US: Wildfire forces mass evacuations near Reno, Nevada
A wind-driven wildfire has forced roughly 42,000 people to evacuate and destroyed homes as fire crews continue to battle extreme conditions.
A fast-moving wildfire forced thousands to evacuate homes near Reno, Nevada over the weekend. The fire, which started Saturday morning, has destroyed at least six homes and injured six people, including three first responders and three civilians. Nevada Governor Joe Lombardo declared a state of emergency in Washoe County and deployed the National Guard to assist with firefighting and security efforts.
The fire was human-caused, though the specifics have not been released. The evacuation zone extended almost 90,000 residents, with about 42,000 told to evacuate immediately and another 45,000 required to be ready to leave. Cari Kieffer described her family's evacuation, sharing that they had only minutes to grab their belongings before the flames closed in.
The fire has already forced nearly 10,000 customers in Washoe County to remain without power, down from around 60,000 the day before. While parts of US Route 395 were closed and two hospitals evacuated patients, the Reno-Tahoe airport remained outside the evacuation zone and operations continued as usual.
Written by urgent.news from DW English (Top Stories)'s reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
This story
This is one outlet's version. Read the fullest account.
