Caldor Fire spreads east toward Lake Tahoe Basin. ‘Highest priority fire in the country’
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California Wildfires
The latest on the wildfires burning in California. Get updates on the Caldor Fire, Dixie Fire and others, including size, containment, evacuation orders and more.
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Thousands of firefighters continue to battle the Caldor Fire as it creeps through rugged, drought-stricken terrain near the outskirts of the Lake Tahoe Basin.
Smoke from the fire stretched from El Dorado Hills to Echo Summit early Friday, limiting visibility along Highway 50 to a dozen feet at times.
The fire burned over the highway onto the north side and deep into the forest in places such as Wright’s Lake, but officials said no structures were lost Thursday night in the area along either side of the highway.
“No cabins were lost,” said West Sacramento Fire Capt. Jason Hunter.
Fire crews had plenty of time to prepare numerous cabins along the highway for protection from the flames, Hunter said, and more resources are aimed at keeping the fire from advancing further toward the basin.
A lack of strong winds, which were feared, is helping crews. The National Weather Service reported at noon that breezes in the fire’s northeast front and in South Lake Tahoe remained variable and under 8 mph.
Air support, however, was limited due to the heavy smoke.
Containment ‘completely attainable’
Sacramento Fire Department spokesman Capt. Keith Wade, working on mutual aid for Cal Fire, said that crews remained optimistic that they could contain the fire west of Highway 89 at Echo Summit and stop it from spreading into South Lake Tahoe.
“Everyone still has a focus that this is still completely attainable,” Wade told the Bay Area News Group. “I don’t think we set unrealistic objectives — but you’re fighting a forest fire, and at the end of the day, things can happen.”
The threat to Lake Tahoe was becoming an increasing concern. Robert Baird, the U.S. Forest Service’s regional director of fire and aviation management, said the leading edge of the Caldor Fire had moved to within about eight miles of the lake.
He said the edge of the fire was being fought with bulldozers, hand crews and strategically-lit backfires designed to “neutralize the flame front.”
“It’s the highest priority fire in the country and California,” said Anthony Scardina, the agency’s deputy regional forester. “It’s right in the back door of the communities on the west side (of Tahoe).”
The Caldor Fire ignited Aug. 14, exploding in size and mostly destroying the town of Grizzly Flats in its first few days. The fire prompted urgent evacuations up through the Pollock Pines, Sly Park and Kyburz area. The fire has spread more slowly but very steadily this week toward the northeast, in the direction of Lake Tahoe.
The fire remained about 13 miles from South Lake Tahoe, Hunter said midday Friday.
“We have over 3,200 fire personnel allocated right now on the fire, a lot on this Highway 50 corridor for structure protection,” Hunter said. “Not only here but ahead of the fire in the Strawberry area.”
Cal Fire and the U.S. Forest Service reported the fire Friday morning at 143,951 acres (225 square miles), growing roughly several thousand acres since Thursday. Officials said containment held at 12% but the fire remained active overnight due to poor humidity recovery.
El Dorado County sheriff’s officials issued new mandatory evacuation orders Thursday from Twin Bridges through Echo Summit, extending north of Highway 50 to Flagpole Peak and south of the highway to the Amador-Alpine county line.
The nearly 50-mile Highway 50 closure, which begins at Sly Park Road in Pollock Pines on the west end, has also been extended on the east end.
A small stretch of Highway 50 had previously been open only to residents between Twin Bridges and Meyers, but is now fully closed through Meyers at the Highway 89 junction, as those locals must evacuate. Those evacuating using Highway 50 should head east, emergency officials said in an update.
Evacuations in Christmas Valley
Evacuation warnings, voluntary at this time, have also been issued for Christmas Valley — a cluster of homes and cabins west of Highway 89 and east of Highway 50 at Echo Summit — and parts of Alpine County, including west of Highway 88 up to Kirkwood. People living or staying in Christmas Valley should be ready to evacuate on a moment’s notice.
The fire remains miles away from iconic Camp Sacramento, which city staff left last week as a precaution.
The city of South Lake Tahoe issued a proclamation of local emergency Thursday due to the Caldor Fire, though there have not yet been formal evacuation orders or warnings within city limits.
City tourism officials also gave a forceful warning to tourists to stay away until the fire is under control.
“Tourists who still plan to come to the Tahoe Basin need to understand that the air quality levels are extremely unhealthy, many of the beaches around the lake are closed, and some businesses have temporarily closed,” the city wrote in a news release.
Officials at the Lake Valley Fire Protection District, headquartered in South Lake Tahoe, have been on high alert this week.
“To say Lake Valley Fire is concerned is an understatement,” said Brad Zlendick, chief of the fire protection district, during a community meeting Tuesday. “We’re concerned about it affecting our cabins, our homes up on top of Echo Summit.”
On the fire’s northwest flank, meanwhile, crews continue to battle flames in the Camp Creek area south of Sly Park. The strong flames seen Friday were several miles southwest of Jenkinson Lake, Cal Fire spokesman Tim Ernst said in a operations update.
“This is an extremely challenging piece of land,” he said. “We have an active firefight going on.”
Ernst said another southwest branch, near the fire’s start two weeks ago, would likely be “fully contained” in the next day or two.
This story was originally published August 26, 2021 at 10:51 AM with the headline "Caldor Fire spreads east toward Lake Tahoe Basin. ‘Highest priority fire in the country’."
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