Maria Lopez doesn’t live in the fire zone, but she stepped in to help a specific group of evacuees. On Sunday, she set up an evacuation site at Bridge Church in Reno for neurodivergent families and children with disabilities.
She said it was necessary because the dense crowd, lights, and sounds at the Red Cross’ evacuation site at the Reno-Sparks Convention Center, where hundreds of people have been sleeping, could be overwhelming.
Lopez, who founded the nonprofit Special Needs CommUNITY of Northern Nevada, said the environments are different and had so far served 70 people.
“You’re going to see considerations to lighting, to sounds, even to temperatures. Our demographic is very sensitive. Sensory processing disorder can prevent a person from eating, from sleeping. It can also make a person go into certain fight, flight, or freeze modes,” Lopez said.
Lopez said one reason she attended the meeting was to speak with Reno Mayor Hillary Schieve.
“Perhaps Reno can lead the nation in a deeper understanding of having disaster relief accommodations set for their public,” Lopez said.
Red Rock resident and evacuee Marsha Parsons has been sleeping at a family members’ house for the last three days. On Saturday, she got the alert at the same time a firefighter came to the door.
“We evacuated around 6 o’clock when they started pounding on the doors and telling us we needed to go,” Parsons said.
She left with her 88-year-old mom and says her car still smells like smoke. She hoped to return home Tuesday.
As evacuation notices are lifted, fire officials are reiterating several messages: Don’t fly drones and don’t walk on burn areas.
And fire season isn’t over, said Truckee Meadows Fire Protection District Chief Richard Edwards.
“We’re just starting the severe part of fire season. It’s going to be a long fire season until we start getting measurable rain consistently. The Davis Fire started early September, burned for a week and a half. So anything’s possible,” Edwards said.
A fire behavior analyst reports that extreme weather conditions are expected, including low humidity and strong, gusty winds from Thursday to Saturday.
