Wildfire approaches Reno, Nevada, forcing thousands to evacuate their neighborhoods

The fast-growing Hawk Fire was spreading toward neighborhoods in northwest Reno early Sunday, growing to more than 10,500 acres (42 sq. km.) Nearly 14,000 homes were ordered evacuated, and the “GO NOW” zone reached the edge of the University of Nevada campus.

The fire has been burning across a rugged section of the Humboldt–Toiyabe National Forest where the Peavine Mountain is ringed by homes and businesses on the Nevada side of the California state line, and some of these homes were consumed by the flames.

Nevada Gov. Joe Lombardo declared a state of emergency in Washoe County, and mobilized the Nevada National Guard to support aerial firefighting with two helicopter crews as well as 60 troops to help police safeguard evacuated neighborhoods.

Nearly 10,000 customers were without power in Washoe County on Sunday. Portions of U.S. Route 395, a major north-south highway, were closed due to the fire. Reno has a population of more than 280,000 residents.

Washoe County emergency officials opened the Reno-Sparks Convention Center to evacuees, but said they couldn’t bring their pets — small animals and large animals were to be left at two other locations.

Cari Kieffer was among those to lose a home in the wildfire.

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

Kieffer was watching her son’s football game Saturday when she learned that her home on the outskirts of Reno was in the evacuation zone. An application the family had been using to track the fire’s progress was lagging significantly behind its actual location, she said, and they had thought firefighters had kept the blaze from their neighborhood.

Instead, Kieffer, her husband and their four children ages 3 to 16 raced to save their dogs and whatever possessions they could retrieve. Ash rained down and the wind blew like an oven blast from a wall of flames advancing down the hillside toward their neighborhood, she said.

“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.”

Eyes watering and throat burning, Kieffer grabbed a handful of clothes, a Bible, her wedding photos and her mother’s ashes. In the frenzy, as firefighters yelled at her family to leave immediately, she said she forgot her family’s birth certificates and was unable to salvage her childhood photos.

The family drove to a friend’s home but had to evacuate shortly afterward to another location. They learned later that evening that their own home had burned down.

Jaida Hargrove’s grandfather, Rick Arrate, lived alone on Peavine Mountain, which overlooks Reno and Sparks. Firefighters used a bulldozer, cut down trees and applied fire retardant in their attempt to contain the flames, Hargrove said.

“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.”

Arrate and the firefighters were quickly forced off the mountain. “All he was able to take with him was his two golden retrievers,” Hargrove said.

Arrate spent Saturday night with Hargrove’s parents, his next steps unknown.

Separate GoFundMe crowdfunding campaigns were set up to assist Arrate and the Kieffer family.

The fire was so small Saturday morning that it wasn’t even a concern, said Tyler Duvall, who went camping over the weekend. By the next day, his house was in the evacuation zone and he couldn’t get back.

“The wind really blew it up,” Duvall said, adding that he knows of some homes that burned about a mile from his place.

Strong, gusty winds, low humidity and dry vegetation are fueling its growth, according to Truckee Meadows Fire & Rescue in Reno.

“Approximately 400 personnel are currently working on the incident, with resources coming together from local, state and federal agencies, including ground crews and air resources,” the Truckee Meadows statement said.

Retired police officer and firefighter Ted Melden has seen his share of Mother Nature’s fury since moving to Reno with his wife earlier this month from Chapin, South Carolina. So far, he’s experienced a hailstorm with flash flooding, two different power outages and, now, the second wildfire incident in the region in two weeks.

“Just another natural disaster,” Melden said.

In the two years he lived in South Carolina, Melden said Hurricane Helene knocked over trees in his yard, while a tornado did some damage in his neighborhood.

For now, Melden hasn't been ordered to leave his home, but he has his bags packed just in case.

“This thing kicked off yesterday, and it just went,” Melden said in describing the wildfire’s fast movement. “I’m hoping they’ll get a good handle on it. You just have to roll with the flow and be ready. Always be prepared and have a full tank of gas.”

The University of Nevada's Reno campus was just outside the evacuation zone Sunday morning. The university had an enrollment of about 24,000 students in fall 2025. University officials said they have established an emergency response plan should conditions change.

The Reno-Tahoe International Airport also was outside the evacuation zone. Commercial flights at the airport were unaffected Sunday. The smaller Reno-Stead Airport was closed to general aviation traffic due to the Hawk Fire, but remained open to firefighting aircraft.

Casinos in Reno offered discounts on hotel rooms to evacuees.

“If you have been told to evacuate, please don’t wait!” Reno Mayor Hillary Schieve said in a statement posted on social media late Saturday night. “Structures have already been burned in this fire and your life is more important than a building.”

Authorities also were keeping watch on a county detention facility that was several blocks from the outer edge of the evacuation warning area.

Earlier this month, three wildfires fueled by hot, dry and windy conditions north of Reno forced more than 13,000 residents from their homes, according to the Nevada National Guard. The largest of the three, the Bug Fire, burned nearly 150 square miles (390 sq. kms.) but now is almost fully contained.

Raby reported from Charleston, West Virginia, Brook from New Orleans and Seewer from Toledo, Ohio.