The ways wildfires start are innumerable but they almost always have one thing in common: humans. This month, we look at how increased recreation leads to higher fire danger, potentially higher wildfire insurance rates and more restrictive access to outdoor spaces.

After a recent audit showed it failed to bill for tens of millions of dollars in firefighting services performed in other states, the Nevada Division of Forestry (NDF) has recovered more than two-thirds of that money, according to State Forest and Fire Warden Kacey KC.

The proposed creation of a $3.7 billion U.S. Wildland Fire Service at the Department of Interior has raised some eyebrows. Nevada fire officials say whether they are one firefighting agency or several, they will continue to work together.

Fire officials are touting interagency cooperation, recent legislation and one-time state and federal funding as being instrumental to battling Nevada's wildfires this season.

The research shows that from 2006 to 2020, fires made worse by climate change contributed to about 15,000 U.S. deaths due to exposure to tiny particles, which are linked to serious health issues.

The Tahoe basin, encircled by densely packed, highly flammable forests, is among California and Nevada's most fire-vulnerable regions.

The Nevada Division of Forestry (NDF) provided more than $32 million worth of firefighting equipment and services to other states between 2020 and 2024 without billing for those services, according to a state audit of the division.

With the state’s wildfire season growing longer and more intense, Nevada Division of Forestry officials would like to enter an interstate wildfire compact — but they are unclear on how to legally do that.

Two of Nevada’s leading wildfire experts — Tim Brown, director of the Western Regional Climate Center at the Desert Research Institute, and Christina Restaino, director of the Living With Fire program at UNR — offer insight into why wildfires have gotten so bad, their hidden costs and the mitigation efforts that are needed from local up to federal levels.

A multiyear battle over whether Southern Nevadans should pay for natural disaster protection work in Northern Nevada raises an increasingly pressing public policy question: Are natural disasters statewide or local issues?

Wildfires have burned more than 8.8 million acres over the past 20 years in Nevada. A series of public-private partnerships and projects funded by federal and state appropriations could prevent more from sparking around Northern Nevada.

Substantial portions of Humboldt, Elko, Washoe and Pershing counties and the northern tips of Lander and Eureka counties have an “above normal” chance of seeing significant wildfire activity through October, according to the National Interagency Fire Center’s Predictive Services office.  

Tribe members and other area residents are among millions of people nationwide who this year will experience poor air quality because of wildfires.

Northern Nevada is famous for its beautiful outdoors, including Lake Tahoe and an abundance of camping sites and trails to explore. But the outdoor recreation that is a cultural staple for the region may be cut short by another summer tradition: wildfire season.

In an Executive Branch Audit Committee meeting in June, then-Lt. Gov. Kate Marshall said she believed the current rate of pay, $24 per day of work, was “a form of enslavement.”

Two weeks after thousands of South Lake Tahoe residents fled their homes, the flames of the Caldor Fire threatening to consume the tourist destination, Stephanie is relieved to be back in her house again.

South Lake Tahoe’s casino market is slowly getting back to business after the Caldor Fire forced a week-long shutdown of gaming and tourism operations.

Monterrosa said the work of photographing fire — and people fleeing for their lives — is physically and emotionally taxing. At the same time, he said he’s feeling even more motivated to cover these disasters.

Officials orchestrated an unprecedented evacuation of South Lake Tahoe as the Caldor Fire spread closer to the lake. For residents, that has brought uncertainty, dislocation and questions about what the future looks like.

Operators of the four major casinos in South Lake Tahoe began closing portions of their gaming floors Monday after fire officials in California ordered evacuations of residents all the way up to the Nevada border in response to the fast-spreading Caldor Fire.