‘No perimeter growth’: Davis Fire near Reno held in check despite dire wind conditions

UPDATE: As of Sept. 13, the Davis Fire was reported to be 76% contained, according to Humbolt Toiyabe National Forest.

LAS VEGAS ( KLAS ) — Firefighters held the Davis Fire in check on Wednesday night despite winds that reached 30-40 mph, according to a Thursday morning briefing.

John Cervantes, Operations Section Chief with Southwest Complex Incident Management Team 1, said many evacuation orders have been lifted as containment lines have been established along the fire’s northern border, which is closest to neighborhoods in southwest Reno.

“We were really in a high state of alertness with all that wind coming in from the south and west there. Resources did an outstanding job being able to hold it in its current footprint. We had no perimeter growth whatsoever in the past 24 hours,” Cervantes said.

On Wednesday morning, the outlook was grim as the National Weather Service issued a “Particularly Dangerous Situation” (PDS) Red Flag Warning for the Sierra Front, in effect Wednesday. It was only the sixth PDS warning ever issued by NWS Reno, but it expired at 8 p.m. and firefighters had held the lines.

Estimates Thursday morning put the size of the fire at 5,824 acres, with more than 600 personnel on scene as mop-up operations proceed.

Near Mt. Rose – Ski Tahoe, “Resources was able to hold that piece of line there through all that heavy wind,” Cervantes said.

Containment is expected later today on the southern edge of the fire at Davis Creek Recreation Area, near where the fire originally started on Saturday.

A report from The Associated Press on Wednesday said one home and a dozen other structures were destroyed. Social media posts showed grateful messages left for fire crews, and one resident’s post thanked firefighters for saving her home.

The Washoe County School District canceled classes Thursday at 12 schools: Galena High School, Marce Herz Middle School, Picollo School, Huffaker, Hunsberger, Lenz, and Pleasant Valley elementary schools, as well as Incline High School, Incline Middle School and Incline Elementary School.

Also Thursday: The Swales fire six miles outside of Elko was 100% contained at about 145 acres.

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