57°F
weather icon Mostly Clear

Couple spots ‘fire tornado’ at Nevada-California border

A fire burning near the Nevada-California border turned into an even scarier scene when a tornado touched down at the scene Saturday afternoon.

Nevada couple Jordan and KateLynn Hewlett spotted the tornado in the distance off of U.S. Highway 395 as they were driving back from Lassen National Forest near Susanville, California.

“Wasn’t even in the back of our mind as something we would encounter today,” Jordan Hewlett said about the scene Saturday night.

KateLynn Hewlett snapped a photo, showing the tornado striking through the Loyalton Fire, which the U.S. Forest Service’s Tahoe Forest office estimated had burned 20,000 acres and was 5 percent contained as of 5 p.m.

Jordan Hewlett said the couple is originally from the Midwest, so the tornado itself wasn’t too scary, but driving through the ash and debris in the air was difficult.

“We continued out of the area to avoid getting in the way of first responders,” Jordan Hewlett said.

The fire was first reported Friday afternoon east of Loyalton, California, which is about a 44-mile drive from Reno.

Evacuation advisories were in place for Chilcoot, Califoria, and anyone living west of U.S. 395 from Hallelujah Junction, California, to Cold Springs in Nevada, according to the Truckee Meadows Fire Department, which downgraded the evacuations after a wind shift around 6:30 p.m.

Contact Sabrina Schnur at sschnur@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0278. Follow @sabrina_schnur on Twitter.

Don't miss the big stories. Like us on Facebook.
THE LATEST
Alabama man killed in Nye County crash

The Southern Command of the Nevada Highway Patrol has investigated 18 fatal crashes resulting in 22 fatalities this year.

Nevadans support diaper tax exemption, state lottery

A public opinion poll on how Nevadans are feeling about several ballot questions found majority support a tax exemption for diapers, open primaries and ranked choice voting, and enshrining abortion rights into the constitution.

Aging Hoover Dam may get $45M for maintenance

It will take tens of millions of dollars to repair and improve the dam over the next 10 years, officials estimate.

 
Nevada terminates grants to immunization nonprofit

A nonprofit will have grants terminated after state officials say it failed to pay over $400,000 to vendors despite the state reimbursing it for those payments.