Emergency responders were called into action on Monday as the Reno Fire Department battled a house fire at 1361 E. 10th St. near the corner of Montello Street. Several law enforcement agencies responded as well, including the Washoe County Sheriff’s Office, Reno Police and the Department of Probation.
The house burned to the ground.
The blaze emitted a cloud of black smoke that could be seen from miles away. The property includes a structure that was condemned in 1994 and is owned by Washoe County. The house was illegally occupied by squatters, according to neighbors. They also said the squatters had been living in the house for some time and starting fires as a heat source.
One neighbor said this was the sixth time there had been a fire at the location. The juvenile and his mother both claimed that they had notified the City of Reno multiple times about the situation and that the city had been involved previously with the maintenance and “cleaning” of the property.
City officials said they would only release information about calls for service to the address through a public records request.
Washoe County spokesperson Bethany Drysdale said the county “acquired the property through a drug seizure and spent many years working through the courts to gain a clear title on it. We pursued disposing of it through surplus (auction or sealed bid process), but the legal issues with the title prevented that. We were only recently cleared to move forward with demolishing it due to the state of disrepair.”
Another neighbor, who identified himself only as “Junior,” said he lives near the house. He said he was waiting for his mother to pick him up when he noticed the fire and immediately alerted and evacuated his family from a nearby structure.
There were no known or reported injuries or casualties from the fire. Officials did not release the cause of the fire.
