Latest / EM Morning Brief / Reno-area fires close schools and force evacuations; CISA adds three exploited vulnerabilities

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Reno-area fires close schools and force evacuations; CISA adds three exploited vulnerabilities · EM Morning Brief

• 0:00
  Cedric: Good morning, I'm Cedric and this is your EM Morning Brief for Wednesday, August 12, 2026.
• 0:06
  Cedric: The nation remains at Preparedness Level 5, the highest level, with nearly 30,000 personnel assigned to wildfires and 104 uncontained large fires.
• 0:17
  Cedric: Twelve new large fires are reported.
• 0:20
  Cedric: Wildfires have burned more than 6.4 million acres so far this year, 156 percent of the ten-year average, and the Northwest remains the most active geographic area with 45 uncontained large fires.
• 0:33
  Cedric: Fires including Wrights Spring and Big Grass in Oregon and Little Giant and Sinlahekin in Washington continue to exhibit active or extreme fire behavior, with evacuations and closures in effect and homes, communities, and critical infrastructure threatened.
• 0:49
  Cedric: Two hundred forty soldiers from Joint Base Lewis-McChord are deployed in support of operations on the Modrite Fire in Washington.
• 0:58
  Cedric: CISA adds three vulnerabilities to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog: a Cisco Secure Firewall ASA and FTD heap inspection flaw, a Microsoft Windows Ancillary Function Driver for WinSock use-after-free flaw, and a Metabase SQL injection flaw.
• 1:14
  Cedric: All three show evidence of active exploitation, and organizations are urged to prioritize remediation.
• 1:20
  Cedric: Meanwhile, dangerous heat holds over the central and southern Plains, where roughly 25 million people in Texas and Oklahoma are under excessive heat warnings with heat index values of 105 to 109 degrees, and the Kansas City metro is under
• 1:37
  Cedric: an extreme heat warning through the week.
• 1:40
  Cedric: On the geologic front, the USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory forecasts Kilauea's next fountaining episode between August 13 and 17, and Great Sitkin in Alaska continues a slow eruption of lava at Aviation Color Code Orange.
• 1:55
  Cedric: The National Hurricane Center is monitoring two tropical waves in the eastern Atlantic; neither carries an active advisory.
• 2:02
  Cedric: FEMA opens Individual Assistance registration for residents of Rota in the Northern Mariana Islands recovering from Super Typhoon Bavi.
• 2:11
  Cedric: (Official update published about two days ago.)
• 2:14
  Cedric: Let’s run through the states.
• 2:16
  Cedric: Alaska: The Alaska Volcano Observatory reports Great Sitkin continues a slow eruption of lava within its summit crater at Alert Level Watch and Aviation Color Code Orange, with minor earthquakes likely tied to rockfall on the growing dome.
• 2:31
  Cedric: Mount Kupreanof shows continued low-level seismic activity and sulfur dioxide emissions detected in satellite data at Alert Level Advisory.
• 2:41
  Cedric: California: The Timber Fire in the Los Padres National Forest near Big Sur grows to 2,989 acres at 5 percent containment, with evacuation warnings in effect for several Monterey County zones and 259 structures threatened.
• 2:56
  Cedric: About 480 personnel are assigned.
• 2:59
  Cedric: Elsewhere, the new Hatchet Fire near Springville in Tulare County stands at 606 acres and 45 percent containment, and the Gann Fire southeast of Valley Springs holds at 10,339 acres and 84 percent.
• 3:14
  Cedric: Colorado: Six large fires are burning 158,401 acres statewide.
• 3:20
  Cedric: The Aspen Acres Fire northwest of Rye reaches 102,004 acres at 72 percent containment.
• 3:26
  Cedric: The Elk Fire near Lake City is 7,226 acres at 33 percent, and the Willow Fire west of Leadville is 7,534 acres at 67 percent.
• 3:36
  Cedric: Hawaii: Kilauea is not erupting and sits at Alert Level Advisory and Aviation Color Code Yellow.
• 3:43
  Cedric: Observatory models indicate another fountaining episode is likely between August 13 and 17, with weak glow and intermittent small flames observed at the north vent overnight.
• 3:55
  Cedric: Idaho: Ten uncontained large fires are burning 173,739 acres.
• 4:01
  Cedric: The Tartar Fire northwest of Weiser holds at 158,027 acres and 89 percent containment.
• 4:07
  Cedric: The Doublesprings Fire northwest of Mackay stands at 1,603 acres and 5 percent, and the MM115 HWY 20 Fire northeast of Mountain Home is 4,936 acres at 24 percent.
• 4:20
  Cedric: Kansas: Kansas-side counties of the Kansas City metro are under an extreme heat warning through the week, with heat index values climbing above 100 degrees.
• 4:31
  Cedric: Officials urge residents to limit outdoor exposure and check on vulnerable neighbors.
• 4:37
  Cedric: Minnesota: Five large fires in the Superior National Forest and Boundary Waters area have burned 65,128 acres, led by the Bear Trap Fire north of Ely at 29,991 acres and 44 percent containment.
• 4:53
  Cedric: The state Emergency Executive Council extends the governor's wildfire emergency executive order for an additional 30 days, and red, orange, and yellow evacuation zones remain in effect across the Boundary Waters.
• 5:05
  Cedric: Missouri: The Kansas City metro remains under an extreme heat warning all week, with heat index values above 100 degrees expected each afternoon.
• 5:15
  Cedric: Montana: Nine large fires are burning 41,063 acres.
• 5:19
  Cedric: The Sand Creek Fire southeast of Wisdom stands at 15,784 acres, the Bobcat Lakes Fire east of Wisdom at 7,686 acres, and the Silvertip Fire northeast of Condon at 6,501 acres; all three are uncontained.
• 5:35
  Cedric: We have more to cover this morning, but first, a quick word from the sponsor supporting today’s episode.
• 5:42
  Cedric: Thanks for supporting the sponsors who help make EM Morning Brief possible.
• 5:46
  Cedric: Now, back to this morning’s updates.
• 5:49
  Cedric: Nevada: The Bug Fire south of Hallelujah Junction stands at 16,680 acres and 3 percent containment, and the new Fred Mountain Fire north of Lemmon Valley at 3,482 acres, uncontained; local reporting indicates the two fires have burned together into
• 6:06
  Cedric: a single perimeter.
• 6:08
  Cedric: Evacuation orders, power shutoffs, and school closures affect the area north of Reno, with the Washoe County School District canceling classes at eight campuses and an evacuation center open at the Evelyn Mount Community Center in Reno.
• 6:23
  Cedric: New Mexico: The Frijoles Fire burns 4,159 acres at 0 percent containment in steep terrain within the Pecos Wilderness northeast of Santa Fe.
• 6:33
  Cedric: The Johnson Fire in the Gila National Forest stands at 440 acres, also uncontained.
• 6:39
  Cedric: North Carolina: A flood watch covers Watauga, Ashe, and Alleghany counties in the northern High Country through Thursday morning as repeated rounds of storms in a very moist airmass raise flash flooding concerns.
• 6:53
  Cedric: Oklahoma: Excessive heat warnings continue with heat index values of 105 to 109 degrees across much of the state.
• 7:01
  Cedric: The new Mill Creek Fire north of Stringtown stands at 218 acres and 30 percent containment.
• 7:09
  Cedric: Oregon: Twenty-four large fires have burned nearly 1.9 million acres statewide.
• 7:14
  Cedric: The Big Grass Fire near Jordan Valley reaches 553,972 acres at 35 percent containment.
• 7:21
  Cedric: The Wrights Spring Fire west of Sprague River is 46,769 acres and uncontained with continued extreme fire behavior.
• 7:29
  Cedric: The Grasshopper Fire on the Mt.
• 7:30
  Cedric: Hood National Forest is 63,659 acres at 23 percent, the Hagen Fire east of Pendleton is 49,638 acres at 11 percent, and the new Austin Fire southeast of Estacada stands at 710 acres.
• 7:46
  Cedric: South Dakota: The new Bear Butte Fire two miles east of Sturgis burns 457 acres at 50 percent containment.
• 7:54
  Cedric: Texas: Roughly 25 million people across Texas and Oklahoma are under excessive heat warnings with heat index values of 105 to 109 degrees.
• 8:06
  Cedric: Three new large fires are burning: the Bufford Creek Fire near Breckenridge at 1,500 acres and 25 percent containment, the Brown Fire near Adrian at 800 acres and 60 percent, and the Saxon Fire near Bertram at 300 acres and
• 8:21
  Cedric: 50 percent.
• 8:23
  Cedric: Utah: The Widemouth 2 Fire southwest of Kanosh reaches 122,759 acres at 30 percent containment.
• 8:31
  Cedric: The Rocky Canyon Fire southwest of Henefer stands at 13,601 acres and the Black Canyon Fire southwest of Price at 3,531 acres; both are uncontained.
• 8:42
  Cedric: Virginia: The National Weather Service in Blacksburg issues a flood watch in effect until Thursday morning for Roanoke and more than a dozen surrounding counties.
• 8:51
  Cedric: Repeated rounds of thunderstorms in an extremely moist airmass may produce flash flooding of creeks, streams, and low-lying and urban areas.
• 9:01
  Cedric: Washington: Twenty large fires have burned 547,098 acres.
• 9:06
  Cedric: The Sinlahekin Fire west of Tonasket reaches 147,715 acres at 42 percent containment, the Kaiser Canyon Fire near Nespelem 138,213 acres at 63 percent, and the Little Giant Fire northwest of Leavenworth 116,956 acres at 2 percent.
• 9:26
  Cedric: Two hundred forty soldiers from Joint Base Lewis-McChord support the Modrite Fire, now 61 percent contained.
• 9:32
  Cedric: A statewide burn ban runs through September 30, and air quality alerts cover much of eastern Washington, including Spokane, Chelan, and Okanogan counties.
• 9:42
  Cedric: Wyoming: The new Cold Springs Fire southwest of Douglas burns 1,000 acres, uncontained.
• 9:48
  Cedric: The Weiser Knoll Fire southeast of Lander stands at 13,350 acres, also 0 percent contained.
• 9:56
  Cedric: All other states have no significant updates in the last 24 hours, Let’s run through the territories.
• 10:03
  Cedric: Northern Mariana Islands: FEMA opens Individual Assistance registration for residents of Rota recovering from Super Typhoon Bavi, including grants for temporary housing and home repairs and low-interest SBA disaster loans.
• 10:17
  Cedric: Direct federal assistance is funded at 100 percent of eligible costs for Rota for 90 days, and Saipan and Tinian are approved for emergency work.
• 10:27
  Cedric: (Official update published about two days ago.)
• 10:31
  Cedric: All other territories and the District of Columbia have no significant updates in the last 24 hours.
• 10:38
  Cedric: That wraps today's EM Morning Brief.
• 10:40
  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.
• 10:47
  Cedric: Subscribe on the Emergency Management Network on Substack, or follow on your favorite podcast player.
• 10:53
  Cedric: EM Morning Brief is an EOC Voices Podcast.
• 10:57
  Cedric: Stay Safe.