RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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A wind-driven wildfire has forced roughly 42,000 people to evacuate and destroyed homes as fire crews continue to battle extreme conditions.
https://p.dw.com/p/5JIFk Advertisement A fast-moving, wind-driven wildfire forced tens of thousands of people to evacuate their homes near Reno in the US state of Nevada over the weekend.
An unknown number of homes have been destroyed and at least six people have been injured.
Officials have expanded the "GO NOW" zone to include almost 90,000 residents as conditions make the fire unpredicatable.
The fire started Saturday morning off Hawk Meadow Trail and spread rapidly through the Peavine Peak area northwest of the city, growing to between roughly 13,000 and 15,000 acres by Sunday.
About 42,000 residents were ordered to evacuate, with another 45,000 told to be ready to leave, officials said. The evacuation zone stretched to the edge of the University of Nevada in northwest Reno, a city of more than 280,000 people near the California border.
At least six people were injured — three first responders and three civilians — local authorities said. Officials said the fire was human-caused but have not released further details.
"The Hawk Fire is a very dynamic incident for us as it's being driven by the winds. The wind-driven fires move very rapidly into our residential areas," fire chief Richard Edwards told AFP.
Nevada Governor Joe Lombardo declared a state of emergency in Washoe County and mobilized the National Guard, deploying two helicopters and 60 troops to assist firefighting and security efforts. "This is an active and rapidly evolving situation, and I urge everyone in the affected areas to remain vigilant and follow the direction of local officials," he said, according to Reuters.
The fire has already destroyed homes. Cari Kieffer told AP her family fled with only minutes to spare, grabbing clothes, a Bible, her wedding photos and her mother's ashes, but leaving behind birth certificates and childhood photos.
"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."
"We lost all our stuff. Everything we own is gone."
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Nearly 10,000 customers remained without power in Washoe County on Sunday, down from about 60,000 the day before, AP reported. Parts of US Route 395 were closed, two hospitals evacuated patients, and officials monitored whether the county jail would need to be evacuated. The Reno-Tahoe airport remained outside the evacuation zone, with flights operating normally.
The blaze adds to a wave of fire activity across the drought-stricken Western United States this year. Fifteen new fires broke out across Nevada on Saturday alone.
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