Preparing for wildfires used to be something that locals thought was mostly for people who live on the outskirts of town.
Then came August 2026.
The Bug Fire, Stallion Fire, Hawk Fire and Bull Fire burned in and near Reno. The Hawk Fire destroyed dozens of homes in August, and as high winds caused it to behave erratically on Peavine Mountain, “go now” evacuation zones extended to neighborhoods abutting the McCarran Loop, while “get ready” zones stretched to the northwestern border of the University of Nevada, Reno.
Now, preparedness is considered a must for just about everyone.
A night away from home
“I went outside and the sky was completely covered with smoke,” said Rachel Lang, a Cold Springs resident. That was on Aug. 8, and that’s how she learned that the Bug Fire was approaching her neighborhood. The “go now” alert from Washoe County came next, and she got ready to evacuate.
“I grabbed my computer stuff, a change of clothes, my toiletries, my dog and her stuff,” said Lang, who lives with her mother, brother and 5-year-old nephew. “My mom already had clothes for (the dog), clothes for the kiddo and water, and we all grabbed our important papers.”
The family did not pack up the pig and chickens who live in their yard. They drove to a friend’s farm just across the state line in the Sierra County, Calif. foothills. There, Lang and her family watched the fire approach their house through binoculars and a telescope.
“It got really close—it burned the hill right above our house,” she said.
Her family was away from their home for a little more than 24 hours. When they returned, the house, pig and chickens were all OK. Lang grew up in a rural area, so she already knew about having a go bag and basic supplies ready in case of approaching fire. The next thing she learned is that real-time data is helpful in an emergency, after her host recommended downloading the Watch Duty app.
“We could see information about where the fire was and how far away it was, and how the firefighters are doing with their containment,” Lang said. “After we had that, we felt a lot more comfortable. … We’ve been watching the app ever since, anytime a new fire springs up.”
Be ready to evacuate—even if you don’t live next to open space
Looking back months after having evacuated, Lang’s first piece of advice is this: “Make sure your important papers are easy to grab, and have a change of clothes and a little bit of food and a jug of water handy.” Also, if you do need to evacuate, remember your prescription medications, as well as things you’ll need to take care of pets—like, for example, a dog’s leash.
So, who would this advice pertain to, exactly? A lot more people than you might think.
The U.S. Fire Administration maintains a dashboard called the WUI Property Awareness Explorer (WUI means “wilderness-urban interface”), into which you can enter your address and see a map showing whether you are in an area where embers can blow from a fire to your house.
Jenni Burr is the outreach and content coordinator for Living With Fire, a joint effort among federal, state and local agencies managed by University of Nevada Reno, Extension. She said she was shocked the first time she saw the map.
“Almost the entirety of the city—essentially Washoe Valley, Reno Sparks, everything, all except for the very urban-most core, radiating out from the airport—has the potential of having embers land on it,” she said. “That definitely was eye-opening to me, because it gave me a different sense of what that wildland urban interface really means in a place where you get big winds. So, I think, generally speaking, it’s really everybody who needs an evacuation plan.”
She added: “Thinking about evacuation before you’re in the middle of it is incredibly important.”
Here’s where to start:
• Visit livingwithfire.org to find evacuation checklists in English and Spanish, learn how to make an evacuation plan, learn about improving defensible space around your home, and access a wealth of other information on preparing for and dealing with fire.
• Sign up for warnings during fires and other emergencies, targeted to specific neighborhoods, via Washoe County’s Alerts and Warnings page at www.washoecounty.gov/em/regional-alerts/index.php.
• If you or your loved ones live or travel in other Northern Nevada counties, see the University of Nevada, Reno Extension’s list of emergency alert notification systems in other regions at extension.unr.edu/publication.aspx?PubID=3336.
• Download the Watch Duty and/or Perimeter Map apps so that, during a fire, you can learn about evacuation zones, containment and other important information as it’s posted. Go to app.watchduty.org or perimetermap.com.