HuffingtonPost.com (excerpts):  Reno, NV - A cloud of smoke settled over upscale homes and horse pastures at Reno's edge Friday, as firefighters from across Nevada came close to taming a sudden wildfire that sent 16 people to hospitals and destroyed or damaged 25 homes.  The unexplained blaze also gave a firefighter first and second degree burns and was blamed for the death of a 74-year-old man who had a heart attack while trying to flee, but authorities said the worst was likely over.  Reno Fire Chief Mike Hernandez said firefighters had largely contained the blaze that sent nearly 10,000 people from their homes in the middle of the night.  The cause of the blaze wasn't known, but a downed power line, or homeless encampments in the area might be to blame, Hernandez said.  He said the region is also popular for teenagers who might have started the fire to stay warm.  At least 400 firefighters from as far as 260 miles away flocked to Reno early Friday, as multiple fires roared up from the Sierra Nevada foothills in northwestern Nevada and spread to the valley floor.  Flames reached 50 feet high and embers pushed by the wind traveled up to a mile.  Police went house to house pounding on doors and urging residents to evacuate in the dark of the night.  Hernandez said residents ran from their homes dressed in pajamas, frantically trying to grab as many possessions as possible.  One elderly man dressed in his underwear ran out with a blanked wrapped around his body.  "The people are in a state of shock and are hanging in there" Gov. Brian Sandoval said.  More than 4,000 NV customers lost power as poles and electrical wires were scorched and knocked down, said spokeswoman Faye Anderson.  "The next 24 hours with the power lines down and everything else, it is still a very very dangerous area," Reno Mayor Bob Cashell said.  
Associated Press writers Martin Griffith in Reno and Michelle Rindels, Cristina Silva and Ken Ritter in Los Vegas contributed to this report.  

Commentary:  Some fires are still raging, even though the fire season has technically ended.  For the last two years, record-breaking fires have surged throughout the US, Russia and Mexico.  The losses are tragic and we need to pray for people who are suffering during such upheaval throughout the world.  We need to pray for people to contemplate their eternal destinies and that they will call on the Lord for salvation and help, as well as for their comfort and restoration of losses.  The warning signs of the Lord's return, as foretold in the Bible, are occurring in many nations.  Just as these people were running out of their homes with their pajamas on, and in one case, not much of anything, people really need to be running to God for help and salvation, if they don't know the Lord.  The Bible says, "You will be visited of the Lord of hosts with thunder, earthquake, great noise, with storm and tempest and the flame of devouring fire" Isaiah 29:6.  Nevertheless, God is merciful, with abundant mercy, for it is written: "It will come to pass that whoever calls on the name of the Lord will be saved" Acts 2:21.