Nevada wildfire burns homes, forces evacuations

The Hawk Fire over the weekend displaced at least 42,000 people in and near Reno, Nev., and burned homes and buildings in the northwest areas of the city. The blaze, which started on Saturday, expanded little on Sunday, but officials warned that strong winds could quickly change its direction. As of Sunday evening, the fire had scorched 15,000 acres, mostly in heavily populated areas, according to the Perimeter Map fire tracker. Roughly 45,000 additional people were under alerts to be ready to evacuate.

At least six people were injured from the fire, including three first responders. Roughly 1,000 firefighters, first responders, and National Guard members were battling the blaze and assisting in evacuations and security, officials said. More were on their way as of Sunday.

State and local officials said they were unsure how many buildings had burned, but the fire overtook at least one neighborhood. The fire also damaged several large electric transmission sites, leaving thousands without power.

Officials said the fire was human-caused but didn’t give more details. Strong winds and hot, dry conditions helped the fire expand quickly. Across the state, 400,000 acres have burned so far this year only halfway through the normal fire season, officials said.

Dig deeper: Read Liz Lykins’ report about wildfires across the U.S. West in June.