Plane crash ignites wildfire in US state of Nevada

The wildfire, dubbed Slide Fire, had spread to 80 acres with 10 wildfire contained after a small airplane or engine-driven recreational aircraft crashed Sunday.
Image of a wildfire used for representational purpose only (File | AP)
Image of a wildfire used for representational purpose only (File | AP)

LOS ANGELES: A wildfire ignited by a plane crash burned 80 acres (0.32 square km) on Mountain Rose, a popular recreation place located in northern US state of Nevada.

According to inter-state incident information system InciWeb, till Monday morning, the wildfire, dubbed "Slide Fire", had spread to 80 acres with 10 percent contained after a small airplane or engine-driven recreational aircraft crashed Sunday on the extremely rough steep mountain, Xinhua reported.

There were 160 people fighting the fire. Firefighters were helped by four helicopters, two scoopers, four air tankers and two single-engine tankers.

Video posted online Monday showed that air tankers filled up with water from the Lake Tahoe nearby responded to the fire which was first reported around 2.15 p.m. Sunday.

InciWeb said no structures were threatened.

A family hiking in the Slide Mountain area Sunday afternoon told local KOLO 8 news channel that they heard an explosion, saw a glider spiralling to the ground and then heard another explosion.

Fire officials said an aircraft crash caused the fire but did not say what kind of aircraft since search and rescue crews are not able to reach the scene before the wild fire is fully contained.

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