BULLHEAD CITY/LAUGHLIN – The Clark County Fire Department held a unified command with the Bureau of Land Management and the National Park Service on the 63-acre fire along the Colorado River between Laughlin and Bullhead City that occurred last week. The large brush fire created smoke that could be seen for miles but did not threaten structures. This fire was finally brought under control with the assistance of helicopter drops from nearby Arizona BLM aviation resources.
CCFD Crews created a perimeter around the fire, and contained it while smoldering continued on the interior fire footprint. Fire crews remained on the scene overnight to ensure no hot spots flared up, although the fire continued to produce smoke for several hours after being mostly extinguished.
This fire response utilized interagency coordination and cooperation from all responding agencies. In all, Clark County responded with 4 engines, 3 water tenders, 1 rescue and 2 chief officers. Bullhead City responded with 2 engines, National Park Service responded 1 engine and 1 chief officer. USFS responded with 1 engine, and BLM responded with 2 engines and a helicopter.
The cause of the fire remains under investigation to date as individuals were spotted in the area just prior to the fire outbreak. Local residents on the Bullhead City side of the river closest to the fire openly stated that there was a homeless encampment where the fire started, and one local BHFD firefighter who wished to remain anonymous stated that he had heard that two individuals were fighting in the spot where the fire broke out.
Who caused the fire remains under investigation by Clark County Fire officials, but such grass fires have occurred several times in areas where the homeless congregate and make camps such as the parking lot across from the Riverside Resort Hotel and Casino on the Bullhead side where the grass embankment has been the site of a few serious grass fires in the last 3 years. The homeless use the grassy areas to make camp and they build fires for cooking and heat when necessary which given the windy condition found in Bullhead can easily get out of hand.
Kane Wickham
