Latest / EM Morning Brief / Hawk Fire forces mass evacuations on Reno's edge; Nevada declares emergency; Washington's Little Giant becomes largest fire in Chelan County history

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Hawk Fire forces mass evacuations on Reno's edge; Nevada declares emergency; Washington's Little Giant becomes largest fire in Chelan County history · EM Morning Brief

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  Cedric: Good morning, I'm Cedric and this is your EM Morning Brief for Monday, August 24, 2026.
• 0:15
  Cedric: The national wildfire picture leads today.
• 0:17
  Cedric: The country remains at Preparedness Level 5 with 79 uncontained large fires, 124 active incidents and more than 22,000 personnel committed.
• 0:28
  Cedric: Year to date, more than 7.7 million acres have burned, which is 169 percent of the ten-year average.
• 0:36
  Cedric: The most urgent situation is in northern Nevada, where the human-caused Hawk Fire has burned more than 15,000 acres at zero containment on the northwest edge of Reno.
• 0:47
  Cedric: Governor Joe Lombardo declared a state of emergency for Washoe County Saturday evening (official update published roughly 32 hours ago), directing all state agencies to work through the Nevada Emergency Operations Center.
• 1:01
  Cedric: Three fifteen-member incident management teams and 270 fireline personnel from Australia and New Zealand are assigned to fires in the Northwest and Great Basin, and 240 soldiers from Joint Base Lewis-McChord are supporting operations in Washington.
• 1:18
  Cedric: In the Pacific, Tropical Depression Moke is passing south of the Hawaiian Islands and weakening, with three to six inches of additional rain forecast for the Big Island and eastern Maui.
• 1:28
  Cedric: Hawaii County has a local state of emergency in effect and an island-wide Flood Watch runs until 6 p.m.
• 1:35
  Cedric: Hawaii time.
• 1:36
  Cedric: The Atlantic is quiet, with no active cyclones and no coastal watches or warnings anywhere in the basin.
• 1:43
  Cedric: On the mainland, the Storm Prediction Center carries a Slight Risk of severe thunderstorms for the northern Plains and Upper Midwest, the central High Plains, the middle Gulf Coast and the coastal Carolinas.
• 1:57
  Cedric: Dangerous heat continues across the Southern Plains and the Lower Mississippi Valley, with an Extreme Heat Warning in North and Central Texas and heat index values reaching 112.
• 2:09
  Cedric: On the federal side, CISA added one vulnerability to the Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog Friday: an operating system command injection flaw in Zimbra Collaboration Suite, tracked as CVE-2026-73570.
• 2:24
  Cedric: The federal remediation deadline under Binding Operational Directive 26-04 is today, which is an unusually short three-day turnaround.
• 2:32
  Cedric: There is no active National Terrorism Advisory System bulletin.
• 2:36
  Cedric: FEMA's most recent action is a Fire Management Assistance Grant for the Pine Tree Road Fire in Union County, Arkansas, approved Friday.
• 2:45
  Cedric: The State Department updated travel advisories for Austria, Lebanon, Mozambique and Turkmenistan on Friday, with Lebanon remaining at Level 4, do not travel.
• 2:55
  Cedric: And the U.S.
• 2:56
  Cedric: Geological Survey says the next Kilauea summit fountaining episode is likely between today and Friday.
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  Cedric: States or Territory Nevada carries the highest-impact incident in the country.
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  Cedric: The Hawk Fire, which started Saturday morning near Somersett on the northwest edge of Reno, reached 15,051 acres at zero containment Sunday evening.
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  Cedric: Washoe County reports roughly 13,700 residences inside the evacuation footprint, with about 42,000 people under evacuation orders and another 45,000 under warnings.
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  Cedric: NV Energy has about 10,000 customers de-energized for firefighter safety, down from a peak above 60,000, and gas service is shut off to roughly 250 customers.
• 3:43
  Cedric: The Red Cross shelter at the Reno-Sparks Convention Center held 465 people Saturday night and has more than 900 cots available.
• 3:51
  Cedric: Six injuries are reported, three civilians and three responders, none life threatening.
• 3:57
  Cedric: Structures have been lost, but damage assessment teams cannot enter yet, so no count has been released.
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  Cedric: The fire is human caused and under active investigation.
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  Cedric: Washoe County schools are closed today and Reno-Stead Airport is closed.
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  Cedric: Washington has two major fires driving evacuations.
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  Cedric: The Little Giant Fire in Chelan County stands at 144,832 acres and 15 percent containment with about 2,300 personnel assigned, and it has now surpassed the 1994 Tyee Creek Fire as the largest fire to burn entirely within Chelan County.
• 4:34
  Cedric: Level 3 Go Now orders remain near the fire footprint, and a virtual community meeting is set for 6:30 tonight.
• 4:42
  Cedric: In south central Washington, the lightning-caused Colwash Fire on Yakama Nation land near Mabton grew to 38,599 acres at 8 percent containment.
• 4:52
  Cedric: Level 3 evacuations in both Yakima and Benton counties were reduced to Level 2 Sunday evening, and a Red Cross shelter remains open at Prosser High School.
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  Cedric: One home and two other structures are lost, with no injuries.
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  Cedric: Near Stehekin, the Sisi Fire is threatening the state airport and the Company Creek hydro plant.
• 5:12
  Cedric: Hawaii is working two problems at once.
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  Cedric: Tropical Depression Moke passed southwest of the Big Island overnight, and forecasters warn the additional rainfall could produce life-threatening flooding and mudslides on the windward and southeast Big Island, on ground already saturated by Tropical Storm Lala.
• 5:32
  Cedric: Hawaii County has a mayoral emergency proclamation in effect invoking Chapter 127A powers and authorizing county facilities as shelters.
• 5:41
  Cedric: Governor Green said Monday that Moke impacts remain light and that Lala recovery continues.
• 5:47
  Cedric: Separately, Kilauea is at Advisory and Yellow, with the next fountaining episode expected this week.
• 5:53
  Cedric: Oregon has new evacuations in the Elkhorn Mountains.
• 5:57
  Cedric: The McCulley and North Pole fires both started Saturday night north of Sumpter, and the Baker County Sheriff's Office expanded Level 3 Go Now zones into Baker and Grant counties.
• 6:08
  Cedric: The Wallowa-Whitman National Forest responded to 16 wildfires Saturday alone.
• 6:14
  Cedric: On the Umatilla National Forest, Red Flag Warnings have lifted over the Paradise and Hagen fires, and the Umatilla County emergency shelter has relocated to Neighbor 2 Neighbor in Pendleton.
• 6:26
  Cedric: California has fire activity on two fronts plus outage spillover from Nevada.
• 6:31
  Cedric: The Timber Fire in Los Padres National Forest southeast of Big Sur grew nearly 2,000 acres to 8,665 acres at 25 percent containment, with evacuation orders in two Monterey County zones and warnings in nine more.
• 6:45
  Cedric: In Humboldt County, the MP18 Fire near Hoopa is 7,610 acres at 74 percent.
• 6:52
  Cedric: The Hawk Fire's transmission impacts cut power to roughly 14,800 Truckee Donner customers and 22,000 Liberty Utilities customers in Truckee and North Lake Tahoe.
• 7:05
  Cedric: Indiana is still in recovery from the August 11 derecho.
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  Cedric: State homeland security reported 17,944 customers without power statewide as of 4 p.m.
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  Cedric: Sunday, most in Lake and Porter counties, thirteen days after the storm.
• 7:20
  Cedric: Seven disaster-related deaths are confirmed.
• 7:23
  Cedric: Gary schools remain closed, the National Guard is activated, and NIPSCO estimates restoration in Gary by end of day Tuesday.
• 7:30
  Cedric: The governor's major disaster declaration request is still pending, and the state is telling residents not to apply to FEMA yet.
• 7:39
  Cedric: Texas is under dangerous heat.
• 7:41
  Cedric: The Weather Service in Fort Worth has an Extreme Heat Warning in effect through this evening for North and Central Texas, with highs to 110, heat index values from 102 to 112, and an elevated grass fire threat from hot,
• 7:55
  Cedric: breezy south-southwest winds.
• 7:58
  Cedric: In Brown County, crews stopped forward progress on the Neighbor Fire near U.S.
• 8:02
  Cedric: 67 at 150 acres and 25 percent containment after precautionary evacuations and two county road closures.
• 8:11
  Cedric: Florida has significant fire activity inside Everglades National Park.
• 8:17
  Cedric: The Chipmunk Fire grew nearly 8,000 acres in a single day to 9,232 acres at 30 percent containment, and the Movie Dome Fire sits at 6,222 acres and 60 percent.
• 8:30
  Cedric: The Park Service has an emergency closure order covering the entire Shark Valley area including the visitor center and tram road.
• 8:37
  Cedric: Smoke is visible from U.S.
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  Cedric: 41, but no Tamiami Trail closure is expected.
• 8:42
  Cedric: Separately, JEA issued a precautionary boil water advisory in southwest Nocatee after a 12-inch main break.
• 8:50
  Cedric: Minnesota has three fires burning in the Superior National Forest under a single Type 1 team, with a National Incident Management Organization team mobilizing.
• 8:59
  Cedric: Bear Trap is 30,806 acres at 55 percent, Thumb is 25,015 acres at 55 percent, and Sioux is 6,833 acres at 76 percent with three structures lost.
• 9:13
  Cedric: Area, road and trail closures remain in effect in the Boundary Waters.
• 9:17
  Cedric: We have more to cover this morning, but first, a quick word from our sponsors.
• 9:23
  Cedric: Thanks for supporting our sponsors who help make EM Morning Brief possible.
• 9:27
  Cedric: Now, back to this morning’s updates.
• 9:30
  Cedric: Alaska has good news at Tok.
• 9:32
  Cedric: The Division of Forestry and Fire Protection removed all Level 1 Ready and Level 2 Set zones on the Mukluk Fire Sunday afternoon, though the Level 3 Go zone north of the fire remains.
• 9:44
  Cedric: The fire is 7,260 acres at 20 percent containment, and unstable burned trees are now the primary hazard to crews and the public.
• 9:53
  Cedric: Colorado has the most destructive incident in the national report.
• 9:57
  Cedric: The Aspen Acres Fire southwest of Pueblo is 102,004 acres at 77 percent containment with 915 structures lost.
• 10:07
  Cedric: Command of the Elk Fire near Lake City returns to the local unit today.
• 10:12
  Cedric: Montana reports the Sand Creek Fire east of Wisdom at 32,306 acres and 10 percent containment, with evacuations and closures in effect.
• 10:22
  Cedric: Numerous structures and communication infrastructure are threatened, and a second incident management team is mobilizing.
• 10:30
  Cedric: Idaho has the Moose Mountain Fire northeast of Pierce at 3,841 acres and 8 percent containment, with evacuations and road closures in effect.
• 10:39
  Cedric: Utah reports the Slough Canyon Fire on Uintah and Ouray Agency land east of Price growing more than 2,200 acres in a single day to 3,000 acres at zero containment, with extreme fire behavior and structures threatened.
• 10:55
  Cedric: New Mexico has the Frijoles Fire near Cundiyo at 15,220 acres and 42 percent containment with 981 personnel assigned.
• 11:05
  Cedric: Camino de Canon has been downgraded from Go to Set, and a community meeting is set for tonight in Truchas.
• 11:12
  Cedric: Arkansas reports the Pine Tree Road Fire two miles south of Lawson in Union County at 2,328 acres and 80 percent containment, with one structure lost.
• 11:23
  Cedric: FEMA approved a Fire Management Assistance Grant for the incident Friday.
• 11:27
  Cedric: Oklahoma has two fires on Anadarko Agency land.
• 11:31
  Cedric: The new Sugar Creek Fire near Binger is 370 acres at 10 percent with residences threatened and 36 engines committed, and the 2690 Fire near Gracemont is 900 acres at 15 percent with two structures lost.
• 11:47
  Cedric: Mississippi reports about 2,700 Entergy customers still out after roughly 75,000 outages from weekend storm fronts, with some restorations pushed to Tuesday because extreme heat is cutting crew productivity.
• 12:00
  Cedric: The Jackson Highway 90 Fire near Moss Point is 1,428 acres at 75 percent.
• 12:08
  Cedric: Tennessee saw Cumberland Electric Membership Corporation lose power to 11,180 customers in Robertson and Sumner counties Sunday afternoon, citing an issue upstream of its system.
• 12:20
  Cedric: Nearly all service was restored by evening.
• 12:23
  Cedric: Arizona had a Flash Flood Warning issued by the Weather Service in Tucson Sunday evening for south central Pinal County after radar indicated one to two inches of rain just south of Arizona City.
• 12:36
  Cedric: North Carolina recorded a 60 mile per hour thunderstorm gust at Avon in Dare County late Sunday, and the Weather Service in Raleigh issued a Severe Thunderstorm Warning for central Sampson County this morning.
• 12:50
  Cedric: The coastal Carolinas sit in today's Slight Risk area.
• 12:54
  Cedric: South Carolina had storms bring down a tree into utility wires near Litchfield Beach in Georgetown County Sunday afternoon, under a Severe Thunderstorm Warning and a Flood Advisory.
• 13:06
  Cedric: Georgia issued a Code Orange air quality alert for metro Atlanta today, unhealthy for sensitive groups, in effect through 6 p.m.
• 13:14
  Cedric: The Main Trail Fire on Wassaw National Wildlife Refuge southeast of Savannah is 741 acres at 35 percent.
• 13:22
  Cedric: New York and New Jersey saw early Sunday storms flood the Clearview Expressway in Queens, trapping two cars, and temporarily close lanes of the Brooklyn-Queens and Long Island expressways.
• 13:33
  Cedric: Newark firefighters used an inflatable raft to rescue three drivers.
• 13:39
  Cedric: South Dakota had a First Alert Weather Day Sunday for supercells in the Black Hills capable of very large hail and 70 to 80 mile per hour gusts.
• 13:48
  Cedric: No damage reports were confirmed.
• 13:51
  Cedric: Maine is under a Dense Fog Advisory this morning for coastal and central Washington County, with visibility a quarter mile or less.
• 13:59
  Cedric: All other states have no significant updates in the last 24 hours.
• 14:04
  Cedric: Let’s run through the territories.
• 14:07
  Cedric: Puerto Rico and the U.S.
• 14:08
  Cedric: Virgin Islands are under a Heat Advisory issued this morning by the Weather Service in San Juan, covering all of Puerto Rico plus Culebra, Vieques, St.
• 14:16
  Cedric: Thomas, St.
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  Cedric: John and St.
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  Cedric: Croix, in effect from 10 a.m.
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  Cedric: to 4 p.m.
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  Cedric: Atlantic time.
• 14:23
  Cedric: Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands are under a High Surf Advisory and High Rip Current Risk through early Tuesday for west-facing reefs of Guam, Rota, Tinian and Saipan, with breaking waves of seven to ten feet driven by monsoon
• 14:37
  Cedric: swell and Tropical Depression 19W.
• 14:41
  Cedric: Forecasters have stood down the heavy rain threat and issued their final hydrologic outlook for the event.
• 14:47
  Cedric: No tropical cyclone watches or warnings are in effect.
• 14:51
  Cedric: District of Columbia crews worked an emergency overnight repair on a broken 8-inch water main on D Street Northeast on Capitol Hill, with service disruption and traffic impacts.
• 15:03
  Cedric: All other territories have no significant updates in the last 24 hours.
• 15:08
  Cedric: That wraps today's EM Morning Brief.
• 15:10
  Cedric: New episodes drop Monday through Friday in the 5:00 AM hour P.T., so the day starts with clarity instead of catch-up.
• 15:18
  Cedric: Subscribe on the Emergency Management Network on Substack, or follow on your favorite podcast player.
• 15:24
  Cedric: EM Morning Brief is an EOC Voices Podcast.
• 15:27
  Cedric: Stay Safe.