Over the last several weeks, a series of wildfires – some natural, others believed to be started by people – have burned more than hundreds of thousands of acres across northern Nevada.
In Washoe County, the Bug, Fred Mountain, Stallion, and Hawk Fires forced as many as 40,000 people to evacuate — some more than once. Dozens of homes were destroyed or rendered otherwise uninhabitable.
That includes residents in the badly burned Horizon Hills neighborhood on the north side of Peavine Mountain in Reno. KUNR's Lucia Starbuck spoke to one couple who recounted their harrowing experience evacuating from the Hawk Fire.
"We've heard from a lot of residents in our community who say that officials just weren't as forthcoming as they would have liked them to be with information about the Hawk Fire, especially people who were evacuated," said Bert Johnson, KUNR’s Senior Correspondent. "Obviously they were concerned about their friends, relatives, neighbors, and their homes, and they wanted information."
Washoe County officials are also facing criticism for how they issue evacuation alerts. Johnson said the alerts are largely opt-in, because many renters don't pay their own sewer bill.
"They signed up people whose names appear on sewer bills for their alert system," Johnson said. "However, a lot of people who lived in the evacuation zones would have had to proactively take that step to sign up."
Guests: Bert Johnson, senior correspondent, KUNR Public Radio
