Hawk Fire in Reno reaches 27% containment as evacuations ease for some residents

By Monday afternoon, firefighters had managed to contain just over a quarter of the Hawk Fire burning across the foothills northwest of Reno, Nevada—a modest gain against a wildfire that had grown to more than 15,000 acres since igniting Saturday and forced tens of thousands from their homes. The fire's behavior remained unpredictable. Shifting winds had sent flames in unexpected directions, at times jumping over fire trucks and leaving crews unable to reach active hot spots as residents scrambled to evacuate. By Monday morning, approximately 90,000 people were under evacuation orders, though some relief came as conditions stabilized enough for authorities to downgrade certain zones from mandatory "GO NOW" status to "Get Set to Evacuate."

The fire began small enough that it barely registered as a threat Saturday morning. By evening, it had exploded across the Peavine Peak area of the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest, a rugged terrain ringed by homes and businesses near the California border. The speed was disorienting. Tyler Duvall, who had gone camping over the weekend, returned to find his house suddenly in the evacuation zone. "The wind really blew it up," he said. Many residents had almost no time to prepare. The fire moved so fast Saturday night that it created chaos—changing winds sent flames in different directions while people were trying to flee and firefighters were trying to establish perimeters. Sheriff Darin Balaam described it as "extremely confusing."

At least 32 homes had been destroyed and six damaged by Monday, with damage assessment teams still surveying the burn area and those numbers expected to climb. Seven people were injured—three first responders and four civilians. Officials determined the fire was human-caused but provided no details about whether it was intentional or accidental. The Hawk Fire marked the third large wildfire in the rugged terrain north of Reno in two weeks, all sparked by human activity. It arrived as the American West faced an intensifying fire season, with extremely dry conditions and a record lack of winter snowfall creating ideal conditions for rapid spread. On Saturday alone, 15 new fires erupted across Nevada.

The human toll was immediate and devastating. Cari Kieffer had been watching her son's football game Saturday when she learned her home was in the evacuation zone. She and her family—her husband and four children ages 3 to 16—raced to gather what they could. An app they used to track the fire's progress had lagged so far behind the actual location that they initially thought firefighters had contained it. They were wrong. Ash fell like snow. The wind felt like heat from an oven door as flames advanced down the hillside. "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." In the frenzy, as firefighters shouted at them to leave immediately, she grabbed clothes, a Bible, her wedding photos, and her mother's ashes. She forgot her family's birth certificates and couldn't save her childhood photos. By Saturday evening, their home was gone. "I woke up this morning and just started crying," she said Sunday. "All my kids, they lost everything."

Rick Arrate, Jaida Hargrove's grandfather, lived alone on Peavine Mountain overlooking Reno and Sparks. Firefighters used bulldozers, cut trees, and applied fire retardant trying to protect his home. "They all thought it would be OK," Hargrove 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. He escaped with only his two golden retrievers. Ruby Delatorre returned from a concert to find her home in the evacuation zone. She went back Sunday to retrieve a few more belongings. "I literally want to cry and go back for all my stuff," she said. "I just got what I thought I needed."

The response was massive. Nevada Governor Joe Lombardo declared a state of emergency in Washoe County and mobilized the Nevada National Guard with two helicopter crews and 60 troops to support aerial firefighting and help police protect evacuated neighborhoods. Eight hundred fire personnel were deployed. The Reno-Sparks Convention Center opened to evacuees, though pets had to be left at separate facilities. Two hospitals evacuated patients. The sheriff's office monitored whether to evacuate the county jail. Portions of U.S. Route 395, a major north-south highway, were closed. Nearly 10,000 customers lost power by Monday, down from 60,000 on Saturday. The Reno-Stead Airport closed to commercial flights but remained open for firefighting and military aircraft.

Schools were closed Monday and would remain closed Tuesday to keep roads clear for emergency crews and because of the evacuations. Authorities urged residents to prepare for several days away from home, warning that shifting and strengthening winds would make the fire even more unpredictable. The mandatory evacuation zone had shrunk from 42,000 residents to 23,000 by Monday, but an additional 40,000 people remained in the adjacent evacuation warning zone. "This remains a dynamic situation, and conditions can change quickly," the Washoe County Sheriff's Office cautioned on social media. "Please get out if you can right now," Sheriff Balaam urged. The fire's next moves remained uncertain, dependent on winds that had already proven impossible to predict.