SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. — Wildfire crews faced yet another grueling day Wednesday as the massive Caldor fire blew past 200,000 acres and continued its steady march east.
The head of the fire is now approaching the Nevada state line, spurring concerns that it could become a multi-state blaze. Firefighters made an all-out effort Tuesday to defend the Lake Tahoe Basin and were able to protect many of the homes in Christmas Valley and Meyers, while also herding the flames into areas south of the popular resort city of South Lake Tahoe.
“We’re fortunate the fire did not make as strong a push into Tahoe as it did the previous day,” Tim Ernst, operations section chief with the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, said during a Wednesday morning briefing.
But the threat is not yet gone: Another day of strong winds and bone-dry conditions lies ahead, and firefighters are bracing for a continuous battle against airborne embers and fast-moving flare-ups. Red flag warnings remain in place over much of the fire area until 11 p.m. Wednesday, indicating the potential for wind gusts as strong as 30 mph.
“The wind regime you saw yesterday will continue today,” incident meteorologist Jim Dudley said. “Where it was gusty on the ridges, and you saw the swirling erratic wind conditions, you’re going to see that again today.”
Strong winds are a major concern for firefighters, as they can send embers aloft and ignite spot fires as far as a mile away, officials said.
Fire behavior analyst Steven Volmer said given the hot, dry conditions in the area, the probability of an errant ember sparking a new fire was “extremely high” — above 90%. And when fires do start, they can spread at speeds of 200 feet per minute between the crowns of trees, and about 100 feet per minute on the ground, he said.
Beyond the wind, firefighters are also dealing with another challenge, officials said: fatigue. The fire has been burning for 18 days. As of Wednesday morning, it had seared through 204,390 acres and was 20% contained.
“Whether you have been here for the duration of this incident, you came from another fire or you’ve been covering at home, fatigue can and will set in,” one safety officer told firefighters, noting that “we all know we still have a long grind ahead of us.”
The eastern flank of the fire is among the top concerns, officials said, and there was also talk that the fire could head south toward Markleeville in the coming days.
Containment lines made with bulldozers near Heavenly appear to be keeping the fire at bay, although flames remain active on the ridge above Kirkwood and in Wrights Lake north of Highway 50.
The original part of the fire — near Grizzly Flats to the west — is still causing problems, although officials hope to lift some of the evacuation orders in that area within the next 48 hours.
Calling it the state’s “No. 1 priority,” Gov. Gavin Newsom said significant resources were being dedicated to the firefight, including fire retardant being dropped by aircraft, helicopters making water drops, and the National Guard deployed to battle the blaze.
Nevada Gov. Steve Sisolak this week declared a state of emergency “in the anticipation of the fire crossing from California into the state of Nevada in the coming days,” his office said.
More than 4,200 personnel have been assigned to fight the fire, officials said.
Evacuation orders have been issued across a wide swath of the area, including South Lake Tahoe and into Douglas County. Nearly 35,000 structures are threatened by the fire.
By late Tuesday afternoon, half a dozen sheriff’s deputies in safety vests began a door-to-door notification in the mountain areas just past the state line, including Kingsbury at the top of Daggett Summit, as most residents packed their cars and headed out.
Ryan Guest was filling his red Toyota 4Runner with clothes in garbage bags and bins. He returned from Cabo San Lucas in Mexico only a few weeks ago but is now heading back on the road to San Diego, where he has family.
“It’s not worth it,” he said of the risk of staying.
Smoke from the fire is also contributing to worsening air quality across the region, with the El Dorado County Air Quality Management District warning residents that the air quality forecast is “very unhealthy” through at least Friday.
