Nevada wildfire threatens Reno as 90,000 evacuate amid record US fire season

A large wildfire, dubbed the “Hawk Fire,” near Reno, Nevada, has prompted the evacuation of 90,000 residents from parts of Reno and Washoe County. The fire, which began Saturday at the foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountains, has burned approximately 60 square kilometers and remains 0% contained due to strong, unpredictable winds. Authorities believe human activity caused the fire, which is exhibiting “extreme behavior.”

• Six people, including three emergency responders, have been injured, and several homes have been destroyed.
• All schools in Washoe County were closed, and Interstate 395 was shut down.
• Local Fire Chief Richard Edwards described it as a “very dynamic event,” warning that “Wind-driven fires spread very quickly to our residential areas.”
• This is the third major human-caused fire in the area in two weeks, occurring during a record-setting wildfire season in the western United States, with over 50,000 wildfires burning 7.7 million acres nationwide this year.