Story at a glance
- California’s Caldor Fire is still burning a week and a half after igniting.
- The fire continues to inch toward the Lake Tahoe Basin.
- The Caldor Fire is only 11 percent contained.
California’s Caldor Fire is still burning a week and a half after igniting as it inches closer and closer to the Lake Tahoe Basin.
“We have all efforts in place to keep it out of the basin,” the Cal Fire director, Chief Thom Porter, said at a news conference Tuesday shared on the Amador-El Dorado Unit’s Facebook page. “But we do need to also be aware that is a possibility based on the way fires have been burning.”
The Caldor Fire has burned a total of 126,182 acres. Due to low containment and an abundance of dry fuel in the area, USDA Forest Service Pacific Southwest Region announced the closure of multiple nearby national forests through Sept. 6, 2021, at 11:59 p.m.
Last Tuesday, the fire spread through the town of Grizzly Flats, causing mass evacuations and destroying a number of buildings and cars. Authorities reported two civilians who were injured in the fire as it spread through the town were both transported to local hospitals via air ambulance with “serious” and “severe” injuries, respectively.
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Overnight fire conditions offered firefighters some brief reprieve to better contain it.
“The change in wind patterns in the early hours of the evening decreased fire behavior throughout the incident,” InciWeb reported. “This allowed firing teams to progress through Division A, D, and W, strengthening and improving the control lines.”
Still, the fire is only 11 percent contained at this time and its behavior continues to be erratic, making firefighting efforts challenging.
“Throughout the Southwest and the Northeastern areas of the fire, spot fires continued to be found around the perimeter,” according to InciWeb. “The steep drainages and canyons in the region continued to aid erratic winds and hamper control efforts.”
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