Hawk Fire destroys Reno homes as 90,000 face evacuation orders

Reno,UPDATED: Aug 24, 2026 05:48 IST

A fast-moving wildfire destroyed homes in north-west Reno, Nevada, on Sunday as shifting winds made it harder for firefighters to control the blaze and prompted large-scale evacuations. Authorities said about 90,000 people were under evacuation orders or warnings, and at least six people, including three first responders, were injured.

Officials said the Hawk Fire began on Saturday and had spread to more than 60 sq km in the Peavine Peak area of the Humboldt–Toiyabe Forest, where homes and businesses sit around rugged foothills near the California state line. They described the fire as "human-caused" but did not say how they reached that conclusion or whether it was accidental or deliberate.

The expanding "GO NOW" evacuation zone reached the edge of the University of Nevada. Authorities said 42,000 residents had been ordered to leave, while another 45,000 were in an adjoining warning zone. They urged people to leave and be prepared to stay away for several days as stronger and shifting winds were expected to make the fire more unpredictable. Washoe County Sheriff Darin Balaam said, "Please get out if you can right now."

Among those who lost their homes was Cari Kieffer, who said a video posted on social media showed her house completely destroyed, with only a scorched basketball hoop left standing. "I woke up this morning and just started crying - all my kids, they lost everything," Kieffer said on Sunday. "We lost all our stuff. Everything we own is gone."

Kieffer said she had been at her son's football game on Saturday when she learnt that her home on the outskirts of Reno was in the evacuation zone. She said an app used by the family to track the fire had been significantly behind its actual location, and they believed firefighters had kept the blaze away from their neighbourhood. Instead, Kieffer, her husband and their four children, aged three to 16, rushed to save their dogs and whatever belongings they could. She said ash rained down and the wind felt like an oven blast as flames moved down the hillside towards their area. "I kept looking outside and the flames just kept getting closer and closer every time I looked," Kieffer said. "I was like, we gotta go like now." She said she grabbed some clothes, a Bible, her wedding photos and her mother's ashes, but left behind birth certificates and childhood photographs as firefighters shouted at the family to leave at once.

Nevada Governor Joe Lombardo declared a state of emergency in Washoe County and mobilised the Nevada Guard. The response included two helicopter crews to support aerial firefighting and 60 troops to help police evacuated neighbourhoods. Officials said 800 fire personnel were responding to the blaze.

Nearly 10,000 customers in Washoe County were without power on Sunday, down from 60,000 on Saturday. Parts of US Route 395, a major north-south highway, were closed because of the fire. Emergency officials opened the Reno-Sparks Convention Centre for evacuees, though pets were not allowed there and had to be taken to two separate locations for small and large animals. Casinos in Reno offered discounted hotel rooms to evacuees.

Tyler Duvall, who had gone camping over the weekend, said the fire had looked too small to worry about on Saturday morning, but by the next day his house was in the evacuation zone. "The wind really blew it up," he said. On Saturday alone, 15 new fires were reported across Nevada. The report said months of dry weather and a record lack of snow this past winter across the American West had created ideal conditions for wildfires. Earlier this month, wildfires in eastern Washington state forced 60,000 people to evacuate in the Spokane area, while three wildfires north of Reno forced more than 13,000 residents from their homes.

Jaida Hargrove said firefighters had used a bulldozer, cut down trees and dropped fire retardant in an effort to protect the mountaintop home of her grandfather, Rick Arrate, on Peavine Mountain overlooking Reno and Sparks. "They all thought it would be OK," she said. "And then, in about 30 minutes, the winds just changed and it came way too fast." Hargrove said Arrate and the firefighters were quickly forced off the mountain. "All he was able to take with him was his two golden retrievers," she said. Arrate spent Saturday night with Hargrove's parents, and separate GoFundMe campaigns were set up to help him and the Kieffer family.

Retired police officer and firefighter Ted Melden, who moved to Reno with his wife earlier this month from Chapin, South Carolina, said he had already experienced a hailstorm with flash flooding, two power cuts and now a second wildfire event in the region in two weeks. "Just another natural disaster," Melden said. He said Hurricane Helene had knocked down trees in his yard in South Carolina, while a tornado had damaged his neighbourhood there. Melden had not been told to evacuate, but said his bags were packed. "You just have to roll with the flow and be ready," he said.

David Barb said he returned from a weekend hunting trip to find that the fire had destroyed his taxidermy shop, while his nearby house appeared to have been saved after workers with a landscaping company cut a fire break. He said his wife had been at home when the fire started on the other side of the mountain and later evacuated to a friend's house. "I'm kind of devastated, but thank God everyone's safe," he said on Sunday.

The University of Nevada, where many of its 20,000 undergraduates moved into housing over the weekend, remained just outside the evacuation zone on Sunday. Two hospitals evacuated patients, and Balaam said his office was closely watching whether the county jail would also need to be evacuated. He said the fire moved exceptionally fast on Saturday night, jumping over fire trucks and making it difficult for crews to reach hot spots while residents were still trying to get out. "It was extremely confusing," Balaam said, describing how changing winds pushed the flames in different directions.

By Sunday, the Hawk Fire had destroyed homes and businesses, injured six people, disrupted power and transport, and forced tens of thousands of people in and around Reno to leave or prepare to leave as firefighters battled a fast-changing blaze.

With PTI Inputs

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