The 2012 fire season is coming early in Nevada after a late season in 2011 that blackened 665 square miles in 815 fires.
A 93-year-old woman died in a January blaze that destroyed 29 homes and forced 10,000 people to evacuate their residences outside Reno.
Drought affects virtually all of the state.
State Forester Pete Anderson says the fire season "pretty much hasn't ended" from 2011,
Officials in California and other states say that grass, brush and forest didn't get the winter soakings that allows them to retain water — and put off fire. That could mean a busy wildfire season that normally doesn't kick in for much of the West until May or June.
Federal meteorologists say nearly all of the Southwest is experiencing drought.
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