Story highlights
The Caughlin Fire is contained at 1,935 acres, a fire chief says
32 homes are made uninhabitable by the blaze
Investigators are working to determine what cause the fire
Firefighters in Reno, Nevada, have contained 80% of a wildfire there and expect to have it nearly completely contained by day’s end, officials said Saturday.
The Caughlin Fire in Reno burned 1,935 acres before firefighters contained the blaze, said Sierra Fire Protection District Chief Mike Brown, the incident commander.
The blaze has made 32 homes uninhabitable and damaged five, but is no longer a major threat to other structures, said Reno Fire Chief Michael Hernandez.
The cause of the fire remains unknown, but the fire chief said his department has ruled out that the blaze started at a homeless encampment or that teenagers seen in the area were responsible.
Investigators believe – though have not confirmed – that high winds caused electrical arcing on a power line, which sparked the fire, Hernandez said.
The city of Reno, the rest of Washoe County and Nevada all declared states of emergency Friday.
The fire was reported shortly after midnight Thursday, spreading within an hour and becoming a three-alarm blaze, Hernandez said.
The blaze had ballooned to 2,000 acres within about 12 hours, destroying some structures and causing minimal damage to others, according to the fire chief. He estimated that firefighters had saved 4,000 to 4,500 homes by Friday.
CNN’s Shawn Nottingham contributed to this report.