A hospital in Nevada has begun moving patients to safety as a destructive brush fire continues to spread across the state.
The rapidly advancing Hawk Fire has burned more than 10,500 acres in the Silver State after igniting outside Reno on Saturday and pushing in the direction of the city center.
By Sunday morning, fire officials reported that the blaze remained zero percent contained.
Northwest Specialty Hospital in west Reno is evacuating patients as the fire threat grows, according to 2News Nevada.
‘The safety and well-being of our rehabilitation and behavioral health patients and staff remain the highest priority and we are evacuating out of an abundance of caution,’ the hospital said in a statement.
‘Patients have been safely transported to appropriate locations where their care will continue without interruption – no patients or staff remain in the building.’
Hospital officials said patients’ families have been informed of the evacuation, while staff continue coordinating with first responders to secure and safely close the facility.
The hospital said it will return to normal operations once the building has been cleared as safe to use again.
The Hawk Fire had spread to more than 10,500 acres in Nevada as of Saturday night, causing evacuations in the Reno area
As of Sunday morning, the fire was zero percent contained. Republican Nevada Governor Joe Lombardo declared a state of emergency in Washoe County
Northwest Specialty Hospital in Western Reno has begun evactuating patients ‘out of an abundance of caution,’ the hospital said in a statement
Thousands of Reno residents have also already been directed to evacuate their homes.
‘Go now’ evacuation orders were in effect for north and northwest of Somersett, north of Verdi, the west side of Golden Valley, Lemmon Valley and Stead by Saturday night. Other portions of the latter three areas were also told to ‘get set’ to leave.
In total, that meant that more than 6,000 people were under some sort of evacuation directive.
Republican Nevada Governor Joe Lombardo declared a state of emergency in Washoe County, where Reno is, because of the Hawk Fire, which he said was ‘spreading quickly and threatening homes and structures.’
He reiterated the evacuation orders and noted that the fire was an ‘active and rapidly evolving situation.’
The Hawk Fire started around 11.30am on Saturday about one mile north of Cold Creek Trail, near Somersett, according to the Reno Gazette Journal.
Reno Mayor Hillary Schieve, an independent, said Saturday night that structures had already been burned as a result of the fire, though she did not share specific details.
‘Your life is more important than a building,’ Schieve said. ‘Evacuating before the fire arrives also allows our firefighters to focus their efforts on battling the blaze.’
The Washoe County Sheriff’s Office in Reno insisted to locals that they had to ‘GO NOW’ while insisting on the evacuation order
Reno Mayor Hilary Schieve said on Saturday night that the fire had already burned structures, though she did not offer any other details
Thousands of Reno residents have been directed to evacuate their homes
The Washoe County Sheriff’s Office in Reno urged locals to ‘GO NOW’ Saturday evening on X, alongside a photo depicting a gigantic plume of smoke.
An evacuation site had been set up at Hall 4 of the Reno Sparks Convention Center on 4590 S. Virginia Street, authorities said.
The Truckee Meadows Fire Protection District said earlier that the fire was moving northeast towards North Virginia Street between Seneca Drive and Copperfield Drive.
It threatened roughly 1,000 homes as a result, according to the fire district.
US Route 395 was closed in both directions from Parr Boulevard to Red Rock Road on Saturday night because of the massive fire, according to the Reno Fire Department.
Nearly 50,000 people north of Reno were without power as of Saturday night.
The outages were concentrated in the Cold Springs, Stead and University Ridge areas.
The emergency room at North Valleys also had to temporarily close as a result of the Hawk Fire, according to KOLO.
The fire caused power outages for nearly 50,000 people north of Reno on Saturday night
The fire has evoked stunning images as walls of smoke can be seen rising from hills and mountains
Reno had been under a red flag warning on Saturday, with the National Weather Service predicting wind gusts of up to 40 miles per hour
Patients were being immediately evacuated using a safe transport plan, according to the outlet.
The fire evoked stunning images across Reno on Saturday.
People driving out of town were met with seemingly interminable amounts of smoke as the horizon took on a red tint from the fiery conditions.
The Evelyn Mount Northeast Community Center was previously being used as an evacuation site, but agencies said it was now full.
A red flag warning had been in effect in Reno on Saturday, which the National Weather Service (NWS) deemed ‘critical fire weather.’
Wind gusts of up to 40 miles per hour with humidity as low as 12 percent were expected across the area.
The NWS said those conditions offered ‘rapid fire growth potential’ as they urged people to not drag trailer chains, drive over dry grass or go target shooting.
Though the Hawk Fire started in Nevada, California was also feeling the brunt of the blaze.
Sierra Nevada was placed under an evacuation warning, meaning that residents should be prepared to leave their homes.
