Hi AR friends.
Don't know if it has made the national news yet, but we have a terrible situation here in Reno, Nevada this morning. During the night, a fire started in the Caughlin Ranch area that is totally out of control due to howling winds. It is spawning numerous small pockets as embers blow to new areas. So far, according to the news, twenty homes have been lost. Some of those are million dollar luxury homes, not that that makes it worse. When you lose everything, it doesn't matter if you were rich or poor to start with, it is a life-altering, mind-numbing event. Numerous more homes are at risk, with firefighters desperately trying to save them. Their efforts are being impeded by winds currently gusting up to 65 mph in the foothills.
Evacuation shelters have been set up at Reno and Galena High Schools for those displaced. The SPCA has offered shelter to displaced small animals, and horses and other large animals have been offered shelter at several locales including the Livestock Events Center. Surgery has been cancelled at several of the local surgery centers (Quail Surgery Center, where I was scheduled to work this morning, and Surgical Arts), as one pocket of the fire has come dangerously close. To my knowledge, all hospitals are up and running normally. None of them is in a vicinity affected at present.
Please remember us in your prayers; I personally am not at risk at the moment, but many, many people are in harm's way.
**********Update 8:45: The fire has split into two main areas, one that started in Caughlin Ranch and has burned through Anitra (with at least one home totally destroyed), and down past Windy Hill to the Del Monte area, and a second in the canyon between Manzanita and Skyline. Reno High School is filled to capacity with evacuees; people are being asked to evacuate to Galena High School at this time. Photographs of the fire may be viewed at the Reno Gazette-Journal website. Sadly, many of the evacuees don't know whether their home is still standing or gone. The lost homes count has risen to 30.
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