LAS VEGAS, Nev. (FOX5) – Days after a human-caused fire tore through 34 acres of Wetlands Park, FOX5 is getting a closer look at the damage left behind.
“Now is the time to tell people what the impact is,” nature photographer and Wetlands Park volunteer Frank Kirkpatrick says.
For the last three weeks, Kirkpatrick says he’s taken photos of a female owl in her nest in the park. Thursday morning, that nest was gone.
“That nest is now gone, burned,” he says.
He says, instead, he found what he believes is her mate, perched in a tree.
“Not knowing what happened, right? Completely confused. ‘I don’t know where my mate is. What happened here?‘” he says.
It’s a heartbreaking hit, though Wetlands Senior Program Administrator Elizabeth Bickmore says it could’ve been worse, if not for the quick response from firefighters.
“Because of their efforts, this fire was really restricted,” Bickmore says.
She says, although the wind Monday kept the fire away from their buildings, it pushed the fire toward some of the park’s larger trees like Cottonwoods, Willows, and Mesquites.
“[Firefighters] already knew that we needed to protect those trees. So they did everything they could do to protect the most sensitive habitats, and by golly, they did it,” Bickmore says.
Bickmore says a recent vegetation clearing from the Bureau of Land Management and “fire breaks” throughout the park helped their case as well. “Fire breaks” are essentially empty spaces that help prevent fires from spreading quickly.
“A break in continuous vegetation provides areas where firefighters can hold that line,” she says. “Maybe it’s the trail, maybe it’s something we cut.”
She says they’re still figuring out their next steps forward, working with federal partners to determine what they’ll need to replant, and what nature will take care of on its own.
“We just plant where’s needed, because nature kind of tells you where it can take care of itself,” she says.
Kirkpatrick says he hopes this fire serves as a stark reminder that one moment of carelessness can lead to a lifetime of change.
“This place is a treasure. If it didn’t exist, where else are you going to go and wander around in nature?” he says.
Bickmore is urging the park’s roughly 700,000 yearly visitors to remember there’s no open flame allowed at the park, including smoking or fireworks.
Clark County says the fire was human-caused. What exactly started it remains undetermined. The county says there’s no further investigation underway at this time.
On April 26, a Bioblast event will be held at the Wetlands Park, where visitors can learn more about the park’s ecosystem. For those interested, more information about the event can be found here.
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