Local officials in Nevada ordered tens of thousands of people to evacuate this weekend as a wildfire reached the outskirts of Reno. The Hawk Fire, which started on Saturday, has threatened residential areas in the northern part of the state’s third-most-populous city.
The fire was first reported at approximately 11:15 a.m. PDT on Saturday near Hawk Meadow Trail. Firefighters initially encountered "extreme red flag conditions," characterized by warm temperatures, low humidity, and strong winds. Nevada Governor Joe Lombardo declared a state of emergency for Washoe County late Saturday to facilitate emergency response efforts.
As of late Sunday morning, officials reported that the fire had burned 13,000 acres and remained under investigation as a human-caused event. Six injuries have been confirmed, involving three civilians and three first responders. While evacuation zones reached as far as the University of Nevada in northwest Reno, commercial flights at Reno-Tahoe International Airport continued to operate normally on Sunday.
The scale of the emergency has triggered a significant mobilization of state resources. Governor Lombardo authorized the deployment of 60 National Guard personnel to assist the Washoe County Sheriff's Office, along with two National Guard helicopters to aid in fire suppression. Residents in the Sierra Nevada hills and northwest Reno are seeing smoke billow over residential neighborhoods and flames approaching local roads, according to verified social media and local news footage.
The duration of the disruption remains dependent on weather conditions, which Chief Richard Edwards of the Truckee Meadows Fire Protection District noted were expected to remain challenging through Sunday afternoon. While the airport remains operational, the emergency declaration for Washoe County—which includes parts of Lake Tahoe—sets a precedent for state-level intervention in the region's fire management for the 2026 season. Fire crews were reported to be gaining ground as of August 25, though the investigation into the specific cause of the fire continues.