Source : INDIA TODAY NEWS
A fast-moving wildfire in north-west Reno, Nevada, has destroyed several structures, injured at least six people and prompted authorities to urge around 90,000 people to leave affected areas. Officials said on Sunday that the Hawk Fire was caused by humans and remained uncontained, with changing winds expected to make conditions more dangerous.
The fire began on Saturday and rapidly spread across 53 square kilometres in the Peavine Peak area of the Humboldt–Toiyabe National Forest, where homes and businesses sit along rugged foothills near the Nevada side of the California state line. Washoe County Sheriff Darin Balaam said the blaze moved exceptionally fast on Saturday night, jumping over fire trucks and making it hard for responders to reach hotspots while residents were trying to escape.
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Describing the situation, Balaam said, “It was extremely confusing,” as shifting winds pushed the flames in different directions. Officials said several structures had been destroyed and the injured included three civilians and three first responders. They did not give further details on how the fire started, saying the matter was under investigation.
Authorities ordered about 42,000 residents to evacuate as the “GO NOW” zone expanded to the edge of the University of Nevada at Reno. Another 45,000 people were in the adjoining evacuation warning zone. Officials urged all of them to leave and be prepared to stay away for several days as strengthening winds were expected to make the fire even more unpredictable. “Please get out if you can right now,” the sheriff said.
Nevada Governor Joe Lombardo declared a state of emergency in Washoe County and mobilised the Nevada National Guard. The Guard sent two helicopter crews to support aerial firefighting and 60 troops to help police protect evacuated neighbourhoods. Around 800 fire personnel were also responding. Nearly 10,000 customers in Washoe County were without power on Sunday, down from 60,000 on Saturday, and parts of US Route 395 were shut because of the fire. Emergency officials opened the Reno-Sparks Convention Centre for evacuees, though pets were not allowed there. Small and large animals were directed to two other locations, while casinos in Reno offered discounted hotel rooms to people forced to leave their homes.
Cari Kieffer said a video posted on social media showed her house completely burnt down, 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.” She said the family had been watching her son’s football game on Saturday when they learnt their home on the outskirts of Reno was in the evacuation zone. An app they used to track the fire had been lagging behind the fire’s actual position, and they believed firefighters had kept the flames away from their area.
Instead, Kieffer, her husband and their four children, aged 3 to 16, rushed to save their dogs and whatever they could carry. She said ash was falling and the wind felt like oven heat from a wall of flames moving down the hillside. “I kept looking outside and the flames just kept getting closer and closer every time I looked,” she said. “I was like, we gotta go like now.” With her eyes watering and throat burning, she grabbed some clothes, a Bible, her wedding photos and her mother’s ashes. As firefighters shouted for the family to leave at once, she said she forgot their birth certificates and could not save her childhood photographs. The family first drove to a friend’s house, but had to evacuate again, and later learnt that their own home had been destroyed.
Jaida Hargrove said her grandfather, Rick Arrate, who lived alone on Peavine Mountain overlooking Reno and Sparks, had initially believed his home would be safe as firefighters used a bulldozer, cut down trees and dropped fire retardant. “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 forced off the mountain quickly. “All he was able to take with him was his two golden retrievers,” Hargrove said. Arrate spent Saturday night with Hargrove’s parents, with no clear idea of what he would do next. Separate GoFundMe campaigns were later set up for Arrate and the Kieffer family.
For some residents, the danger did not seem serious at first. Tyler Duvall, who had gone camping over the weekend, said the fire was so small on Saturday morning that it did not worry him, but by the next day his home was inside the evacuation zone and he could not return. “The wind really blew it up,” Duvall said, adding that he knew of homes that had burnt about a mile from his place. 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 faced a hailstorm with flash flooding, two power cuts and now the second wildfire incident 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 and a tornado had also damaged his neighbourhood there. Though he had not yet been ordered to leave, he had packed his bags. “This thing kicked off yesterday, and it just went,” Melden said. “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.”
Strong winds, low humidity and dry vegetation were helping the fire grow, according to Truckee Meadows Fire & Rescue. The University of Nevada’s Reno campus, where many of its 20,000 undergraduates had moved into housing over the weekend, remained just outside the evacuation zone on Sunday, with university leaders saying they were monitoring the situation and had an evacuation plan ready. Authorities were also watching a county jail a few blocks beyond the evacuation warning area’s outer edge. Earlier this month, three wildfires north of Reno, driven by hot, dry and windy weather, forced more than 13,000 residents from their homes, according to the Nevada National Guard. The largest, the Bug Fire, burnt nearly 390 square kilometres and is now almost fully contained. On Sunday, officials warned that the Hawk Fire remained highly unpredictable, with evacuations, firefighting and emergency support continuing across the Reno area.
With PTI Inputs
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SOURCE :- TIMES OF INDIA
