Firefighters battle blaze while police surround home

Washoe County sheriff’s spokesman Armando Avina said at least one man was in the home when the fire erupted, and he was thought to still be there Tuesday afternoon despite significant fire and smoke damage to the home in a gated community near Lakeside Golf Course.

SWAT teams from both the sheriff’s office and Reno police surrounded the home to make sure no one shot at the firefighters, he said. He said the home’s windows have been boarded up.

Police were waiting until the fire was extinguished before entering the home. Firefighters doused the blaze into the afternoon, concentrating on the attic.

City spokeswoman Michelle Anderson said that safety concerns slowed their efforts but that the fire had been contained to the single structure with no damage to neighboring homes. She said natural gas was shut off in the neighborhood as a precaution.

Deputies reported shots were fired when they identified themselves at the door about 10:40 a.m., Avina said.

Several neighbors said they heard gunshots or small explosions before the fire sent flames 50 feet into the air.

“I heard a bang, a boom and shortly after that I heard sirens,” Susan Huckabay told the Reno Gazette-Journal. She said she didn’t know the people who live in the burning home, but said the house was “under distress” and the owner faced foreclosure.

The newspaper reported that its foreclosure database indicated the property was in foreclosure as of July 1, but Avina said he could not confirm that.

The Washoe County Assessor’s Web site shows the house is listed as owned by Lake Shores Trust. It was listed as sold for $267,100 on July 1 with a taxable value of the property listed as $354,000.