LAS VEGAS (KSNV) — One person was found dead after crews extinguished a brush fire that broke out and spread to a home in Henderson Wednesday morning, according to the fire chief.
Flames could be seen pouring out of the Whitney Mesa area near Sunset Road and Arroyo Grande Boulevard, just west of Stephanie Street.
Firefighters received a report about an outside fire around 4:30 a.m., Henderson Fire Chief Scott Vivier told reporters. By the time crews arrived, the fire had grown to 2-3 acres, damaged one home and spread to the landscaping of a second home.
“Because the call occurred early in the morning, most residents were asleep, and that’s what allowed the fire to grow to the size before it was recognized,” the chief said. “Residents initially woke up seeing it, and they started to self-evacuate.”
Two alarms were called for the response, according to Vivier. Crews contained the fire to the area of origin and extinguished it with no further damage. Clark County and Bureau of Land Management firefighters provided assistance.
During a primary search of the area, authorities found one person dead. The cause of death is unknown, and Henderson Police are investigating.
About 50 residents in the neighborhood were asked to evacuate because of the heavy smoke, Vivier said. They have since been allowed to return to their homes. He added that the Henderson Fire Department has preexisting plans for evacuating residents in response to any fires in the Whitney Mesa area.
The cause of the fire is unknown at this time, the chief said, and remains under investigation as well. Crews were expected to remain on scene throughout the day to clean up the space and make sure there were no flare-ups. There was no estimate on when Whitney Mesa Park could reopen to the public.
The Bureau of Land Management has been requested to provide assistance. Vivier said their expertise would be used to remove dangerous brush and trees that had been damaged in the fire.
Green Valley High School is also located nearby, off Arroyo Grande and Warm Springs Road. A Clark County School District spokesperson said the school began classes at their normal start times.
The Whitney Mesa area last suffered a significant brush fire in 2016, when amateur fireworks from a Fourth of July celebration in the Nature Preserve sparked large flames. No injuries were reported in that incident.
A recent Review-Journal letter to the editor mischaracterized Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto’s Southern Nevada Economic Development and Conservation Act, also known as the Clark County Lands bill. As the former executive director of the Nevada Conservation League, I wholeheartedly support this legislation, so I wanted to set the record straight.
Sen. Cortez Masto has been working on this bill for years in partnership with state and local governments, conservation groups like the NCL and local area tribes. It’s true that the Clark County lands bill would open 25,000 acres to help Las Vegas grow responsibly, while setting aside 2 million acres for conservation. It would also help create more affordable housing throughout the valley while ensuring our treasured public spaces can be preserved for generations to come.
What is not correct is that the money from these land sales would go to the federal government’s coffers. In fact, the opposite is true.
The 1998 Southern Nevada Public Lands Management Act is a landmark bill that identified specific public land for future sale and created a special account ensuring all land sale revenues would come back to Nevada. In accordance with that law 5 percent of revenue from land transfers goes to the state of Nevada for general education purposes, 10 percent goes to the Southern Nevada Water Authority for needed water infrastructure and 85 percent supports conservation and environmental mitigation projects in Southern Nevada. This legislation has provided billions to Clark County and will continue to benefit generations of Southern Nevadans. Sen. Cortez Masto’s lands bill builds upon the act’s success.
So here’s the good news: All of the money generated from land made available for sale under Sen. Cortez Masto’s bill would be sent to the special account created by the 1998 law. Rather than going to an unaccountable federal government, the proceeds would continue to help kids in Vegas get a better education, bolster outdoor recreation and modernize Southern Nevada’s infrastructure.
I know how important it is that money generated from the sale of public land in Nevada stay in the hands of Nevadans, and so does the senator. That’s why she opposed a Republican effort last year to sell off 200,000 acres of land in Clark County and other areas of the country that would have sent those dollars directly to Washington.
Public land management in Nevada should benefit Nevadans. We should protect sacred cultural sites and beloved recreation spaces, responsibly transfer land for affordable housing when needed and ensure our state has the resources it needs to grow sustainably. I will continue working with Sen. Cortez Masto to advocate for legislation, such as the Clark County lands bill, that puts the needs of Nevadans first.
Paul Selberg writes from Las Vegas.
click to expand photos
Las Vegas High’s baseball team claimed a 3-2 home win over Coronado on Friday.
Las Vegas (9-13-1) next hosts Rancho at 10 a.m. Saturday. Coronado (13-14) hosts Chaparral at 3:30 p.m. Monday.
Contact Alex Wright at awright@reviewjournal.com. Follow @AlexWright1028 on X.
LAS VEGAS (FOX5) — Nevada’s jobless rate is holding steady, but the state is still adding jobs.
A new report from DETR shows February’s unemployment rate unchanged at 5.3 percent, with the labor force growing by nearly 3,800 people.
MORE ON FOX5: Nevada unemployment rate rises to 5.3% in January
Nevada now has about 1.6 million nonfarm jobs, up 2.2 percent over the past year and 1,500 more jobs than in January.
“This month’s report shows a strengthening labor market,” said David Schmidt, Chief Economist. ”Compared to the report for January, the pace of job gains in the past year increased from 1.9% to 2.2%, building on what was already the fastest pace of job growth in the country. While the unemployment rate remained stable, the labor force participation rate rose to 63.7%, 1.7 percentage points higher than the national level.”
In Las Vegas, employment ticked up by 1,100 jobs in February, about 0.1 percent, and is up more than 25,000 jobs compared to last year.
Reno added 1,000 jobs on the month, while Carson City shed about 200 but is still slightly above where it was a year ago.
Copyright 2026 KVVU. All rights reserved.
Bulgaria votes in eighth election in five years
Real estate investors are buying up long-term care facilities. Residents can suffer
Former Piston shows Detroit what they’re missing as he dominates next to LeBron
Eastbound I-80 closure in San Francisco snarls traffic, slows business
Can Keir Starmer survive the latest Mandelson revelations? | BBC News
Petar Musa’s Brace Not Enough as FC Dallas Draws LA Galaxy 2-2
MLS: Messi double helps Inter Miami slay Rapids in front of huge crowd
From across Boston they flock to play for Latin Academy boys’ tennis, a co-op of 29 schools – The Boston Globe