South Lake Tahoe under evacuation order as Caldor Fire rages

SIERRA-AT-TAHOE — South Lake Tahoe turned into a mass evacuation zone on Monday as the raging Caldor Fire forced residents to flee and authorities to issue orders for almost entire area to get out fast.

A chairlift at Sierra-at Tahoe ski resort sits idle as the Caldor Fire moves through the area on August 30, 2021 in Twin Bridges, California. The Caldor Fire has burned over 165,000 acres, destroyed over 650 structures and is currently 13 percent contained. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

Fire crews continued their efforts to slow the blaze, which is now 16 days old and not showing any signs of extinguishment anytime soon. Red-flag weather conditions returned as winds were expected to whip up to speeds of 15-20 mph and gusts of 30 mph. On the ridges, it may reach 50 mph, according to the National Weather Service.

By Monday morning, the massive wildfire had burned 177,260 acres and was 14% contained, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. It also had destroyed 472 single-home residences and 11 commercial properties, while damaging 39 other structures.

Another 20,414 structures are threatened, according to Cal Fire.

Three firefighters and two civilians have been injured in the blaze.

Traffic evacuating from the Caldor Fire passes through the burn scar of the 2007 Angora Fire on Highway 89 near Emerald Bay at Lake Tahoe, Monday, Aug. 30, 2021. (Karl Mondon/Bay Area News Group)

The evacuation orders to clear out almost the entire South Lake Tahoe area were the first in memory. Authorities issued the new orders Monday, and they included Barton Memorial Hospital, where staff notified families of patients that they were being transferred to “regional partner facilities” and leaving its emergency room “open for health needs only,” according to a social media post Sunday.

The other areas included:

• All residences with the Tahoe Keys community and all residents accessed from the streets connected to Tahoe Keys Boulevard, staying east of 3rd Street.
• The Tahoe Island area east of Highway 50/Highway 89 at the Lake Tahoe Boulevard/50/89 intersection. This includes the area of Barton Hospital and the area of Winnemucca to the 50/89 intersection. This area also includes the area north of Highway 50 west of Tahoe Keys Boulevard following along the north side of Highway 89 through the end of town prior to Pope Beach.
• All residences off of Lakeview Avenue, which is west of Highway 50, north of Blue Lakes Road and east of the Tahoe Keys neighborhood.
• The Sierra Tract, including all residences on both sides of Highway 50 for the streets connected to O’Malley Drive, Lodi Avenue, Silver Dollar Avenue and Rubicon Trail
• The Bijou, including all residences between Al Tahoe on the east side of Johnson Boulevard to include the streets of Treehaven Drive and Fremont Avenue and extending east into all residences west of Ski Run Boulevard and east of Pioneer Trail
• The section from Emerald Bay north to the Placer County line in Tahoma, extending west to the border of Desolation Wilderness
• The area from Sawmill Road at Lake Tahoe Boulevard, extending north to Pope Beach, and along the water’s edge to Eagle Point west to Desolation Wilderness across Emerald Bay
• The area of the Elks Club along Highway 50 and the west side of Pioneer trail. This area includes the streets of Hekpa Drive, excluding the residences west of the airport. It also includes all the residences accessed from Jicarilla Drive, Washoan Boulevard and Glen Eagles Road; as well the neighborhoods of Cold Creek Trail, High Meadows and Marshall Trail
• Gardner Mountain, northwest of the South Lake Tahoe Airport and west of Highway 50/Lake Tahoe Boulevard and the Highway 89 intersection to include the South Lake Tahoe High School, Tahoe Verde, and the streets accessed from 5th and 15th streets south of Highway 89.
• The area east of the Pioneer Trail to the Alpine County line stopping south of the Heavenly Ski Resort, including all residences off the Pioneer Trail

Authorities urged those leaving the area from Fallen Leaf and Tahoma to go north on Highway 89 toward Truckee, and told all others to go east on Highway 50 toward Nevada.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. – Aug. 30: Glen Naasz prepares to evacuate his home of 25 years, in South Lake Tahoe, Calif., Monday, Aug. 30, 2021, as the Caldor Fire threatens the basin. Naasz evacuated during the 2007 Angora Fire that destroyed over 200 homes. (Karl Mondon/Bay Area News Group)

When the sun rose Monday, the two-mile road into Sierra-at-Tahoe was surrounded on both sides by blackened forest land, and the hillsides up into the resort’s wilderness were charred.

Many of major buildings at Sierra-at-Tahoe were still standing, along with with ski lifts in their immediate vicinity.

The fire has been pushing northeast toward the Lake Tahoe basin, and the Sierra-at-Tahoe resort — located between Strawberry and Echo Summit — was transformed this weekend into a key staging ground for Cal Fire and U.S. Forest Service crews working to stop the flames. Thousands of homes, vacation getaways and natural wilderness around the lakeshore were threatened.

Dozens of bulldozers, vegetation masticators, water tenders and trucks filled the central parking lot of the Sierra-at-Tahoe ski resort, waiting to ease their way up the slopes and broaden containment lines in the surrounding 2,000 acres of federal forestland.

Some areas remained under evacuation warnings. Those included:

• Christmas Valley from Highway 89 West to Echo Summit
• Highway 89 due West to Watershed Ridge/Echo Summit and South to the Amador/El Dorado County line
• The area from Luther Pass Road, north along the El Dorado/Alpine County line to Armstrong Pass. West from Armstrong Pass to Upper Apache at Meyers. West on Upper Apache to Highway 50. West on Highway 50 to Highway 89. South on Highway 89 to the El Dorado/Alpine County line, including all homes on both sides of Highway 89
• The area from Upper Apache at Meyers, north along Highway 50, to Elks Club Drive. East on Elks Club Drive to Pioneer Trail, extending due south to Upper Apache at Meyers, including all homes off of Oneidas, Mandan, Apache, Ottawa and Player.
• The area North on Highway 50 from Highway 89 to Saw Mill Road. West on Saw Mill Road to Angora Ridge, extending to Echo Summit
• Shenendoah Road at the Amador County line west through the River Pines community, continuing west through on Shenendoah Road to Ostrom Road.
• Highway 88 at Tiger Creek road and east of it.
• South of the El Dorado-Amador County line with a western border of Highway 88 due south to the east end of Salt Springs Reservoir. The northeast border is the line from Dufrene Road east to Amador/Alpine county lines. The southern border is the Amador/Calaveras County line, and the eastern border the Amador/Alpine County line.

To help with those who are evacuating, officials opened a new shelter at the Truckee Veterans Hall at 10214 High Street in Truckee. A Red Cross shelter also was open at the Douglas County Community Center at 1329 Waterloo Lane in Gardnerville, Nev.

The red-flag warning for the critical fire conditions was set to start at 2 p.m. Monday, and it will stay in effect until 11 p.m. Tuesday, according to the weather service. The winds also are expected to stoke the Dixie Fire, as well. That blaze had consumed 771,183 acres by Monday morning and was 48% contained.

The air-quality index reading in South Lake Tahoe at noon Monday was 87, meaning it was moderately healthy. Readings through the weekend got into the very unhealthy category (with fine particulate matter between 200 and 300), and were expected to rise high again. A bit of cooling from a heat-up over the weekend is helping, according to the weather service.

Highway 50 remained closed between Pollock Pines and Meyers and will remain that way indefinitely, according to officials.

Please check back for updates.

from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/38qJiUa