Fire on Mount Potosi linked to lightning strike

Crews tonight are battling two small fires on federal lands that have sent smoke billowing into the Southern Nevada sky, according to the Clark County Fire Department and Metro Police.

The fires — which are on the Pahrump side of Mount Potosi, about 30 miles southwest of Las Vegas in the Spring Mountains — are being handled by Bureau of Land Management and the U.S. Forest Service, officials said.

No structures were in immediate danger, Metro Lt. Peter Kisfalvi said.

No more than 3 acres were burning on Mount Potosi and a smaller fire was burning above a Boy Scout camp in the area, Kisfalvi said about 9:15 p.m. The flames were expected to be out soon.

Crews of Hotshots were working the fires and a couple of Metro officers also were at the scene, Kisfalvi said.

The fires were possibly sparked by lightning about 5:30 p.m., which was detected in the area around that time, according to the National Weather Service.

Further details were not immediately available.

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