Verdi, NV Forest Fires Threaten Towns, Aug 1924

ADVANCING FLAMES THREATEN VERDI

FOREST FIRE ON BANKS OF RIVER CUTS WIDE PATH.

WIND THREATENS TO CARRY BLAZE TO OLD COUNTRY CLUB AND FARMS.

FLAMES SEEN FROM RENO ATTRACT MANY RESIDENTS.

Electric Lights Dimmed and Power Shut Off When Lines Are Burned Out.

With the forest fire on the flanks of the Truckee canyon, two miles from Verdi, raging with greater fury than at any time since it started, two weeks ago at Floriston, fames near Fleish were menaced and Verdi, with its sawmill and lumber yards, gazed westward with apprehension as flames shot 100 feet in the air and clouds of dense smoke rolled into the valley.
At midnight the flames were completely out of control, although the wind had shifted slightly, veering the fire obliquely from Verdi.
While a thin line of forest rangers attempted unsuccessfully to combat the blaze on the upper edge of the fire area and linemen and power company fighters patrolled property along the river, no definite attempt was made to check the conflagration on the eastern slope in the direction of Verdi.
Club House Threatened.
It was here that the wind into last night was threatening to carry the fire down the slope in the direction of the old Reno Country club. MR. and MRS. C. A. BOVETT, owners of the property, have packed their household goods and are ready to flee on a moment's notice.
Across the river on the south side in Deep canyon flames early last night topped the ridge west of Hunter Creek canyon, casting a glare that could be seen from Reno and Sparks and many miles to the east. Twelve forest rangers are in this area.
The Truckee ranger station announced last night that 30 rangers had been sent into action on the upper edge of the fire in the Crystal Peak country, where it was spreading through heavy timber in the direction of the Dog Valley grade. Twenty-five additional fighters are to be sent this morning into the same area.
Phone Company Active.
The Bell Telephone company last night had a crew of 20 men along its lines in the canyon, while the Truckee Power company recruited fighters to replace the 60 men who came out yesterday morning.
Electric lights were dimmed and power was shut off for a few minutes in Reno at 8 o'clock last night, when the fire burned out a section of power line, between Farad and Fleish. Electricity was supplied from another circuit, while a line crew repaired the break after four hours' work.
With the wind to the north yesterday morning, the fire spread rapidly up the hills a half mile west from Calavada, on the state line, where the burning barn of an abandoned homestead sent a shower of sparks across the river Monday and started the flames raging on the north. A shift in the wind yesterday afternoon again sent them down the ridge toward Verdi.
Truckee forest service officials characterized the fresh outbreak yesterday as "extremely serious."
Verdi In Danger.
K. S. GILBERT, plant chief of the Bell Telephone company, declared that "If the blaze is not extinguished nothing can save Verdi. Fifty men could have put it out three days ago. It'll take 1,000 if the wind continues."
Townspeople of Verdi, more apprehensive than ever, have their valuables and household goods ready to move.
The flames last night were less than a mile from the BOVETT ranch and were reported a short distance above the Reno Rotary club boys' camp, which adjoins the BOVETT property.
Below the old country club, in the direction of Verdi, and the ranches of MRS. E. L. HILL, HUGH HOLSTRUM, MRS. FRANCIS HUHKEN and the state fish hatchery. All are surrounded by wooded areas.
Damage Slight.
While actual property damage in the canyon has been slight during the two weeks conflagration, the scenic value of the Truckee river route has been ruined for several miles, over which the fire has left charred and desolate hillsides where fine areas of fir and pine once stood.
A large crew of fire fighters is also working on the northern slope of the Peavine ridge in Evans canyon, where a brush fire is reported to be raging fiercely, completely out of control.
Verdi Huddles In Fear
By Journal Staff Correspondent.
Verdi, Aug. 12 -- Verdi huddles in fear late tonight.
There is no panic -- just a silent, waiting people gazing anxiously at a terrifying, crackling, jagged line of fire as it slowly eats its way toward the edge of the town.
Standing on the road to Fleish, near the mill, are hundreds of people from Reno and their machines are parked; some are there ready to be of assistance in case of need and others are just sightseeing.
As a spectacle the forest fire which is tearing down the canyon, fanned by a wind whistling toward Verdi, is stupendous. Walls of flames leap high toward the heavens, while staccato explosions snap out when a huge sap-laden pine bursts and spurts flame in every direction.
The longer the visitor gazes at the flame-wrought devastation the more touching and human the situation becomes. Tall, stately pines, seeming to be holding their skirts from the lapping flames, suddenly succumb to the fury of the blaze and burst into a fiery red and topple into the blazing inferno.
Verdi is not doomed; yet the situation is a critical one. Inch by inch the blazing pine furnace stretches out its red tongue, seeming to open its maw for more brittle combustion.
Ridge by ridge, fringed with heavy timber, fall before the onrushing fire and when the heavy smoke clouds life momentarily large areas of blazing woods loom forth with their red shafts stretching far above the low fire lines.
Yet, it is a spectacle -- and one of the saddest to gaze upon, with the exception of the snuffing out of human life.

Nevada State Journal Reno Nevada 1924-08-13
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Researched and Transcribed by Stu Beitler. Thank you, Stu!