Caldor Fire’s slow progression toward South Lake Tahoe prompted new evacuation orders Thursday
Hundreds of firefighters faced off against a new wildfire that broke out in the Sierra Foothills and quickly exploded along a steep, rocky ridge, opening up another front in a wildfire season that has already ravaged more than one million acres across California.
Just west of the Stanislaus National Forest in Calaveras County, the fast-growing Airola Fire that started late Wednesday afternoon rapidly ran up the hillside above the community of Vallecito. Nearly 350 firefighters were dispatched to fight the blaze and had gained about 25% containment around its perimeter by Thursday evening, according to Cal Fire.
Local officials ordered evacuations for an area encompassing eight square miles, including Parrotts Ferry Road, Camp Nine Road and the east side of the town of Vallecito. The 700-acre fire is threatening 200 buildings.About 30 miles north of Vallecito, California’s highest-priority wildfire — the Caldor Fire — swelled to 139,510 acres, with just 12% containment. Overnight winds sparked a spot fire that spread north of Highway 50 near the community of Kyburz, Cal Fire spokesman Capt. Keith Wade said, though the main body of the fire remained about 14 miles from the South Lake Tahoe area.
El Dorado County officials extended an evacuation order Thursday for several towns along Highway 50 — between Twin Bridges and Echo Summit — which leads northeast to the town of Meyers and into South Lake Tahoe. They also issued the first evacuation warnings for the Christmas Valley area from Highway 89 going west to Echo Summit.
“It does not mean you need to leave your house,” said Cal Fire incident commander Dusty Martin about the evacuation warnings. “It means that you need to be prepared.”
The Lake Tahoe Visitors Authority, meanwhile, encouraged people to postpone any immediate plans to visit the area.
“Our thoughts and gratitude go out to all the firefighters and first responders working tirelessly to keep our communities safe. And our hearts and hospitality go out to the people who’ve lost their homes,” said Carol Chaplin, the tourism agency’s CEO and president, in a statement. “The current priority is the health and safety for our community and assisting firefighting efforts.”
Air tankers, hand crews and dozers are focused on the fire’s northwestern and northeastern pockets, near Pollock Pines and the community of Strawberry, respectively. About 2,900 crews are fighting the fire, with more expected to join this week.
“The progression has been not fast over that area,” Wade said of the eastern flank toward Tahoe. “The concern today is the winds should be less today, but the humidity levels are quickly burning off.”
The National Weather Service issued a Red Flag warning for the northern and western parts of the Sacramento Valley — not including the Caldor Fire — in anticipation of low humidity and the wind shift. Around the fire’s footprint, winds were forecast to remain less than 10 mph through Saturday.
Gentle daytime breezes could still push the fire toward Tahoe, said meteorologist Emily Heller, but they were generally expected to move the fire southwest in the opposite direction.
“There could be some minor terrain-driven winds going up the mountain, but nothing significant,” she said.
Starting Sunday, Heller said, the threat of thunderstorms could bring lightning strikes and increased fire risk to Southern California, but the rest of the state was not expected to see any precipitation.
The Dixie Fire — the biggest wildfire of the season and second-biggest in California history — is now 749,713 acres and 45% contained. The fire has been spreading most aggressively to the east, near Taylorsville and the Genesee Valley, where hotshot crews are focused on removing vegetation that could feed spot fires.
Another new fire start called the Bennett Fire in Nevada County briefly worried local officials Wednesday and prompted evacuations in the Grass Valley area, near its origin on East Bennett Road and Lava Rock Avenue, Cal Fire said. By Thursday, however, the fire was 70% contained and evacuation orders had been lifted.
In Tuolumne County, the Washington Fire ignited at about 1:20 p.m. Thursday along Golf Links Road near Highway 108, according to Cal Fire. Evacuation orders were issued for Highway 108 up Stockton Road to South Washington Street and South Washington to Highway 108. The city of Sonora was also under an evacuation warning. The fire covered 81 acres and was 5% contained as of Thursday evening.
“Extreme fire behavior and dry fuels created an aggressive firefight this afternoon,” Cal Fire said in an incident update. “Crews will remain engaged in structure defense and construct fire line throughout the night.”
In all, 34 new wildfires broke out Wednesday statewide, according to Cal Fire, with more than 14,300 firefighters battling 14 blazes.
