The unforgettable fire: Washoe Drive blaze

A drive along Highway 395 through Pleasant Valley Saturday morning gives but a glimpse of the tragedy that struck the area little more than 24 hours earlier.

A light dusting of snow covers the ground, and the odor or charred brush and rubble is pungent. The view of wide swaths of blackend earth where the raging Washoe Drive fire stormed through 3,177 acres, destroying homes, is clear, as is the hopscotch burn pattern it created across the highway and from hill to hill.

Traffic, which generally has a hard time keeping to the 50 mph speed limit through that area, is noticeably slower at 40 mph as people survey the scarred landscape along the valley corrider.

Emergency vehicles idle, with lights blinking, along the perimeter of burned areas, and NV Energy crews can be seen here and there working on power poles.

Rain and snow helped firefighters surround a brush fire that destroyed homes and forced thousands to flee, leading officials to declare the blaze contained early Saturday and lift all remaining evacuations.

Fueled by hurricane force winds, the blaze burned with flames as high as 40 feet. The break in the weather for firefighters arrived with calmer winds on Friday, allowing crews to gain the upper hand on a blaze Gov. Brian Sandoval described as "horrendous."

"There is nothing left in some of those places except for the chimneys and fireplaces," he said during a tour of the area Friday.

The Washoe County sheriff confirmed that the body of June Hargis, 93, was found in a studio apartment next to her daughter's home in Washoe Valley, but the cause of death has not been established, so it's not known if it was fire-related.

The cause of the fire was announced late Friday after an elderly man told authorities he had improperly disposed of ashes from his fireplace.

He was "very remorseful," authorities said, but a formal case file will be forwarded to the Washoe County district attorney next week for consideration of charges.

Hargis's son, Jim Blueberg, 68, said that he didn't think filing criminal charges against the man "would do any good."

"The man had the courage to come up and say he did this. He's remorseful. I think he's punished himself enough. It was a silly, stupid mistake to make, there's no doubt about that. But I just want him to know I forgive him, and my heart goes out to him," he said.

His sister, Jeannie Watts, 70, had returned home from an errand to find the apartment next door and a barn with three horses inside engulfed in flames. She agreed that there was probably no need to file charges against the man.

"What good is that going to do? Everything is already gone," Watts said.

"He'll pay the rest of his life for that," she added.

After a night of rain Friday and early into Saturday morning, a strong Pacific storm was bringing heavy snow and gusty winds to the Sierra. No accumulation was reported for the valley floor Saturday even though snow flurries blew throughout the day, according to the National Weather Service in Reno.

Winds are expected at 15 to 25 mph today with snow levels mostly at 6,000 feet and lowering to the valleys by Monday morning.

Accumulations could be as much as 2 inches, with 8 to 14 inches in the Sierra. Carson City's elevation is about 4,500 feet.

NV Energy spokeswoman Faye Anderson reports that service to all customers was restored by 9 p.m. Friday.

"Crews are still out there doing some cleanup, and they will be replacing a few poles that were burned to ensure their integrity," Anderson said Saturday.

She said as people who were evacuated from their homes return, there may be more calls of service outages. However, she said those would likely be individual drop lines blown down or burned.

To report an outage, call 775-834-4100.

All emergency evacuations were lifted at 8 a.m. Saturday, and the highway was reopened to traffic at 10:30 p.m. Friday, Department of Transportation spokesman Scott Magruder said Saturday.

The fire from old Washoe City through Pleasant Valley and as far north as near the Mount Rose Highway was reported as 100 percent contained as of 10 a.m. Saturday, according to the Sierra Front Interagency Dispatch Center.

Firefighters remained on the scene Saturday to focus on mopping up around structures.

The strong, erratic winds caused major challenges for crews evacuating residents, Sierra Front spokesman Mark Regan said.

"In a matter of seconds, the wind would shift," he said.

• The Associated Press contributed to this story.