Wildfire along California-Nevada line near Reno destroys 1 home, threatens hundreds more
Aug 12, 2024, 2:18 PM
RENO, Nev. (AP) — About 200 firefighters were battling a wildfire Monday along the California-Nevada line Monday that destroyed one home, temporarily closed Interstate 80 and continued to threaten hundreds of homes just west of Reno.
No serious injuries have been reported in the blaze, which has burned about 500 acres (200 hectares) along the Truckee River since it broke out Sunday evening.
Crews made significant progress overnight keeping the fire from growing and the interstate connecting Reno to Sacramento and San Francisco was reopened.
Nonetheless, about 6,200 people remained without power and fire officials expressed concerns Monday about increasingly gusty winds that could hamper firefighting efforts on the ground and from the air into the evening.
Truckee Meadows Fire Protection District spokesman Adam Mayberry estimated that about 400 homes in the area were threatened “or could be threatened should the fire spread.”
“That’s the real concern today. We’re under a red flag warning and I’m looking at an American flag right now it is flapping pretty hard,” he said from near the fire lines on the edge of Verdi, a town 11 miles (17 kilometers) from downtown Reno.
The National Weather Service in Reno said winds could gust up to 35 mph (55 kph).
More firefighters were expected to arrive Monday evening when a federal interagency team would assume command. A temporary shelter and information center was set up at a local library but Mayberry said the last he had heard, no evacuees were there.
The cause of the fire remained under investigation. At one point Sunday night, about 27,000 people were without power, but Nevada Energy reported Tuesday that electricity had been restored to all but 6,286.
