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 growing thermal signature of the Hawk Fire as it rapidly expanded to theDue to the proximity of the fire, the Reno/Stead Airport (METAT identifier KRTS) was closed to civilian aircraft (remaining open for firefighting operations only). northeast on 22 August 2026. 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, the Hawk Fire had burned approximately 10500 acres, at 0% containment.
1-minute GOES-18 GeoColor RGB images with an overlay of Next Generation Fire System (NGFS) Fire Detection polygons (below) provided a better view of the smoke plume and occasional bursts of pyrocumulus clouds produced by the Hawk Fire. Wind gusts in the vicinity of the fire were as high as 49 mph.
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).
