Brooke Jensen was happy to say her sister hasn’t needed her inhaler for a while.
Jensen, 17, a Bishop Manogue High School student, said the inhaler had become a necessity for her sister on smoky days in previous years—she couldn’t leave the house without it.
That’s just one example of the difference between the summers of 2020 and 2021, and the summers of 2022 and, especially, 2023: A noticeable decrease in wildfires left the air clearer and forests healthier.
With a new summer comes a new fire season, so we checked with experts to learn what’s changed—and what we can expect.
According the Truckee Meadows Fire District (TMFD)—which covers areas from North Tahoe all the way to Pyramid Lake—49,700 acres burned in 2020, while in 2021, 539 acres burned. Over the next two years, the numbers dropped considerably: In 2022, approximately 25 acres were burned, according to a TMFD report, while in 2023, it was just over six acres, said Adam Mayberry, the TMFD’s communications manager.
Of course, a lot of the smoke that settles in the Truckee Meadows comes from fires elsewhere in the west, especially Northern California. The fire season was diminished mostly due to a historically wet 2022-23 winter, along with cool spring temperatures and frequent showers.
What went right in 2023
The major winter snowpack from 2022-23 inhibited fire activity in the forested areas of the Sierra. While many smaller fires were recorded, they were easily controlled because of the high moisture content of the burnable material.
“At lower elevations such as Reno, fire is fueled more by grass and brush than by forests,” said Tim Brown, director of both the Western Regional Climate Center and the Program for Climate, Ecosystem and Fire Applications at the Desert Research Institute. … If there is a reduced snowpack in the forested area, then that leads to stress on the trees, which can increase fire potential. Down in Reno, fire seasons have a lot to do with what happens in the spring.”
Although July 2023 was above normal in temperature, there weren’t extremely long heatwaves, which helped reduce fire activity.
Brown mentioned three more factors leading to the decrease in fires: “There was a fair amount of moisture that came up from the Southwest monsoon system over the Great Basin. We didn’t have a lot of lightning, and people were just pretty good about being safer in preventing fires.”
Human impact
A majority of wildland fires in Nevada are caused by humans.
“In the last three years, roughly 64 percent of fires were human-caused on BLM-managed lands,” said Jacob Chadwick, an information officer with the Bureau of Land Management.
Mayberry noted that the human role in wildfires can’t be discounted.
“There are countless ways people accidentally start fires: escaped campfires, fireworks, target shooting, using power equipment, discarding smoking materials, dragging chains along the roadways, and certainly some arson,” Mayberry said.
In January of this year, Californian Kevin Barcus was convicted of third-degree arson for having started 82 small fires near Gerlach, according to a press release from the Washoe County District Attorney’s Office. In September 2023, a game warden noticed smoke while patrolling, leading her to Barcus, who was living in his van in northern Washoe County.
Barcus was found burning vegetation, with soot and ash on him, according to the press release.
“It’s critically important that we all work together and not engage in outdoor activities that can spark fires during hot and dry conditions,” Mayberry said. “I do think public education of our residents, given all the wildfires we’ve been surrounded by, has also contributed to less fires.”
Anticipating the 2024 fire season
After a slow start to the winter, precipitation-wise, the Sierra Nevada has an average snowpack. As of March 25, the California Department of Natural Resources reported the Northern Sierra snowpack was at 115 percent of normal, while the Central Sierra snowpack was at 99 percent, and the Southern Sierra was at 91 percent—for an overall total of 102 percent.
Not bad—but it’s nowhere near the record snowpack of 2022-2023.
“This raises concerns about the snowpack in two ways: Will the snow line be at a higher elevation? And will there be a lot more rain events on top of snow?” Brown said. “If that happens, a potential consequence of the spring runoff season is that we’ll have a lot more water.”
Safe disposal can prevent fires
The TMFD recommends not disposing of large amounts of harvested vegetation through regular trash services or burn piles. Instead, the department offers specific days at fire stations where citizens can bring green waste for free. The spring green waste disposal days are Saturday and Sunday, April 13 and 14, in Washoe Valley and Lemmon Valley.
Throwing away oily rags or fireplace coals can be risky, as drying rags may release heat, and coals can reignite easily. Before discarding them, soak fireplace coals in water, and mix oily rags with water and detergent for three days. The TMFD distributes free ash cans each year in the late fall for proper disposal.