SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. — The Lake Tahoe area was on high alert Monday as the Caldor fire pushed closer to the popular vacation spot, fueled by intense winds.
The fire, which has already destroyed hundreds of structures, has been marching toward Lake Tahoe for days, but officials say the dangers heightened this weekend due to winds and heat.
Evacuation orders include communities just south of South Lake Tahoe. All of the Lake Tahoe Basin in El Dorado County, from the California-Nevada state line on the lake’s southern end to Tahoma on its western shore, was under an evacuation warning by Sunday night.
The National Weather Service has issued red flag warnings indicating gusty wind conditions in the area from 11 a.m. Monday to 11 p.m. Tuesday.
“We are expecting a big change in the weather pattern,” incident meteorologist Jim Dudley said during a briefing Saturday evening. “What will happen is that the winds that have been affecting the fire on the ground level … are going to be aided by southwesterly winds aloft. “
Officials said the winds will meet with hot, dry conditions to create elevated fire weather concerns. Gusts on Monday could be as strong as 35 mph.
The majority of growth and activity was on the fire’s northeastern edge, near the town of Strawberry and in the direction of the Lake Tahoe Basin, officials said. By Sunday afternoon, the fire had seared 168,387 acres and destroyed 472 homes. The fire was 19% contained Sunday morning, but the containment dropped to 13% by the afternoon.
Crews on Sunday were working hard and fast to get ahead of the shift.
“We have one more day of fairly light winds across the fire, and then things change later Sunday night, Monday, and they will continue into Tuesday,” Dudley said.
Adding to the challenges is the area’s topography, which includes deep drainages and canyons that can act as funnels for the wind and flames, officials said.
“We have a saying: Where water flows, fire goes,” said fire behavior analyst Steven Volmer.
Volmer said the fire is spotting at distances as far as three-fourths of a mile, and the probability of those spots creating new fires is 90%. In the days to come, that probability will increase to 95%.
Winds have long been the X-factor in the state’s extreme fire behavior, officials said, so the forecast for the week could spell trouble for crews and for residents awaiting answers.
“We’ve had spotting occurring with these weaker winds,” said California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection public information officer Henry Herrera. “So once they reach those [higher] speeds, there is potential for increased spotting, and for the spotting distance to increase as well.”
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(Times staff writer Smith reported from South Lake Tahoe, and Seidman and Newberry from Los Angeles.)
