Tens of thousands are still under evacuation orders or warnings amid ‘human-caused’, wind-driven blaze
The Hawk fire is about 27% contained, authorities said on Monday afternoon, two days after the fast-moving, wind-driven wildfire sparked near Reno, Nevada.
Authorities added that 23,000 people are under a “go-now” order and 40,000 people are under a “get-set” warning, an improvement from the 90,000 Nevadans under evacuation orders or warnings on Monday morning.
More than 900 personnel are currently assigned to the fire, said Richard Edwards, the chief of Truckee Meadows Fire Protection District, who added that first responders had identified 32 destroyed and six damaged homes.
“We expect those numbers to increase as damage assessment teams are still out in the field,” he said. He added that canine search teams will clear the area, but officials have not yet identified any fatalities. Authorities said they have identified four civilian and three firefighter injuries to date.
The Hawk fire began on Saturday to the north-west of the city, and quickly grew, showing “extreme fire behavior” as it threatened foothill neighborhoods in Nevada’s second-largest city. It stood at a little more than 15,000 acres burned on Monday afternoon. Authorities said that regions along the southern portion of the fire and east of US Route 395 have been contained.
Portions of US 395, a major north-south highway, that had been closed were reopened Monday, according to the Washoe county sheriff’s office.
As evacuation orders in some areas begin to lift, the local sheriff’s department urged residents to avoid hiking and flying drones in airspace where firefighting crews are still working.
“We do know that the fire was human-caused,” said Edwards. “We do not know if it was intentional or unintentional.”
The Reno area has seen three large wildfires in the past two weeks, all of which, fire officials say, were caused by human activity.
Evacuee Teresa Lenshyn said being forced to leave was chaotic and stressful: “You don’t know if the winds are going to shift and it’s going to get worse.”
All but one school in Washoe county, where Reno is located, closed on Monday, authorities said, to leave roads clear for first responders. The University of Nevada, Reno, where the fall semester began on Monday, announced that the campus would continue to operate. The school district announced Monday afternoon that school will be canceled again Tuesday.
Nearly 10,000 homes and businesses in the county were without power. At a press briefing on Monday, Jesse Murray, the vice-president of NV Energy, said it had 11 crews working on restoring electricity, and expected to return service to customers as evacuation orders lift.
The fire was surrounded by neighborhoods. Edwards, the local fire chief, urged people to be ready to evacuate immediately when told to do so.
The fire had already proved to be a challenge on Saturday night, moving exceptionally fast, jumping over fire trucks and making it difficult for responders to get to hotspots while residents were trying to get out, said Darin Balaam, the Washoe county sheriff.