More Than 20 Homes Destroyed by Reno Wildfire Firefighters worked early Friday to hold the line on a fast-moving brush fire that tore through the Reno area, destroying more than 20 homes and forcing thousands of residents to flee. The blaze started shortly after noon Thursday and, fueled by wind gusts reaching 82 mph, mushroomed to more than 6 square miles in size before firefighters stopped its surge toward Reno. More than 10,000 people were told to leave their homes during the height of the blaze, and about 2,000 of them remained under evacuation orders late Thursday, Reno Fire Chief Michael Hernandez said. About 250 firefighters were battling the blaze. Hernandez that a full assessment might reveal even more damage. The blaze was "almost a carbon copy" of a huge wild fire on the edge of the Sierra foothills that destroyed 30 homes in southwest Reno in November, the fire chief said. Wet weather was forecast Friday, and snow was forecast Friday night. But high winds were expected to continue, with gusts up to 40 mph. A house burns just south of the Old 395 Gas Station Thursday, Jan. 19, 2012 in Washoe Valley, Nev. Winds gusting up to 82 mph pushed a fast-moving brush fire south of Reno out of control on Thursday as it burned several homes, threatened dozens more and forced more than 4,000 people to evacuate their neighborhoods. The fire, of unknown origin, broke out in a valley along U.S. Highway 395. The flames, up to 40 feet high, raced through sage brush, grass and pines in an area where small neighborhoods are dispersed among an otherwise rural landscape.