Nevada

Conner Fire grows to nearly 14,000 acres; evacuations remain in place as evacuation site closes

Published

11 months ago

June 21, 2025

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Conner Fire grows to nearly 14,000 acres; evacuations remain in place as evacuation site closes

9:20 P.M. UPDATE:

The Conner Fire has grown massively in size from its last update. It has now burned 13,901 acres.

The fire was mapped to its updated size using an infrared-equipped helicopter that flew around its perimeter.

The fire is showing extreme wind-driven behavior, spreading quickly and with high intensity.

489 personnel are responding to it, and firefighters will remain on the fire throughout the night.

—

8:50 P.M. UPDATE:

The Douglas County Community & Senior Center is closing as an evacuation site for the Conner Fire since no evacuees are currently using it.

The East Fork Fire Protection District made the announcement on its Instagram page this evening.

The agency says it is ready to reopen the evacuation center if needed.

The large animal evacuation site at the Douglas County Fairgrounds remains open.

—

ORIGINAL ARTICLE:

A 2,500-acre fire, dubbed the Conner Fire, is prompting evacuations near the Pine View Estates area, located southeast of Gardnerville.

East Fork Fire says it responded to several homes on fire around 1:30 a.m. with high winds pushing flames into nearby brush, in Carter Springs.

The areas in yellow are under precautionary evacuation warning.

That precautionary warning has recently been expanded to a portion of the Fish Springs area.

Evacuation orders have been issued for residents on the following roads and areas (which you can see also above in the map)

* Old Ranch Road north of Out-R-Way

* Pine Nut Road from Dump Road to Out R Way

* Lola Road

* Edward Road

* Jackson Road

* Bodie Flat area

* Conner Way area

Residents in these areas are urged to evacuate immediately.

Evacuees can go to the Douglas County Community & Senior Center during regular business hours at 1329 Waterloo Lane in Gardnerville.

Large animals can be evacuated to the Douglas County Fairgrounds at 920 Dump Road in Gardnerville. Please enter through the east entrance past the main entrance.

Fire officials are urging residents in the affected area to heed all evacuation warnings. Reverse emergency phone calls are going out to residents.

The Silver Legacy, Eldorado and Circus Circus in Reno are offering emergency room rates for evacuees of $59 per night with waived resort fees. To book a room, call 1-800-223-7277.

Conner Fire donations — Douglas County, Facebook

East Fork Fire Protection District, Truckee Meadows Fire & Rescue, BLM, Reno Fire Department, Carson City Fire Department, Tahoe Douglas Fire Protection District and Forest Service are assisting.

An aircraft is currently assisting with fire mapping efforts, and additional air resources have been requested to support suppression operations.

Drivers traveling along U.S. 395 are asked to watch out for emergency vehicles.

Officials are also asking the public to avoid the area to ensure the safety of both first responders and the public.

The cause of the initial fire remains under investigation.

Gusty winds, with speeds reaching up to 45 miles per hour, combined with low relative humidity, are creating extremely challenging firefighting conditions, according to a release from the Bureau of Land Management.

Due to these extreme wind conditions, all aircraft have been grounded this afternoon, limiting aerial suppression capabilities.

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Nevada

Nevada SPCA brings adoptable pet to spotlight on Furever Home Friday

Published

9 hours ago

May 29, 2026

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Nevada SPCA brings adoptable pet to spotlight on Furever Home Friday

Gov. Sisolak, health officials urge those who can help to join Battle Born Medical Corps

Nevada Governor Steve Sisolak along with the state health officials urged Nevadas to those who can help to join Battle Born Medical Corps. Nevada Department of Health and Human Services and the Nevada Health Response Center joined to call on health care providers and health care administrations to assist in the state’s COVID-19 pandemic response. Gov.

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Nevada

Nevada’s unwritten rules (and what we wish the unwritten rules were)

Published

21 hours ago

May 29, 2026

Press Room

Nevada’s unwritten rules (and what we wish the unwritten rules were)

There’s a debate over on Reddit right now about how dogs should be kept on leashes around town, on trails, or anywhere in public that’s not a dog park.

I should clarify: When I say “debate,” I mean that several users have created posts about how dogs should be kept on leashes, and almost every response is 100% in agreement.

Go ahead and look at the posts; nobody’s putting together a spirited defense of letting their pets run around licking strangers and pooping on nature. With that kind of general consensus, I’d want to say that leashing our dogs is one of Reno-Sparks’ “unwritten rules.”

Except for two things: One, this rule is very much written (see Chapter 95.220 of the Washoe County Code: “Owners must have animals leashed no more than 6 feet in length and under immediate control at all times.”)

And also: The phrase “unwritten rules” implies that everyone goes along with it without even thinking. But we’ve all interacted with dog owners on local trails, letting their giant furballs knock over toddlers or chase goslings through the wetlands.

“Aw, he’s just a big puppy!” they’ll say, followed up with a halfhearted, “Down, Barnaby.”

Clearly, leashing dogs is not an unwritten rule because it’s constantly being broken. A true unwritten rule for hiking trails would be something that rarely ever gets broken, like “wear pants at all times.” Really, the leash thing is more like a wish list for society, alongside such things as:

Don’t mow before 8 a.m.
Signal your turns and lane changes.
Merge when you see a lane closure ahead, not at the last minute. (Yes, make all your arguments about how last-minute merging saves space. It all amounts to “I’m going to cut ahead of everyone else and pretend that it’s for the greater good.”)
If you’re driving a large vehicle, park at the far end of the lot.
Several more things about driving, actually.

But let’s move on. I’ve been wracking my brain to think of actual “unwritten rules” for Northern Nevada that outsiders might not grasp right away, and I didn’t come up with many. But here goes:

It’s not rude to keep your favorite spots a secret, even from friends and family: Got a favorite local park or Lake Tahoe beach? You’re not even required to tell your own mother about it, because word will get out and everything will be ruined. We value our personal space, and the community is too small to keep anything under wraps.

Side note: You can’t do this with businesses, because you need your burrito spot to stay crowded and busy. If nobody goes to your secret hot springs, it’s not going to suddenly go out of business and turn into a vape shop.

On Tahoe beaches, you can claim one beach towel’s worth of space per person, and that’s it: If word gets out about your favorite beach, you’ll have to start your day battling for a parking spot (bonus unwritten rule: You can’t reserve a parking spot by standing in it.)

The slightly less annoying ― but still difficult ― territory battle will be on the beach itself. Everyone but you will have a pop-up tent, several coolers and some sort of sound system. But societal convention dictates that any group can only claim the square footage of one beach towel per person, and leave ample space to walk between their beach site and the next one over.

Twenty minutes is a long drive in Reno-Sparks, but four hours is completely reasonable if you’re heading out of town: Recent transplants from more urban places like the Bay Area or Las Vegas will drive for 45 minutes to get to the one Target they like best. Around here, that sounds like hell.

On the other hand, driving for several hours to go see ichthyosaur skeletons or attend a Basque festival or go to a Giants game is completely reasonable. I can’t explain why this is. It might have something to do with hatred of stoplights.

Settle in a bit before complaining about outsiders: Yes, we know you just got here, and you want to prove your worthiness by complaining about Californians or Southern Nevadans, because that’s our local sport.

On average, we’re not nearly as closed off as people say; only about one-quarter of Nevadans were actually born here, so most of us know what it’s like to be the new kid. But at least wait until you’ve unloaded the last box from your U-Haul before you start griping about how new arrivals are pricing everyone out.

You, on the other hand ― you, the person reading this article right now! ― know a lot more unwritten rules for Northern Nevada. Either that, or you have ideas on what should be unwritten rules. Send them my way at bmcginness@rgj.com, and we’ll debate all of them next week.

Guys, we’re bringing back Shopko

What lost places in Reno-Sparks should we bring back? That’s the question I posed last week; here’s what you said:

Let’s start with department store ShopKo, which had the highly underrated slogan, “Say hello to a good buy.” We had three ― on South Virginia, Mae Anne and Oddie Boulevard. Lauri Ferguson wrote in to compliment the selection, and noted “their products lasted too.” Sadly, the entire chain disappeared nearly a decade ago, so bringing them back might be the heaviest lift ever.

“Bring back Famous Murphy’s,” wrote E. Pollard. “Can’t believe it ever closed and was then bulldozed and has been an empty dirt lot for more than 25 years.”

For the record, it’s actually been 18 years since it closed and 11 years since it was bulldozed, but the point stands.

“The purpose of the demolition is to make way for a new development being planned at this site,” developers told the RGJ in 2015. Anyway, it’s still an empty lot.

And finally, I had lamented over the lost Century Theaters dome on South Virginia, but Kurt Kinder mentioned one even more venerable, but equally lost: the Granada Theater, which originally opened in 1916, burned down in 1953 and reopened in 1954. It was torn down in 1997 and is now the site of the Palladio.

Brett McGinness is the engagement editor for the Reno Gazette Journal. He’s also the writer of The Reno Memo — a free newsletter about news in the Biggest Little City.

Subscribe to the newsletter right here. Consider supporting the Reno Gazette Journal, too.

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Nevada

Nevada veterans exposed to radiation, toxic chemicals near recognition under new bill

Published

1 day ago

May 28, 2026

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Nevada veterans exposed to radiation, toxic chemicals near recognition under new bill

LAS VEGAS (FOX5) — Nevada veterans who say they were exposed to radiation and toxic chemicals at the Nevada Test and Training Range are one step closer to getting recognized and help.

Senator Jacky Rosen and Congresswoman Susie Lee are introducing an updated “Forgotten Veterans Act,” now renamed the Sergeant Dave Crete Forgotten Veterans Act, to force the Defense Department to document contamination on the range and identify every service member who served there.

Veterans say years of classified work have kept them from proving their exposure and getting VA benefits, even as they deal with cancer and other serious illnesses.

Under the bill, the Pentagon would have to formally list the range as contaminated, unmask where veterans served the VA, and clear up a path for them and their families to qualify for care and compensation.

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