TL;DR: The Hawk Fire near Reno, Nevada, reached 27% containment on Monday, Aug. 24, 2026, holding at about 15,000 acres with 32 homes destroyed and 23,000 people still under go-now evacuation orders.

Fire reaches 27% containment after weekend run

Fire officials reported Monday afternoon that the Hawk Fire west of Reno was at least 27% contained, marking the first major gain after two days of rapid spread, according to the BBC.

The blaze was first reported on Saturday morning near the Hawk Meadow Trail in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountains, the BBC reported. By Monday, firefighters said it had spread over 15,000 acres, with one local morning update listing the size at 15,051 acres and 0% contained before afternoon lines were secured, according to KOLO.

Authorities said at an afternoon briefing that there was no new growth and the fire had held steady at about 23 square miles since it burned out of control on Sunday, according to The Associated Press reporting carried by NBC News. Most of the containment was secured on the southern portion of the fire perimeter, according to KOLO.

U.S. Forest Service District Ranger Matt Zumstein told the briefing, "We are making progress," according to The Associated Press.

More than two-thirds of the perimeter remained uncontained Monday afternoon, according to the BBC. Firefighters were working to keep the fire east of Dog Valley Road and south of U.S. 395, according to KOLO.

Large air tankers and helicopters flew over the affected area dropping water and fire retardants, according to the BBC. Crews were also working around a natural gas line within the fire area near Somersett, according to KOLO.

The fire was named the Hawk Fire because it was first reported near the Hawk Meadow Trail to the west of Reno, according to the BBC. Much of the area that burned was sagebrush and grass, according to The Associated Press.

Who remains evacuated and what reopened

Evacuation orders remained in place for 23,000 people on Monday afternoon, while tens of thousands of others were told to be ready to leave at any moment, according to the BBC.

The total number of residents under evacuation orders and warnings was reduced to about 63,000, down from more than 90,000 people when the blaze mushroomed over the weekend, according to The Associated Press. KOLO reported 23,000 people remained under evacuation order while 43,000 were under get-set warnings, and another account Monday listed about 40,000 advised to be ready to go.

The immediate "go now" evacuation zone and wider "get set" area did not extend to the centre of Reno, but they did affect large urban areas and part of a highway, according to the BBC. Reno has a population of around 280,000 people and sits in western Nevada close to the state boundary with California, according to the BBC.

U.S. 395 reopened in both northbound and southbound directions Monday afternoon, according to KOLO. The Washoe County Sheriff's Office said on- and off-ramps would reopen with the exception of access to North Virginia Street, which remained closed from Panther Drive to Village Parkway, according to KOLO.

Evacuations on the east side of U.S. 395 were downgraded from Evacuate Now to Get Set status for White Lake, Granite Hills, Granite Peak, North Valleys Regional Park and the Alice Smith Elementary School area, according to KOLO. Several neighborhoods on the east side of U.S. 395 remained under evacuate-now status, including neighborhoods near the Sierra Sage Golf Course near Silver Lake Road and Moya Boulevard, according to KOLO.

New areas of the North Valleys from Golden Valley Park to Woodland Village had all warnings and orders lifted by late Monday afternoon, according to KOLO. Some areas on the south side of the fire were also moved to get-set status around midday Monday, according to KOLO.

Residents at one roadblock expressed frustration Monday that they could not get back into their homes, according to The Associated Press. Washoe County Sheriff Darin Balaam said he understood the frustration but the danger was not over, according to The Associated Press.

"It just takes that little breeze and one ember," Balaam said, according to The Associated Press.

Homes lost, injuries reported, no deaths

Chief Richard Edwards of the Truckee Meadows Fire Protection District said 32 homes had been destroyed and six damaged, and that those numbers were expected to increase, according to the BBC.

Authorities said those numbers were sure to rise as assessment teams began to survey the charred areas, according to The Associated Press. Shelters were set up in the area to take in displaced residents, according to the BBC.

No deaths were reported, though seven people were injured, according to the BBC. Edwards said those injured were four civilians and three firefighters who suffered minor burns, according to the BBC.

The four civilians and three emergency personnel suffered minor burns in the initial hours of the blaze on Saturday, according to Reuters reporting. No information was released about the injuries to civilians beyond that they were minor burns, according to KOLO.

Reno Mayor Hillary Schieve said the way the fire spread so quickly at its height had her fearing for the worst, according to The Associated Press.

"It lit up these areas like nothing I've seen before," she said Monday, according to The Associated Press. "It took your breath away, in the worst way."

Among property owners, Luke Opperman, 47, a civil engineer, lost his family's home of nearly 20 years when flames swept their suburban Reno neighborhood, according to Reuters reporting. Opperman was away camping while his wife and two teenage daughters packed three cars and two trailers with clothes, vital belongings and the family's chickens, goats, dog and cats, according to Reuters reporting.

Crystal Hallock, 53, lost her home to fire for a second time in less than a decade after moving into a rebuilt house in 2019, according to The Associated Press. On Saturday she fled with her children, grandchildren and pets while her ex-husband tried to save the property and her vintage Cadillac with a garden hose before escaping, according to The Associated Press.

Justin Davis, 29, who lives on Peavine Mountain close to Reno, watched the fire spread toward his home on Saturday and said it destroyed four of his vehicles, according to the BBC. Davis said he had previously bought a water truck in case of wildfire and used it to spray down things he wanted to save, according to the BBC.

Emergency declaration and firefighting force

Nevada Gov. Joe Lombardo declared a state of emergency in surrounding Washoe County and ordered the National Guard to join firefighting and law enforcement efforts, according to the BBC.

"This is an active and rapidly evolving situation and I urge everyone in the affected areas to remain vigilant and follow the direction of local officials," Lombardo said Saturday, according to the BBC.

The Nevada National Guard said 72 personnel, one Chinook and one Black Hawk helicopter had joined the response, according to the BBC. The Guard was helping with aerial firefighting and protecting evacuated neighborhoods northwest of downtown Reno, according to The Associated Press.

More than 900 firefighters remained assigned to the Hawk Fire on Monday, according to Reuters reporting. Firefighters from Australia and New Zealand took part in the containment effort as well as crews from 15 U.S. states, according to the BBC.

Schools across Washoe County were closed Monday because of the evacuations and to keep roads clear for emergency crews, according to The Associated Press. The University of Nevada in Reno, which has its main campus close to the get-set warning area, said regular campus operations would continue but that it was monitoring the situation, according to the BBC.

Burning Man organizers on Monday asked attendees heading to the event in Nevada's Black Rock Desert, which begins next Sunday, to not take hotel rooms and other resources away from fire evacuees, according to The Associated Press.

"Treat our neighbors, first responders, hospitality workers and everyone affected by this emergency with patience and care," a Burning Man statement said, according to The Associated Press.

Wind, heat and cause investigation

Officials were concerned that gusts of wind could drive the flames toward more homes, according to the BBC. Unfavourable weather conditions were forecast for the next two days, meaning the fire could continue to burn during that timeframe, according to the BBC.

Firefighters were contending with hot temperatures and low humidity, according to The Associated Press. Hot, dry and breezy conditions were expected to continue supporting active fire behavior over the next 48 hours, according to KOLO.

The fire was expected to continue making moderate to high intensity runs in pockets of dense fuels, according to KOLO. Fire officials said the fire had potential to spread to the northeast and northwest, with conditions remaining dynamic and subject to change, according to KOLO.

The fire is thought to have been caused by humans, according to the BBC. Edwards said Monday that investigators did not yet know if the blaze was set intentionally, according to the BBC.

Officials said the fire was human-caused but did not provide details about how they reached that conclusion or whether it was intentionally set or accidental, according to The Associated Press. This was the third large wildfire in the rugged terrain north of Reno in the past two weeks, all caused by human activity, according to fire officials cited by The Associated Press.

Power outages and what households should do now

Power and gas were restored in areas of northwest Reno, but around 10,000 people in the North Valleys area were still without power Monday afternoon, according to KOLO. NV Energy said the fire damaged 100 power poles, according to KOLO.

There was no specific timeline for when remaining evacuation areas would reopen, according to KOLO, citing BLM Nevada. Households in get-set areas were being warned to prepare to evacuate and be ready to leave at any moment, according to the BBC and The Associated Press.

Residents who returned Sunday to collect belongings described little time to decide what to take, with one resident saying she just got what she thought she needed, according to The Associated Press. Others sheltered at Reno's convention center, which was operating as a shelter, while some said they did not know if their houses survived, according to The Associated Press.

For households watching from nearby neighborhoods, the official guidance Monday was to remain vigilant and follow the direction of local officials, as stated by the governor Saturday, according to the BBC. Keeping roads clear for emergency crews was the reason given for the countywide school closures Monday, according to The Associated Press.

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