Late Wednesday evening, firefighters responded to a 10-acre blaze at Clark County Wetlands Park. But for most of the crews, it was not a typical response.  

Fire crews from the county, state and the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) — the federal agency responsible for land activities on about 67 percent of Nevada — arrived on scene in east Las Vegas hours after the number of confirmed coronavirus cases surged past 1,200.

Under normal circumstances, the Nevada Division of Forestry would send a crew of about 10 people, often inmates. But the Department of Corrections is not releasing inmates to serve on crews in an effort to contain the spread of the virus in conservation camps, facilities for minimum-security offenders who help state agencies fight fires or clean highways. 

Instead, the division sent a team of crew bosses working for the state. Vehicles that normally fit about 14 people were largely empty. The first responders were staggered with two people per vehicle in order to social distance. If one person in a crew gets coronavirus, the whole crew could be infected.

“The fire happened, and we responded,” said Nevada State Forester Kacey KC. 

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