Washoe County began unwinding its northwest Reno evacuation map Monday afternoon, starting with Somersett, where red GO NOW zones were downgraded to yellow warnings for neighborhoods near Robb Drive and Las Brisas Boulevard, Eagle Chase Trail, and Hawk Meadow Trail; areas that had been under warnings came off the map entirely, listed safe to return on the Perimeter site, with surrounding road closures lifted. [1] Three days earlier, the same zones were being extended outward as the fire crossed Peavine's summit — the reversal is young and conditional. [1]

The fire's numbers justify neither celebration nor complacency. The human-caused Hawk Fire stands at 15,051 acres with 27 percent containment and roughly 720 personnel assigned, from a fire that drove about 90,000 people from their homes at its peak. [1] [2] Damage assessment teams confirmed 32 homes destroyed and six damaged, with officials warning the toll will rise as canine teams sweep burned blocks — no fatalities found so far. Injuries stand at four civilians and three firefighters. [2] [3]

The machinery of return ran alongside the machinery of caution Monday: schools stayed closed, officials held an afternoon briefing, and a community meeting followed at 7 p.m., where the sheriff's message was the same one printed on every downgrade notice — stay ready to leave again. A lifted barricade is an opening, not an all-clear. [1] [3]

-- DARA OSEI, London