Live Updates: Caldor Fire now near Kirkwood; some early evacuees can return home
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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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Read the latest updates >> Caldor Fire grows minimally near Tahoe as winds stay calm, but spot fires linger
The Caldor Fire burned actively overnight, surpassing 200,000 acres early Wednesday as it continues to displace tens of thousands of residents from the South Lake Tahoe area.
The entire city of South Lake Tahoe, home to 22,000 residents, was ordered to evacuate Monday, along with surrounding communities in the Lake Tahoe Basin and along the lake’s west shore.
Mandatory evacuation orders hopped the state line into Nevada on Tuesday, with residents in Douglas County, including Upper Kingsbury and Lower Kingsbury, told to leave.
“The fire remained very active overnight due to the extremely poor humidity recovery and warm temperatures,” Cal Fire and the U.S. Forest Service wrote in a Wednesday morning incident report.
The fire is now 204,390 acres — more than 300 square miles — and is 20% contained, with most of that containment on its western perimeter. It is now the 15th largest wildfire in state history, according to Cal Fire records.
The Caldor Fire has destroyed close to 550 homes, many of them during the incident’s early, intense run through Grizzly Flats south of Pollock Pines in mid-August.
More than 50,000 El Dorado County residents have now been evacuated from an area covering almost the entire eastern half of the county, from the Pollock Pines and Sly Park area through the California-Nevada border just east of South Lake Tahoe. That includes the communities of Emerald Bay, Meeks Bay and Tahoma along the west shore of the lake.
The fire has crept east along Highway 50 since igniting Aug. 14. Earlier this week, the blaze jumped Highway 89 and began to burn in the hills surrounding the holiday-themed community of Christmas Valley in the Lake Tahoe Basin.
A long stretch of Highway 50 between Pollock Pines and the Nevada state line remains closed in both directions.
More than 4,200 firefighters are assigned to the Caldor Fire.
Some evacuation orders downgraded to warning
Some of the earliest Caldor evacuees were told Wednesday they could return home.
Cal Fire announced that evacuation orders for portions of north Camino and Pollock Pines were downgraded to warnings.
The areas are north of Highway 50, west of Sly Park, south of Slab Creed and East of Larsen Drive/Snows Road.
Those areas, near where the fire ignited in the Eldorado National Forest more than two weeks ago, were among the first places evacuated.
As part of the downgraded warning, the El Dorado Irrigation District suggested that residents returning home run their taps for two minutes “to ensure fresh water in their homes. Water that has remained in service lines during evacuation periods can result in ... taste and order issues that may be easily addressed by flushing the taps.”
The water is safe to drink, officials said.
Major Nevada casino closes due to fire
One of the big four casino hotels in Stateline, the MontBleu, announced it would close to the public Wednesday afternoon.
The hotel “will continue to provide housing and support to team member evacuees and firefighters working hard to contain the Caldor Fire, as well as remain in constant communication with the Stateline fire department,” said MontBleu general manager Tim Tretton in a prepared statement.
“We look forward to reopening our doors as soon as it is safe to do so.”
All of the hotels in Stateline have shut down their casino floors, according to the Nevada Gaming Control Board.
Although parts of Douglas County near the lake have been ordered to evacuate, the Stateline casinos have been used to house fire crews and have been exempted from the order.
Winds lighter than expected Tuesday, but more gusts coming
Wind gusts were a bit calmer than anticipated Tuesday in the fire zone, according to Tim Ernst, a Cal Fire operations section chief on the Caldor Fire.
“A lot of opportunity to make some progress last night,” Ernst said during a Wednesday morning briefing.
“We’re fortunate the fire did not make as strong a push (toward) Tahoe as it did the previous day.”
The National Weather Service has a red flag warning in place in the South Lake Tahoe area through 11 p.m. Wednesday. Cal Fire and the Forest Service in their morning incident report said gusts could reach about 40 mph, which could produce erratic fire behavior all day, including spot fires.
Fire burns near Kirkwood
Ernst said the Caldor Fire “is currently hung up right on the ridge outside of Kirkwood,” the ski resort along Highway 88 near the Amador-Alpine county line. The area is also home to about 150 residents.
The operations chief called the Kirkwood Mountain Resort area one of the “major concerns” Tuesday and said it would be a continued area of emphasis Wednesday.
Ernst said containment lines are continuing to hold well on the west zones of the fire, near Pollock Pines and Sly Park.
To the northeast, near well-populated areas in the Lake Tahoe Basin, Ernst said strong dozer lines have been established that will hopefully protect homes.
Evacuation warnings were expanded in Alpine County, Cal Fire announced Wednesday afternoon. Mandatory evacuation orders in the county remained in effect.
The warnings were expanded to include the area from Picketts Junction south on Highway 88 to Forestdale Road; the areas in the northeast to Hawkins Peak to the Highway 88 and Highway 89 junction in the Woodfords community; to the east along Highway 88 to the Nevada state line; to the northwest along the Alpine County line to Fay-Luther Canyon; and to the southwest along Fay-Luther Canyon to Horse Thief Canyon to Picketts Junction.
In a Wednesday afternoon briefing, U.S. Forest Service operations section chief Beale Monday said the flames continued to threaten but had not entered Kirkwood. Engine crews moved into the area Tuesday afternoon to provide structure defense and remained there Wednesday, and other crews have kept the fire at Highway 88.
“We got another hardship in there today; the winds are real squirrlley,” Monday said during the briefing. “We are still getting continuous spots fires that are threatening the values at risk down in Kirkwood. But we have a lot of people and a lot of resources in place to try to prevent any damage into Kirkwood itself.”
Fire pushing toward Wrights Lake
During a Wednesday evening briefing, Beale said flames “came back to life” north of Highway 50 and were pushing toward Wrights Lake, just east of Kyburz in El Dorado County. He said a lot of aircraft were dropping fire retardant on the area, partnered with dozers and hand crews to keep the flames from moving in a westerly direction.
“One of our big fears is there’s a potential for an easterly wind moving into this later this weekend,” Beale said pointing to a map of the fire. “So, we’re actively engaged way up high here into the wilderness trying to make sure we don’t get any more of the fire to spread to the west.”
On the eastern edge of the fire, Cal Fire and the U.S. Forest Service have a contingency plan to create a containment zone by using Nevada Highways 207 and 206 down to California Highway 88 into Alpine County. If the fire continues pushing east, the terrain just west of Highway 207 is steep, rugged and too dangerous for firefighters to work in, Beale said, “however, we’re trying to make this footprint as small as possible on the landscape.”
Turn off your sprinkler, fire officials say
Tahoe-area fire officials in a statement Wednesday told residents evacuating their homes not to leave “irrigation, garden hoses, and sprinklers on roofs actively running” as they flee.
“Not only is this not helpful in protecting homes from wildfire, but it can be detrimental for firefighters who rely on a water supply with adequate flow to fight fire in extremely dangerous conditions,” the Tahoe Fire and Fuels Team wrote in a news release.
Fire officials also wrote that spraying down roofs and lawns before evacuating is a waste of time.
“This is not effective, as the roof will dry very quickly, as will the vegetation, which doesn’t protect the home itself.”
The Tahoe Fire and Fuels Team, which is made up of representatives from Cal Fire, the Nevada Division of Forestry and Lake Tahoe Basin fire agencies, also noted that nearly 90% of homes that burn in wildfires are ignited by embers, not flame fronts.
“Maintaining defensible space and having separation between flammable fuels, along with hardening homes to ember intrusion, are the best preparations residents can take prior to evacuating homes.”
Tahoe tourism agencies discourage visitors
The Lake Tahoe Visitors Authority and North Lake Tahoe Visitor Bureaus in a joint statement Tuesday afternoon asked visitors to postpone any planned visits to the Lake Tahoe area due to the Caldor Fire until further notice.
“We ask for everyone’s support in following the orders of emergency agencies,” the two tourism agencies wrote.
It’s the second time in as many years that Tahoe-area tourism officials have taken the previously unprecedented step of asking visitors not to come. Last year, it was due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
California State Parks closed in Tahoe Basin
Several state parks in the Lake Tahoe Basin have been closed until further notice due to the Caldor Fire, California State Parks officials announced Wednesday.
The state parks in El Dorado fully closed due to the Caldor Fire include D.L. Bliss State Park, Ed Z’berg Sugar Pine Point State Park, Emerald Bay State Park, Lake Valley State Recreation Area and Washoe Meadows State Park.
All public access is closed in these five state parks, including camping and day use. State park officials urged the public to stay away from the Lake Tahoe Basin as evacuation orders and warnings remain in effect.
In Nevada County, hazardous air quality from the Caldor Fire has forced the closure of Donner Memorial State Park until further notice. Hazardous air quality also has led to the closure of Tahoe State Recreation Area in Placer County until further notice.
This story was originally published September 1, 2021 at 8:02 AM with the headline "Live Updates: Caldor Fire now near Kirkwood; some early evacuees can return home."
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