Elko County Fire Chief Matt Peterson told the county commission that since Aug. 1 crews have fought 18 fires that burned about 85,000 acres, including an active incident in the Midas area that forced residents to evacuate three times over five days.

The commission opened its Aug. meeting to updates on local fires and then approved two funding decisions related to firefighting: a one-year extension and an additional $50,000 for a volunteer fire infrastructure grant, and an interlocal participation contract with the state Wildland Fire Protection Program (WFPP) for fiscal 2026–27 not to exceed $812,000.

Why it matters: Commissioners said the county’s frequent large fires make mutual-aid agreements and pre-funded response systems essential. County leaders described the WFPP contribution as a hybrid insurance and administrative arrangement: the state handles large contractor billing and paperwork for multi-jurisdictional wildfires while counties pay a nonfederal share so response costs are processed centrally.

Peterson briefed the board on major incidents. He said the largest active incident, the Jake's Fire near Milepost 22 in the Midas area, covered roughly 69,000 acres; the Adobe Fire near Double Mountain and Jarrett Canyon Mine was about 10,000 acres but its forward progress had been stopped; and a Summit Fire near Highway 93 had been contained by an aggressive initial attack. Peterson credited crews from state and federal partners — Bureau of Land Management, Nevada Division of Forestry, Eureka and Lander counties and Humboldt County — with structure protection and burnout operations around Midas.

Commissioners asked for details about structure threats and costs. Peterson said structure threat outside Midas was minimal and that the county was using available mutual-aid resources. Commissioners discussed how the WFPP allocation is computed; one commissioner urged revisiting the WFPP formula because Elko County carries a large share of program costs under the current calculation.

On the volunteer fire infrastructure grant, the county made a motion to extend the grant to Dec. 31, 2025, and to approve an additional $50,000 from the infrastructure fund to complete the project. Commissioners discussed reasons for the shortfall — permitting and zoning delays, land donation processing and rising costs — and directed staff to include buffer funding in future grants where feasible. The motion carried.

On the WFPP contract, commissioners debated fairness of the program formula but approved the interlocal agreement authorizing participation for up to $812,000 for the coming fiscal year. One commissioner described the program as “half insurance policy, half administrative service,” noting state administration of billing and reimbursement after very large incidents.

The commission also noted a planned governor’s tour of fire areas and thanked local, state and federal crews for their response work.

Details and next steps: The volunteer grant extension was approved with the stated intent that any unused portion would be returned to the infrastructure fund. The WFPP contract was approved as presented; commissioners asked staff to continue advocating for formula review as program allocations are revisited.

Sources: Remarks and Q&A with Matt Peterson, Fire Chief (Elko County Fire Protection District); public discussion and motions recorded in the Aug. county commission meeting transcript. Ending: County staff and commissioners said they will continue to ask the state for program adjustments and to build contingencies into future infrastructure grants to avoid similar shortfalls.