Reno Fire Causes Football Game to be Canceled

By Cameron Powell and Sof Cerruti, Online Editor in Chief and Senior Graphics Editor

   The Acalanes versus Galena High School football game was unfortunately canceled on Friday, Sept. 13 as a result of the massive Reno fire that the city was working to contain.

Blueprint Photo, Sof Cerruti

   The City of Reno and surrounding areas declared a state of emergency on Sunday, Sept. 8 in response to the fire’s onset. As it escalated to over 5,000 acres, firefighters worked from the ground and the air to put it out. The city ordered many people in south Reno to evacuate their homes and multiple schools and services in the area were temporarily shut down, including Galena High School. Truckee Meadows Fire & Rescue announced 100 percent containment on Wednesday, Sept. 25.

   Although the Reno community has dealt with large-scale wildfires in the past, this one was in particularly close proximity.

   “Where the fire started out in Washoe Valley can be very dangerous from the zephyr winds coming up over the mountains to the fire affecting us. It’s been many years since there’s been fires that close to the community. I think… people realize now how dangerous it is [and] how many people it can affect in a real short period of time,” Clark County Fire Department Firefighter Paramedic supporting at Arrowcreek Fire Station Pete Zegorski said.

   When a fire reaches this scale, it can require support from firefighters outside of the immediate community, in this case from Las Vegas.

   “Two years ago when they had the Caldor Fire, Tahoe Douglas requested resources and we provided backfill to those stations,” Clark County Fire Department Engineer supporting at Arrowcreek Fire Station Ryan Beaman said.

   This fire was especially concerning to the Reno community due to unpredictable conditions, but luckily a large wind began to push the fire back on itself before it could spread further.

   “They were very lucky the other day when the winds picked up on Wednesday. The winds came out of the west predominantly, which helped because it shot the fire back down… [whereas] If it was coming straight out of the south, it could have spread really fastly down into the Galena area,” Zegorski said

   Due to the immediate danger that the fire presented, the city ordered many community members to evacuate their homes.

   “We’ve had fires less than a mile away all week so the whole neighborhood has been evacuated,” Galena resident Jodie Walker said.

   The event was devastating for many residents, especially those who had to evacuate, as the course of the fire was uncertain.

Blueprint Photo, Sof Cerruti

   “They have all their things inside… so they were trying to determine what stuff [to] leave, what stuff [to] take, so it’s stuff that you don’t normally ever think about.” Truckee Meadows Fire Protection District firefighter Austin Moore said, “It’s scary, you can see smoke and flames every night from a lot of people's doorsteps and windows [and] a lot of people love going to the forest [so] seeing the things they love go up in flames and smoke is hard.”

   The hundreds of firefighters working to contain the fire were called from both local fire stations as well as other regions.

   “This is our second time deploying up North, and we’re definitely learning. We didn’t think this would ever happen again, but unfortunately, with these wildland fires, how fast they grow, and how much resources it takes, I mean it could happen every year. I mean who knows how often this would happen,” Clark County Fire Department Firefighter supporting at Arrowcreek Fire Station Jesse Gomez said.

   While the fire caused significant damage, firefighters made significant efforts to thwart the danger and ensure the safety of the community.

   “They saved hundreds of homes, did a really fantastic job of fire protection, and the community is very receptive of that and very appreciative,” Clark County Fire Department Captain supporting at Arrowcreek Fire Station Mike Hutcherson said.

   Galena High School was one of multiple schools in the area that was shut down when the fire became an immediate danger, and it was being used as a command center for fire services.

   “[The fire] shut down our school campus for the entire week, including athletic events and practices. It resulted in two days of full closure for our entire school district,” Galena High School Athletic Director and Head Football Coach Aaron Cook said.

   After a full week of being shut down, Galena High School was able to reopen on Monday, Sept. 16 when the fire reached 85 percent containment.

Blueprint Photo, Sof Cerruti

   “We had some neighboring schools that were directly impacted, but we have resumed as of Monday and we are back to business as usual this week,” Cook said.

   Since the poor air quality and proximity of the fire created unsafe conditions, the football game versus Acalanes was one of the athletic events that had to be canceled.

   “All of their gear was locked up on campus so they couldn’t get to their gear and even if they could, the air quality is so bad that they probably couldn’t even practice… They were very apologetic, they wanted to make [the football game] happen for the kids because they’re in a devastated state right now but safety wise they couldn’t,” Acalanes Athletic Director Randy Takahashi said.

   The cancellation did not significantly impact the course of Acalanes’ football season as they will still be able to go into playoffs with nine games instead of ten.

   “We were able to get a makeup game so our football team [played] at Del Oro High School…, and that’s a great thing but we still keep in our thoughts what Reno is going through and in particular Galena High School,” Takahashi said.

   Despite having little impact on the course of the Acalanes Football team’s season, upon hearing the news of the cancellation, many players were sympathetic towards the circumstances.

   “I was disappointed for us but more so heartbroken for the tragedy that impacted our opponents in Galena,” varsity football player and junior Bryce Birdsong said.

   Despite large efforts to contain the fire, it will continue to have a lasting impact in the area.

   “[There are] long-term effects… there’s going to be parts of the forest that aren't ever going to recover in our lifetime because that’s a forest that's over 100 years old in some spots, so those tall green trees aren’t going to exist and it's going to be a bare spot for a long time,” Moore said.

   With California wildfires becoming a more immediate danger, the Reno fire can be a reminder of the importance of preparing for the case in which such an event occurred.

   “It seems to be just what happens more frequently and even more devastating in nature and you hear about it in the news all the time,” Takahashi said, “From the human standpoint, we want to always prepare as best we can to try to prevent them and make it so they’re not as devastating and then also be prepared in case something like that happens.”