Sparks tree and wildfire data sheet

Sparks sits on the valley floor east of Reno, and its numbers read differently from its neighbor's. The tables set the city beside Washoe County, Nevada and the United States, then show the Forest Service ranking, the three nearest NOAA stations and the large fires mapped within about 10 miles of the town point.

The quiet one in the county

Washoe County as a whole ranks above 97.2% of US communities for risk to homes. Sparks, at 95%, sits below that, and its likelihood of fire ranks at 94.8% nationally, against 97.3% for the county. Only 3.6% of its 35,381 counted buildings are in the direct-exposure zone; the county figure is 16.3%. The indirect zone is larger, 59.8%, which is what you would expect of a dense city next to open hillside.

In plain terms, Sparks is not risk-free but it is the lower end of what a Washoe County resident faces. A neighborhood at the edge of town is a different matter from the city figure.

Snow that stays out of the valley

The Sparks station, 1.8 miles from the town point at 4,357 feet, records 6.8 inches of snow a year and 8.38 inches of precipitation. The Reno National Weather Service office, 3.2 miles away and 630 feet higher, records 29.7 inches. That is a four-fold difference over three miles. Tree owners on the hillsides rising toward the Pah Rah range should think of Reno's figure, not Sparks's.

For trees on the valley floor, the practical effect is fewer snow-load breaks and more wind and heat questions. Our Washoe Zephyr guide covers the wind side.

Young trees, newer lots

The median home was built in 1993, and 39.8% of homes date from 2000 or later. Pre-1980 housing is 33.8%. Mobile homes are 1.1%, and 62.4% of homes are single-family detached. Home values, a median of $483,800, sit below the county's $539,900.

Younger neighborhoods usually mean younger trees, which is where early structural tree trimming and stump grinding after a removal come up more than large removals. Older pockets still exist: 9.0% of homes were built before 1960.

The fire file, in one big number

The Sparks fire of 1983 is the largest record on this sheet at 25,541 mapped acres, centered 8.0 miles away. Pah Rah in 1999 (10,603 acres, 8.3 miles) and Reservoir in 1999 (6,163 acres, 8.0 miles) follow. Closer in, within 5 miles, are Prater in 2017 (2,700 acres) and a 2016 record named S (2,541 acres).

Thirty entries fall inside the 10-mile radius. As elsewhere, the Census figures are estimates, and the fire list counts only perimeters of 300 acres or more.