.
“The fire was a terrible tragedy but there were some benefits,” Johnson said. “It burned a lot of tamarisk in the area that will make it a lot easier for us to remove.”
Tamarisk or salt cedar trees are an invasive species that is taking over and displacing native plants throughout the West including cottonwood trees.
Johnson said SNWA hopes to return the burned area to as close to a native area as possible. Native vegetation in the Warm Springs area includes salt grass, cottonwood trees, quail brush and Mesquite trees.
“Palms are not native here but we understand the aesthetic value to the community so we’ll leave as much as we can,” Johnson said. “It’s amazing but the area is already coming back.”
New grass is almost eight inches in some areas that were scorched to the earth and some Mesquite trees have already started to return.
