A fast-moving wildfire that jumped over fire trucks and made it difficult for crews to reach hot spots destroyed homes in northwest Reno, Nevada, on Sunday (August 24, 2026).
An additional 45,000 people were in the adjacent evacuation warning zone. Instead, Kieffer, her husband and their four children ages 3 to 16 raced to save their dogs and whatever possessions they could retrieve. Nearly 10,000 customers were without power in Washoe County on Sunday, down from 60,000 on Saturday. Reno, with more than 280,000 residents, is the largest city in Nevada outside of metro Las Vegas.
“We lost all our stuff. Because shifting and strengthening winds were expected to make the fire even more unpredictable, authorities implored all of them to leave and be prepared to stay away for several days,. Route 395, a major north-south highway, were closed due to the fire.
Everything we own is gone. “I was like, we gotta go like now. Eyes watering and throat burning, Kieffer grabbed a handful of clothes, a Bible, her wedding photos and her mother’s ashes. The family drove to a friend’s home but had to evacuate again. They learned later Saturday evening that their own home was gone. Portions of U.S.
Some 42,000 residents have been ordered evacuated as the “GO NOW” zone expanded, reaching the edge of the University of Nevada. “I woke up this morning and just started crying — all my kids, they lost everything,” Kieffer said Sunday. An app the family used to track the fire’s progress had been lagging significantly behind its actual location, she said, so they thought firefighters had kept the blaze from their neighbourhood. Ash rained down, and the wind blew like an oven blast from a wall of flames advancing down the hillside toward their neighbourhood, she said. “I kept looking outside and the flames just kept getting closer and closer every time I looked,” Kieffer said. In the frenzy, as firefighters yelled at her family to leave immediately, she said she forgot her family’s birth certificates and was unable to salvage her childhood photos.
Kieffer had been watching her son’s football game on Saturday when she learned that their home on the outskirts of Reno was in the evacuation zone.
