Davis Creek Fire in Reno

The Davis Fire broke out around 2:30 p.m. in the area of Davis Creek Regional Park located 20 miles south of Reno, Nevada on September 7 th 2024.  This wind-driven fire rapidly burned a total of 5,824 acres of private, state, and federal lands, destroying two commercial buildings, 14 residences, and 22 outbuildings.

On Saturday afternoon around 3.30 pm we all received an emergency text informing us that we needed to evacuate immediately due to the fire. The areas of Montreux, St James, Galena Forest, Scotch pines and Callahan ranch.  The electricity in our area was immediately switched off and turned on only a week later. Those that had generators were the lucky ones. Most people on returning to their homes had to throw away all their food, but waste management in our area were fantastic and supplied huge dumpsters to all residents.

My son’s and I decided to wait until Monday afternoon before departing. The winds had increase and were now behind, us which was scary as they were blowing north in our direction. Thankfully, I had good friends to go to and spent 5 days with them. Hotels in our area accommodated others at a discount price which was very thoughtful of them.  All Schools were closed.  Mount Rose was closed as well as 580 for a few days and then reopened once the fire began moving south towards Slide Mountain .  In the 40 years that I have lived in my home, this is the first time that I actually packed the car with all my important documents and items that I needed and evacuated. Thankfully, my son had his camper here after burning man and we were able to help our neighbors and take many items for them out of the fire zone. They would not let people come back to our area once they had left.

I would like to express how well the entire ordeal was handled. The Reno police went to each home that had been evacuated, knocked on the front door and if you were home they put a pink ribbon on your mailbox, and if you were not there a green ribbon. In this way they knew who to look out for. The first responders were fantastic and well organized.  I saw individuals walking around our area in the forest with axes and cutting down all lower branches on trees, and the sheer volume of fire trucks and tankers was incredable.  Day and night they worked and created fire breaks and placed hoses ready to be used.

Truckee Meadows Fire Protection District and the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest are in unified command in the management of a fire. “Unified command” refers to a collaborative approach to an incident where multiple agencies coordinate and work together to respond to fires. Cooperating agencies include Reno Fire Department, Sparks Fire Department, Carson City Fire Department, Cal Fire, East Fork Fire Protection District, North Lake Tahoe Fire Protection District, Bureau of Land Management, County Sheriff’s Office, Nevada Division of Emergency Management / Homeland Security, Nevada State Police, NV Energy and the Nevada Division of Transportation.

A BIG THANK YOU to all concerned as the majority of us came home to our “Homes”.