LAS VEGAS (AP) -- Fire officials reported progress Tuesday slowing one wildfire in an uninhabited area of southern Nevada and said crews were approaching full containment of the state's largest blaze near the Nevada-Utah border.
The Delamar fire was 40 percent contained in a 180-square-mile area between Alamo and Caliente in Lincoln County, fire spokesman Keith Jenkins said. He said incident commanders expected full containment this week.
''It's starting to look a whole lot better,'' said Jenkins, a North Carolina state forester serving as information officer for the fire. ''There's still quite a bit of smoke in the air, but most of it is from within the fire lines.''
No structures were threatened and no new serious injuries were reported by the more than 1,000 firefighters battling dehydration along with the fires in the parched deserts, mountains and canyons about 100 miles northeast of Las Vegas. Officials think about half the acreage in the fire zones had burned.
About 50 miles east of the Delamar fire, the much larger Duzak fire was 90 percent contained in a 922-square-mile zone reaching into Utah, said David Chevalier, a U.S. Forest Service fire spokesman.
''It's in steep, rocky territory,'' Chevalier said of the 590,440-acre fire. ''If it hits a rock wall, it isn't going anywhere. But we still have a lot of stuff in the air. They want to snuff this thing out.''
Chevalier said officials expected full containment Wednesday, weather permitting. Various other large fires dubbed the South Desert complex in Clark and Lincoln counties have been contained.
Daytime temperatures were expected to remain in the 90s, with low humidity. But winds were predicted to remain light, benefiting the suppression effort.
Five fixed-wing aircraft, nine helicopters and a bulldozer were helping the 551 firefighters from around the West on the Duzak fire. Another three helicopters were aiding the 466 firefighters on the Delamar fire.
Chevalier said firefighters mounted an overwhelming response with hand crews and air tankers to quell a 25-acre fire was sparked Monday by fireworks near St. George, Utah.
Elsewhere, about 188 firefighters were nearing containment of the 67-square-mile Fork fire, about 35 miles from Mesquite. No structures were threatened and no injuries were reported.
The 1,200-acre Garnet fire was declared contained late Monday on Bureau of Land Management territory in northern Clark County, said Kirsten Cannon, a BLM spokeswoman in Las Vegas. No injuries were reported. Some Lincoln County Power Company power lines were damaged.
A man shooting target practice was blamed for sparking that fire with a ricocheting bullet.
