Lyon County tree and wildfire data sheet

This sheet sets Lyon County against Nevada and the United States, gives its Forest Service wildfire ranking, and tables the seven places we serve in the county: Mound House, Dayton, Stagecoach, Silver Springs, Fernley, Yerington and Smith Valley. The county average hides more than it shows, which is why the place table matters.

The county average, and who is in it

The median home was built in 1998. Homes from 2000 or later are 45.7% of housing, above Nevada's 41.5%. Owner-occupancy is 76.7%, single-family detached homes 73.3%, and the median home value, $366,100, is below the state's $435,400. Wood is the main fuel for 4.4% of households and bottled gas for 10.3%, more than three times the state rate.

Fernley, with 8,789 households, and Dayton, with 5,842, hold most of the county's people. Silver Springs adds 2,300 and Yerington 1,333. Mound House has no Census figures of its own, so the table shows it as not published.

A 37-point spread in wildfire rank

The county ranks above 93.0% of US communities for risk to homes and above 37.5% of Nevada communities. Of 32,309 counted buildings, 38.4% are directly exposed, 54.0% indirectly and 7.6% minimally. By place, the national rank runs from Dayton at 98.9% down through Smith Valley at 97.4%, Stagecoach at 93.5%, Fernley at 89.2% and Silver Springs at 87.2% to Yerington at 62.2%.

Direct exposure is the other half of the picture: the share of buildings in the Forest Service's direct zone is a separate measure from the rank, and the place table shows only the rank.

What the place table suggests for tree work

Dayton (median 2002) and Smith Valley (2004) point to young trees and defensible space. Yerington, with a median year of 1976, points to older trees; its rank is the lowest in the county. Silver Springs combines a middling rank with high direct exposure and wood and bottled-gas heating well above the county rates.

Our town sheets cover the biggest three: Dayton, Silver Springs and Fernley. For Yerington, Stagecoach and Smith Valley the table here is the data we publish.

Cautions

Smith Valley, Stagecoach and Yerington have under 1,500 households each, so their Census figures carry wide error margins. The elevation column ranges from 4,154 feet at Fernley to 4,920 feet at Mound House, a modest spread beside Douglas County.

For wind, the statewide high wind page has Lyon County's counts and their limits.