RENO, Nevada – Hundreds of people were allowed to return home Tuesday after fleeing a wildfire west of Reno that also closed Interstate 80 along the California-Nevada border.
About 170 firefighters continued to work to secure the area and extinguish hot spots near Verdi, a town 11 miles from downtown Reno. One home was destroyed by the fire, which broke out Sunday evening and consumed about 1 square mile of brush and forest.
No one was seriously injured. The Nevada State Fire Marshal is still investigating the cause of the fire, which broke out near the Gold Ranch exit on I-80 on the Truckee River about 2 miles from the California border and 13 miles west of Reno.
Evacuation orders or warnings were issued during the night from Sunday to Monday for around 400 houses threatened by the flames.
As many as 27,000 Nevada Energy customers were temporarily without power Sunday night after the utility shut off power as a precaution. But power had been restored to all but a dozen by Tuesday.
The fire was 8% contained as of Tuesday, according to the Truckee Meadows Fire Protection District, but aerial photos showed no active flames or significant smoke.
More than 300 firefighters who were on duty Monday through Tuesday were able to secure firebreaks and will continue to conduct cleanup operations, the federal interagency firefighting team led by Commander Brad Milam said in a statement Tuesday.
