Hawk Fire forces Evacuation Orders for parts of the Reno, Nevada area
1-minute Mesoscale Domain Sector GOES-18 (GOES-West) Visible images with an overlay of the Fire Mask derived product (above) showed the thermal signature of the Hawk Fire as it rapidly expanded to the northeast on 22 August 2026. Due to the close proximity of the fire, the Reno/Stead Airport (METAR identifier KRTS) was closed to civilian aircraft (remaining open for firefighting operations only). Evacuation Orders were issued for areas west and northwest of Reno, as the wind-driven brush fire eventually jumped US 395 (plotted in magenta), causing part of that highway to be closed. By the end of the day on 22 August, the Hawk Fire had burned approximately 10500 acres, at 0% containment. One fatality was attributed to the fire.
1-minute GOES-18 GeoColor RGB images with an overlay of Next Generation Fire System (NGFS) Fire Detection polygons (below) provided a closer view of the thermal signature, smoke plume and occasional bursts of pyrocumulus clouds produced by the Hawk Fire (the initial NGFS detection occurred at 1819 UTC). Wind gusts in the vicinity of the fire were as high as 49 mph (red numbers in the lower right corner of the Surface Observation plots).
A longer animation of 1-minute GOES-18 Fire Temperature RGB images (below) indicated that the fire’s thermal signature had significantly diminished by 0400 UTC on 23 August.
The Hawk Fire burned very hot, first exhibiting the 137.88ºC saturation temperature of GOES-18 ABI Shortwave Infrared (3.9 µm, Band 07) detectors at 2041 UTC (below). The fire frequently exhibited this saturation temperature for nearly 6 hours, until 0230 UTC on 23 August.
===== 27 August Update =====
5 days after the Hawk Fire started, its burn scar (darker shades of brown) was evident in a Landsat-9 Natural Color RGB image (above). The fire was 95% contained at that point in time.