Reno-area wildfire has destroyed over 30 homes, but firefighters are starting to contain it

By Maria Aguilar Prieto, Hanna Park, Martin Goillandeau, Chris Boyette, CNN

Reno, Nevada (CNN) — Firefighters have made progress holding a wildfire threatening neighborhoods around Reno as authorities race to battle flames ahead of gusty conditions that could fuel further destruction.

Containment of the Hawk Fire has reached 27% and there was no new growth from late Sunday, fire officials said Monday afternoon, as evacuation orders for thousands were downgraded, allowing some people to return home.

The fire, which started Saturday, has burned some 15,000 acres just northwest of Reno and destroyed more than 30 homes. It had been advancing Sunday down a hillside toward residential neighborhoods near the city, one of the latest endangered communities in a destructive fire season that has scorched thousands of acres and forced the evacuations of entire towns across the Southwest.

Fire behavior has recently been less extreme than anticipated in some areas, allowing crews to hold established lines and reposition resources to help suppression efforts, officials said Monday morning.

Still, the fire is expected to “continue making moderate- to high-intensity runs” where grass and brush are dense, and breezy conditions “are expected to continue supporting active fire behavior” into Wednesday, officials said.

Approximately 23,000 people remain in the “evacuate now” zone and around 40,000 people are within the “get set to evacuate,” status, according to the Washoe County Sheriff’s Office.

Around 87,000 people in parts of Reno and Nevada’s Washoe County – just under a fifth of the county’s population of 500,000 – had been urged over the weekend to evacuate, and at least two medical centers have evacuated patients.

Officials said 32 homes were destroyed and six were damaged as of Monday afternoon, though additional businesses and residential structures have been damaged and the exact number is expected to rise in the coming days.

The fire is burning just miles from the Nevada-California state line, prompting officials in both states to monitor it closely. Nevada’s governor declared an emergency in Washoe County, which includes Reno and parts of Lake Tahoe, and activated the Nevada National Guard.

Authorities reopened US 395, a major highway connecting California and Nevada, Monday evening after having it closed throughout the day.

Cari Kieffer saw a video posted on social media that showed her house on Reno’s outskirts had burned down, with only a scorched basketball hoop still standing, she told The Associated Press on Sunday.

“I woke up this morning and just started crying – all my kids, they lost everything,” Kieffer told the AP. “We lost all our stuff. Everything we own is gone.”

The fire near Reno – a city of about 280,000 people roughly 350 miles northwest of Las Vegas – is human-caused, officials have said, without saying how it started or whether it was intentionally set. Winds fueled the flames over the weekend.

“We saw wind gusts in excess of 40 miles an hour that allowed that fire to … cover an area of almost 6 miles in less than 24 hours,” Chief Richard Edwards with the Truckee Meadows Fire Protection District told CNN Monday morning.

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Seven people have been injured, including four civilians and three first responders, Edwards said during Monday’s press conference. The first responders suffered only minor injures at the start of the fire, he said.

Sheriff Darin Balaam said the fire was human-caused, though it’s unclear whether it was intentional or accidental. “More than likely, this fire will be classified as undetermined,” he said.

As of Monday afternoon, the Washoe County Sheriff’s Office said evacuations in the Somersett area had been downgraded from red, “evacuate now” status to yellow, “get set to evacuate,” condition.

Road closures in the area were also lifted, though residents were encouraged to stay aware as the situation evolves.

‘Flames just kept getting closer and closer’

The evacuation zone had reached the edge of the University of Nevada campus as of Sunday evening. University officials said the campus was safe and classes would happen as scheduled Monday, though an evacuation plan is in place in case conditions change, according to an online notice.

Washoe County School District announced all classes, events and activities would be canceled on Monday at nearly all schools in the district.

Northwest Specialty Hospital, in the evacuation warning area, had started evacuating patients due to the nearby wildfire, according to a news release. The hospital is working with emergency responders to close the facility and notifying families of affected patients.

“The safety and well-being of our rehabilitation and behavioral health patients and staff remain the highest priority and we are evacuating out of an abundance of caution,” the hospital said in a statement.

The emergency room at North Valleys, an extension of Northern Nevada Medical Center, also temporarily closed because of a mandated evacuation due to the Hawk Fire, it said in a release.

One resident said she was at work when she got the evacuation call, and rushed home to get to her children.

“I had a hard time getting there, they were closing the roads,” she said.

The woman added she grabbed a few belongings despite not being able to see in the darkness.

More than 100 people displaced by the fire were gathered inside one makeshift shelter CNN visited as Red Cross volunteers provided them with food, water and a place to sleep.

The main floor of the venue, which typically hosts conventions and other events in Reno, is now lined wall to wall with cots, including a cordoned off section where local medical volunteers are on hand to help those who might need care.

Numerous people were seen resting on the cots, including what appeared to be parents curled up with young children and some people embracing anxious pets.

One man CNN spoke with said he came to the shelter with only the clothes he was wearing after receiving an urgent warning from authorities to quickly evacuate.

An elderly woman with a cane walking her distraught dog outside the shelter said she was also told to evacuate Sunday due to fast-moving fire conditions. While she, her family and her dog were able to safely relocate to the shelter, she said she worries about the fate of her livestock.

Around 5,000 utility customers were without power in Washoe County as of early Tuesday morning, according to PowerOutage.us.

Kieffer, whose home outside Reno was destroyed, had rushed home from her son’s football game Saturday to save their dogs and whatever possessions they could grab after learning their home was in an evacuation zone, she told the AP.

“I kept looking outside and the flames just kept getting closer and closer every time I looked,” Kieffer told the AP. “I was like, ‘We gotta go like now.’”

Standing in front of his brother’s burnt-out truck on Monday, Jesse Taylor pointed toward his parents’ Reno home and explained how lucky they were that their house is still standing.

The flames came down Peavine Mountain, a peak dominating the Reno skyline, toward his parents’ house, but destroyed only a fence and shed on their property. It circled around to another part of the neighborhood, burning homes as it spread, he said.

“There’s a lot of houses that have been lost out here – a ton – and it’s super depressing,” Taylor said. “I guess it’s just rebuild and try to take the best of it as you can.”

After returning from a weekend hunting trip, David Barb found he lost his taxidermy shop, but his house nearby appeared to have been spared thanks to workers with a landscaping company who cut a fire break, he said. His wife was 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 Sunday, according to the AP.

Wesley Ong returned to what was left of his charred home Monday, sifting through the damage in hopes of finding some of his belongings.

He told Reuters he found parts of a pistol and a gun but has not found the rest of his firearms or fishing gear, which Ong believes likely melted in the fire.

Ken McNeil commended the efforts of firefighters, who are using airtankers to douse the flames. “I think they’re doing a great job. That’s an inaccessible area,” McNeil told CNN affiliate KTVN. “They’re using a lot of aircraft, and that’s what you have to do to fight this fire.”

Reno Mayor Hillary Schieve told CNN she’s grateful for all of the support the city has received from both federal and state partners.

“It’s just been all hands on deck. Everyone has been working together with ‘what do you need? What do you need?’” Schieve said Sunday.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom said Sunday his team was keeping track of the situation near the Nevada-California state line.

“We’re closely monitoring the #HawkFire across the Tahoe region and Nevada, with state and local partners deployed and coordinating on the ground and in the air,” he said on X. “Residents in impacted areas should continue following guidance from local emergency officials.”

This story has been updated with additional information

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CNN’s Josh Campbell from Reno, Farida Elsebai, Sara Smart, Julianna Bragg and Sarah Dewberry contributed to this report. CNN’s Avni Trivedi and Farida Elsebai, and CNN Meteorologists Tyler Ory and Chris Dolce, also contributed to this report.