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Nevada’s new wildfire exclusion law faces its first major test in Reno
The Hawk Fire forced about 42,000 residents into mandatory evacuation orders, and the state law lets insurers exclude wildfire coverage from standard homeowners policies with no replacement offered.
An uncontained, human-caused wildfire in northwest Reno, Nevada, has destroyed homes and led authorities to urge evacuation of about 90,000 residents, as the Hawk Fire grows in the Peavine Peak area of the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest. Independent reports that at least six people were injured, including three civilians and three first responders, and that the fire spread rapidly on Saturday night, jumping over fire engines and complicating crews' efforts amid shifting winds.
Washoe County Sheriff Darin Balaam said the blaze moved at extraordinary speed, while Nevada Governor Joe Lombardo declared a state of emergency in Washoe County and mobilized the National Guard. The response includes roughly 800 personnel already on scene, plus additional National Guard resources and two helicopter crews, and the mandatory "GO NOW" evacuation zone reached the edge of the University of Nevada, Reno.
The insurance significance comes from the law Nevada adopted that took effect at the start of 2026. According to Insurance Business, starting January 1, 2026 Nevada became the first state to give insurers explicit authority to remove wildfire coverage from standard homeowners policies, either by carving it out as a separate standalone product or excluding it altogether with no replacement.
Insurance Business also links the policy change to prior market pressure in the state, citing Nevada Division of Insurance data showing wildfire concerns drove insurers to decline renewal on 481 homeowner policies in 2023, an 82% increase from the prior year, and that total cancellations and non-renewals in Nevada climbed to nearly 158,000. The outlet adds that lawmakers did not pass a related proposal to create a state-backed FAIR Plan in the same session, leaving Nevada without the market-of-last-resort safety net available in many other wildfire-exposed states.