ali dickson

The Davis Fire: A Photo Essay

On a dry and windy Saturday in Washoe Valley, Nevada, the Davis Fire sparked to life. Beginning at Davis Creek Regional Park on September 7, 2024, the wildfire burned over 5,800 acres, damaged multiple structures, and placed 14,000 people under evacuation notices. The Truckee Meadows Fire Protection District, Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest, and Southwest Area Incident Management Team worked ceaselessly with crews to extinguish the flames. As of September 20, 2024, the fire is 92% contained and does not pose a threat to our community.

Wildfires have always been awesome and devastating events that happened to other towns but not mine, affecting other homes but not mine. Living in southern Washoe Valley, I uncovered with my own eyes the relentless and orderless rage a wildfire generates. More than that, though, I gained firsthand appreciation of the meticulous and calculative strategies that crews made on ground, in the air, and everywhere in between. Wildfire professionals are more than just the exciting subjects of news stories we read in passing fascination each dry season – they are friends, neighbors, strangers, and heroes who put their lives on the line to protect the people and places we call home.

I am grateful that my house did not burn, and in the hindsight of safety and happily ever afters, I am grateful for the ability to have watched this event unfold.

To donate to disaster responses like the Davis Fire, I encourage you to learn more here.

Fire plume rising from the forest at Davis Creek Regional Park
Thick smoke created a dramatic and condensed plume. They may be hard to see, but five aircraft carriers are circling the fire.
A helicopter dropping water on the Davis Fire
Helicopter dropping water from Washoe Lake on unseen flames
A helicopter parked in a sheep field
Helicopter grounded in a sheep and (evacuated) cattle field
Planes flying and dropping water on the Davis Fire
Planes flying and dropping water from Lake Tahoe on seen flames
Fire crews walking as trucks and people are parked nearby
Hand crew works as interested civilians park and watch
Cars drive on Highway 395 as the burn scar shows on the hill above the road
Post-fire burn scar over the exit bridge of Old 395
A fire crew is walking in an area recently burned
Hand crew walking to work at Davis Creek Regional Park
A building is shown in a heavily wooded area near an area where the fire was present
Crews stopped the fire from reaching a building near Davis Creek
Vehicles that transport crews are stationed under trees
Makeshift parking lot for crew vehicles in a sheep field
Smoke and small flames are visible at dusk
Smoldering flames at twilight from my yard
The Davis Fire burns at night
I took this picture in my backyard seconds before a curious bear stopped by in hopes of digging through our garbage to find the decomposing fruits and veggies we threw out of our powerless refrigerator