Latest / EM Morning Brief / Nevada declares emergency as Reno area fires force 6,000 evacuations; Hawaii watches likely Central Pacific tropical cyclone

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Nevada declares emergency as Reno area fires force 6,000 evacuations; Hawaii watches likely Central Pacific tropical cyclone · EM Morning Brief

• 0:00
  Cedric: Good morning, I’m Cedric and this is your EM Morning Brief for Tuesday, August 11, 2026.
• 0:06
  Cedric: The nation remains at Preparedness Level 5.
• 0:09
  Cedric: The National Interagency Fire Center reports 101 new fires nationwide Sunday, including nine new large fires, and crews are working to contain 98 uncontained large fires with 29,840 personnel assigned.
• 0:24
  Cedric: The Northwest is the most active area in the country with 46 uncontained large fires, and the Wrights Spring Fire in Oregon and the Little Giant Fire in Washington are exhibiting extreme fire behavior with evacuations, road closures, and threats
• 0:38
  Cedric: to homes and critical infrastructure.
• 0:41
  Cedric: Year to date, 46,064 fires have burned more than 6.3 million acres, well above the 10 year average.
• 0:50
  Cedric: New fuels and fire behavior advisories are in effect for Southwest Idaho and for Eastern Nevada into Central Utah.
• 0:58
  Cedric: In the tropics, the Central Pacific Hurricane Center is monitoring a disturbance about 1,100 miles east southeast of Hawaii with a 90 percent chance of development over seven days.
• 1:10
  Cedric: A tropical depression or tropical storm is expected to form by midweek, and interests in the Hawaiian Islands should closely monitor its progress.
• 1:19
  Cedric: In the Atlantic, a low southwest of the Cabo Verde Islands carries a 70 percent chance of becoming a tropical depression later this week.
• 1:28
  Cedric: On the cyber front, CISA, the FBI, and domestic and international partners publish a joint StopRansomware advisory on Gunra ransomware, a double extortion variant built from leaked Conti code that is compromising exposed VPN gateways, firewall appliances, and remote desktop
• 1:45
  Cedric: services across healthcare, utilities, government, manufacturing, and other sectors.
• 1:51
  Cedric: Forecasters are watching the Ohio Valley for impactful flash flooding today, with another 2 to 4 inches of rain possible over areas already inundated Monday, and an active severe weather day with damaging winds expected across northern Illinois and the
• 2:07
  Cedric: Ohio Valley.
• 2:09
  Cedric: Heat advisories stretch from the Central Plains to the Southeast, and an Extreme Heat Warning covers the St.
• 2:14
  Cedric: Louis metro through Wednesday evening.
• 2:17
  Cedric: In Alaska, a magnitude 4.6 earthquake strikes offshore about 60 miles south southeast of Sand Point early Tuesday.
• 2:25
  Cedric: At Kilauea, the observatory forecasts the next lava fountaining episode between Wednesday and Saturday.
• 2:32
  Cedric: Let’s run through the states.
• 2:34
  Cedric: Alaska: A magnitude 4.6 earthquake strikes at 12:49 a.m.
• 2:39
  Cedric: local time Tuesday about 60 miles south southeast of Sand Point in the Aleutians, the only U.S.
• 2:46
  Cedric: quake of magnitude 4.5 or greater in the last 24 hours.
• 2:50
  Cedric: At Great Sitkin, the slow eruption of lava in the summit crater continues at alert level Watch and aviation code Orange, with minor earthquakes tied to rockfall on the growing dome.
• 3:01
  Cedric: California: The Timber Fire in Los Padres National Forest near Big Sur grows to 1,723 acres at 5 percent containment Monday afternoon, and Monterey County upgrades an evacuation warning to an order that now includes the Ventana Inn area.
• 3:17
  Cedric: On the Nevada border, mandatory evacuation orders remain in effect for zones in Lassen and Sierra counties as the Bug Fire pushes past 16,000 acres.
• 3:27
  Cedric: Separately, the new Antelope Fire burns 2,410 acres northeast of Shandon in San Luis Obispo County per the national fire report.
• 3:37
  Cedric: Hawaii: Emergency managers and residents should monitor the Central Pacific disturbance about 1,100 miles east southeast of the islands, which has a 90 percent chance of development over seven days.
• 3:50
  Cedric: A tropical depression is expected to form by midweek as the system moves generally northwestward, with potential late week impacts that remain uncertain.
• 4:01
  Cedric: Maryland: Strong storms cross the state Monday afternoon, and the National Weather Service issues a tornado warning for parts of the Baltimore metro, including northern Baltimore City and portions of Carroll, Howard, and Baltimore counties.
• 4:15
  Cedric: More than 25,500 BGE customers are without power by Monday evening, with trees and power lines down; a storm survey will determine whether a tornado touched down.
• 4:27
  Cedric: Minnesota: The Superior National Forest reports reopening progress in the Boundary Waters, with more than 1,500 of roughly 2,000 campsites, about 73 percent of the wilderness, expected to be open by Thursday.
• 4:41
  Cedric: The Camp Fire is now 84 percent contained and the Bear Trap Fire 41 percent contained, with more than 760 personnel still assigned to the July Lightning fires.
• 4:54
  Cedric: Missouri: The National Weather Service in St.
• 4:57
  Cedric: Louis issues an Extreme Heat Warning Monday afternoon, in effect through 8 p.m.
• 5:02
  Cedric: Wednesday for the St.
• 5:03
  Cedric: Louis metro, including the Metro East in Illinois.
• 5:07
  Cedric: Cooling center information for the region is available through United Way 211.
• 5:12
  Cedric: Nevada: Governor Joe Lombardo declares a state of emergency Monday for portions of Washoe County and the Reno-Sparks Indian Colony as the Bug Fire and Fred Mountain Fire expand north of Reno.
• 5:24
  Cedric: More than 6,000 people are evacuated with thousands more in warning zones, and officials say threatened infrastructure includes schools, power lines, natural gas lines, a water treatment facility, a local airport, and telecom sites.
• 5:39
  Cedric: As of Monday afternoon the Bug Fire is 17,000 acres at 4 percent containment and the Fred Mountain Fire is 3,481 acres with no containment.
• 5:50
  Cedric: Evacuation warnings in the Red Rock area are upgraded to orders, Hungry Valley is evacuated, and eight Washoe County schools close Monday.
• 6:00
  Cedric: Evacuees can get assistance at the Evelyn Mount Community Center at 1301 Valley Road in Reno, and livestock can go to the Reno-Sparks Livestock Event Center.
• 6:10
  Cedric: We have more to cover this morning, but first, a quick word from the sponsor supporting today’s episode.
• 6:16
  Cedric: Thanks for supporting the sponsors who help make EM Morning Brief possible.
• 6:21
  Cedric: Now, back to this morning’s updates.
• 6:23
  Cedric: New Mexico: The lightning caused Frijoles Fire in the Pecos Wilderness of the Santa Fe National Forest grows to 3,290 acres with no containment per Monday morning’s update, burning in steep terrain about 3 miles southeast of Cundiyó.
• 6:39
  Cedric: No evacuation orders are in place, but Santa Fe County puts Cundiyó and Cerro Piñon residents on Ready status, and state health officials warn of smoke impacts.
• 6:50
  Cedric: Ohio: A line of powerful thunderstorms sweeps Northeast Ohio Monday morning, downing trees and power lines and leaving tens of thousands without power, including more than 27,000 FirstEnergy customers in Cuyahoga County at midmorning.
• 7:05
  Cedric: A century old building collapses in East Cleveland, and the utility reports likely storm damage to a substation in Sheffield Lake.
• 7:14
  Cedric: Oregon: FEMA approves Fire Management Assistance Grants for the Wrights Spring Fire and the Hagen Fire, the state’s sixth and seventh of the year, covering up to 75 percent of eligible firefighting costs (official update published about 36 hours ago).
• 7:31
  Cedric: On the Wrights Spring Fire near Sprague River and Chiloquin, Level 3 Go Now evacuations remain in effect for multiple Klamath County zones, with large animal sheltering at the Klamath County Fairgrounds.
• 7:43
  Cedric: NIFC’s Monday report lists the fire at 33,970 acres with no containment, while local reporting Monday placed it near 47,000 acres.
• 7:54
  Cedric: The Hagen Fire east of Pendleton stands at 46,527 acres and 11 percent containment.
• 8:01
  Cedric: South Carolina: A precautionary boil water advisory remains in effect for Breezy Hill Water and Sewer customers in neighborhoods of Clearwater and North Augusta in Aiken County after an unexpected water main break (official notice issued Sunday afternoon, about 40
• 8:18
  Cedric: hours ago).
• 8:19
  Cedric: Bacteriological samples are being tested, and the advisory stays in place until officially repealed.
• 8:25
  Cedric: Texas: Late morning and early afternoon thunderstorms Monday knock out power to more than 4,000 Entergy customers in Jefferson County in the Beaumont area.
• 8:34
  Cedric: Extreme fire danger continues in the Panhandle with very high fire danger into Northwest and North Texas amid triple digit heat.
• 8:43
  Cedric: Virginia: Severe storms Monday evening cut power to more than 28,000 Appalachian Power customers in southwest and central Virginia, concentrated in Bedford County, Roanoke City, and Roanoke County, with most restoration expected by the end of Tuesday.
• 9:00
  Cedric: In the Tri-Cities, storm damage and outages prompt Hopewell City Public Schools to close Tuesday, with roughly 2,900 households without power in Hopewell late Monday.
• 9:10
  Cedric: The same line drops trees and cuts power to nearly 2,500 customers in Arlington.
• 9:17
  Cedric: Washington: The Little Giant Fire northwest of Leavenworth stands at 111,429 acres and 2 percent containment with nearly 2,000 structures threatened; reporting confirms 26 structures destroyed, including two homes.
• 9:33
  Cedric: Level 3 Go Now evacuations cover the north shore of Lake Chelan from Deer Point Campground to Safety Harbor Campground, and a Red Cross shelter is operating at 324 E.
• 9:43
  Cedric: Johnson Avenue in Chelan.
• 9:45
  Cedric: Statewide, about 30 active wildfires have burned more than 548,000 acres with more than 8,000 personnel deployed, including the Sinlahekin Fire at 141,411 acres and the Kaiser Canyon Fire at 138,235 acres.
• 10:03
  Cedric: Wyoming: The Weiser Knoll Fire on South Pass in Fremont County becomes the state’s largest fire of 2026, growing to an estimated 13,350 acres with no containment by Monday afternoon (NIFC’s Monday morning national report listed 3,000 acres).
• 10:21
  Cedric: An evacuation order covers the Twin Creek drainage east of Wyoming Highway 28, a Level 2 notice covers residents from Johnnie Lee’s Corner east through the drainage, and roads in the South Pass area are closed as a Type 3
• 10:34
  Cedric: incident management team with about 85 personnel and multiple aircraft takes the fire.
• 10:41
  Cedric: All other states have no significant updates in the last 24 hours.
• 10:45
  Cedric: Let’s check the territories.
• 10:48
  Cedric: Puerto Rico and U.S.
• 10:49
  Cedric: Virgin Islands: Emergency managers should watch the Atlantic low southwest of the Cabo Verde Islands, which carries a 70 percent chance of development over seven days and could track toward the northeast Caribbean late this week, though dry air and
• 11:04
  Cedric: shear may limit strengthening.
• 11:06
  Cedric: NIFC also notes continued hot, dry, and breezy conditions across Puerto Rico and the U.S.
• 11:12
  Cedric: Virgin Islands, elevating fire weather concerns.
• 11:16
  Cedric: All other territories and the District of Columbia have no significant updates in the last 24 hours.
• 11:23
  Cedric: That wraps today’s EM Morning Brief.
• 11:25
  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.
• 11:32
  Cedric: Subscribe on the Emergency Management Network on Substack, or follow on your favorite podcast player.
• 11:38
  Cedric: EM Morning Brief is an EOC Voices Podcast.
• 11:41
  Cedric: Stay Safe.