Around 9,000 residents have received clearance to return to their homes in the Reno, Nevada area. This comes as firefighters have made headway in controlling a significant wildfire that has destroyed over 40 residences. Approximately 5,000 people remain evacuated due to the Hawk Fire, which started on Saturday and expanded swiftly, according to Washoe County Sheriff Darin Balaam.

By 2 p.m. on Tuesday, residents east of State Route 395 were permitted to return, as reported by Balaam. The areas west of the highway suffered the greatest impact. Currently, the fire has scorched 15,067 acres and was 27% contained as of Tuesday afternoon.

No deaths have been reported in connection with the fire. Richard Edwards, the fire chief for the Truckee Meadows Fire Protection District, called the absence of fatalities remarkable. “It’s incredible that we’ve not had a fatality in this fire, given how fast it’s moved,” Edwards stated. The fire traveled six miles within 24 hours of its inception on Saturday.

The fire’s origins remain under investigation, though it is suspected to be human-caused, Sheriff Balaam explained. It was uncertain on Tuesday if the fire’s cause was deliberate or accidental. Balaam noted, “We can say that because of where it occurred. It was in the middle of nowhere, there were no lightning strikes, there was nothing else that could have caused this fire.”

Despite the progress in controlling the blaze, Edwards warned of adverse fire weather conditions forecasted to start Wednesday and persist through the weekend. “Please be careful,” he advised. “All of these fires, these large fires that we’ve incurred over the last two-and-a-half weeks are human-caused. That means they’re preventable.”