(The Center Square) - Firefighters in the Reno area continued to fight for further containment along the Hawk Fire while 45,000 residents remained under evacuation orders during the state of emergency.
No deaths had been reported during the roughly 15,000-acre fire, but seven injuries had taken place with an estimated 32 homes destroyed. Elsewhere in Nevada, roughly 233,000 acres were burning from wildfires.
“The footprint held overnight despite some gusty winds, as the winds did pick up in the afternoon [on Monday],” Chris Buckley, a U.S. Forest Service public information officer, told The Center Square Tuesday morning. “The acreage is the same, and so is the containment. It kind of died down this morning wind-wise, so crews are hoping to take advantage of the milder conditions and really get some of those numbers up on containment lines.”
As of Tuesday, the Hawk Fire remained 27% contained, four days after the wildfire started. Mandatory evacuations and evacuation watches were reduced to cover around 45,000 people, down in half from 90,000 residents over recent days, according to Buckley and the Hawk Fire response Facebook page.
During a Tuesday afternoon press conference, Washoe County Sheriff Darin Balaam told reporters that the Hawk Fire was known to be human-caused. But he said no suspects had been identified.
Air and ground suppression efforts were working on the Hawk Fire Tuesday afternoon, with crews from across the country joining the effort. In total, there were 816 people across 14 crews with 81 fire engines and 10 helicopters.
“They made significant progress yesterday on the south side of the fire – that's the Somersett area of West Reno – and people that had been evacuated there were allowed to go home in the afternoon,” said Buckley. “They also reopened Highway 395 North. That was a major thoroughfare in Reno that has been reopened as things continue to progress here."
Over the weekend, Gov. Joe Lombardo declared a state of emergency in the county.
The latest report found 32 homes had been destroyed in the fire and six damaged, but Buckley said the figures were still only an estimate. There were no deaths reported, but seven injuries occurred, largely during the fire’s first day.
Widespread evacuations had taken place in the Reno area in the days since the fire took off. Balaam said Tuesday afternoon that evacuations were lifted for all areas east of Highway 395.
National Weather Service meteorologist Justin Collins, who's based in Reno, told The Center Square that the Hawk Fire, which started on Saturday, was spread by high winds of up to 35 miles-per-hour.
On Monday, light rain helped suppress the fire, while weather in the rest of the week was not forecast to have much of an impact on the fire, according to the weather service.
Smoke blown off the fire into Reno and nearby towns was a big issue when the fire started over the weekend, but as winds died down the risk lowered for air quality.
“The smoke output has gotten better,” said Collins. “We're not seeing as much smoke being produced from the fire.”
Buckley said the remaining areas under evacuation orders would not be cleared to be returned to until they were certain the area was safe, which she said was a still-unknown date. “You never know. All we can do everyday is to get our people on the ground and do the most work that we can.”
Elsewhere in Nevada, roughly 233,000 acres burned across 62 fires, according to the Nevada Wildfire Information Dashboard.
The state’s largest wildfire, the 93,000-acre Bug Fire further north in Washoe County, had been 97% contained as of Tuesday. Only 23 firefighters still battled the flames, according to the dashboard. All evacuations have been lifted in the area of the fire, which started in California.
Further east in Washoe County, the 41,000-acre Stallion wildfire was 98% contained, according to the Bug, Fred Mountain & Stallion Fire Information Facebook page. All evacautions have been lifted.
Northwest of Las Vegas on the U.S. Department of War land in rural Nye County, the Mouse Meadow fire continued to creep toward total suppression at 90%, according to the Nevada Wildfire Information Dashboard. The fire had burned an estimated 52,000 acres, but only five firefighters were dedicated to its suppression on Tuesday.
National Weather Service meteorologist Jenn Soulat, who's based in Las Vegas, told The Center Square that a forecast of rain and thunderstorms in the Mouse Meadow area could contribute to the fire’s continued suppression.
