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Wildfires




CHAOS AS CALDOR FIRE FORCES UNPRECEDENTED EVACUATION OF TAHOE TOURIST TOWN

Cal Fire chief warns of ‘fire activity that we have never seen before’ as
fleeing residents clog roads

Traffic on Highway 50 stands still as South Lake Tahoe try to evacuate.
Photograph: Noah Berger/AP
Traffic on Highway 50 stands still as South Lake Tahoe try to evacuate.
Photograph: Noah Berger/AP

Gabrielle Canon in South Lake Tahoe, Dani Anguiano in Portland and agencies
Tue 31 Aug 2021 13.21 BST

First published on Mon 30 Aug 2021 13.13 BST

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Thousands of residents have been forced to evacuate the tourist town of South
Lake Tahoe as the raging Caldor fire draws closer, prompting chaotic scenes and
clogged roads as residents rush to leave the area.



Monday’s fresh evacuation orders, unheard of in the city, came a day after
communities several miles south of the lake were abruptly ordered to evacuate as
the wildfire raged nearby. By late Monday the fire had been pushed by strong
winds across highways 50 and 89, burning cabins as it swept into the Tahoe
Basin.

“There is fire activity happening in California that we have never seen before,”
said Thom Porter, director of the California department of forestry and fire
protection, known as Cal Fire. “For the rest of you in California: every acre
can and will burn someday in this state.”



Ash rained down on long lines of cars gridlocked on the roads exiting South Lake
Tahoe, a popular vacation town home to more than 20,000. Cars inched along
through the smoky haze, some piled high with belongings and others towing
trailers with bikes and other recreation equipment. Occasionally, sirens rang
out and red lights flashed into the distance.

Anxiety mounted with each gusty breeze, strong enough to shake the trees,
reminding evacuees that the inferno was heading their way.

“I haven’t moved in half an hour,” said South Lake Tahoe resident Dick Kline,
leaning out of the window of his truck. Behind him he towed his grandfather’s
classic car in mint condition, the sole major possession he wanted to ensure
would get out safely. “I am sitting here watching all this ash come down on it
but at least I am getting it out of here,” he said.

Up until that morning, Kline said, he didn’t think he’d have to leave. He’s been
in the area since 1977 and has only had to evacuate once before. That time, he
escaped with only the clothes he was wearing – and of course, his grandfather’s
car.


Gridlock as South Lake Tahoe residents flee the Caldor Fire. Photograph:
Gabrielle Canon/The Guardian

Farther down the line, Robert Adamson waited in his delivery truck. He had one
more delivery to make, distributing linens to local resorts, but many were
already closing.

“Everyone was gone,” he said of his last stop in the Tahoe Keys. “My boss called
me and said to make this one delivery and get the hell out of there. It will
probably take most of the day to get back through town.”

By mid-afternoon many streets were silent and empty as evacuees cleared out,
save for a few folks still feverishly loading cars, trucks and RVs with their
things.

But for some, that just wasn’t an option.

Reel Duncan, a resident of more than 15 years, doesn’t have a vehicle. “It’s
messed up, the evacuation for people who don’t have cars” she said, adding that
she’d heard there were going to be shuttles for people but was told they’d
stopped running earlier in the day.

“It is me and my fiancé and my cat,” Duncan said. “We are all packed up and
ready to go, we just have to figure out a way to get out. And we have nowhere to
go.” Her neighbor, longtime resident Ron Hartman, was also stuck without a car.

“We are thinking about just riding our bikes down the highway with a sign on the
back,” Duncan said. “Like, can anyone give us a ride?”


The scene in South Lake Tahoe, home to more than 20,000. Photograph: Noah
Berger/AP

Evacuees faced heavy traffic in South Lake Tahoe, a popular vacation town.
Photograph: Noah Berger/AP


The Caldor fire, which broke out on 14 August, has so far burned 277 square
miles (717 sq km), an area larger than Chicago. More than 650 structures have
been destroyed and at least 20,000 more are under threat. Three first responders
have been injured in the blaze, along with two civilians.

The fire destroyed multiple homes on Sunday along Highway 50, one of the main
routes to the south end of the lake. The fire also roared through the
Sierra-at-Tahoe ski resort, destroying some buildings but leaving the main
buildings at the base intact.

“Today’s been a rough day and there’s no bones about it,” Jeff Marsoleis, forest
supervisor for El Dorado national forest, said on Sunday evening.

A few days ago, he said, he thought crews could halt the Caldor fire’s eastern
progress, but “today it let loose”.

Crews are preparing for challenging days ahead, with gusty winds and critical
fire weather conditions in the forecast for Monday and Tuesday.

00:57
Caldor fire burns on both sides of US Highway 50, footage shows – video

More than 15,000 firefighters are battling 15 large fires across California.
Flames have destroyed about 2,000 structures, burned 1.7m acres and forced
thousands to evacuate while blanketing large swaths of the west in unhealthy
smoke.

The California fires are among nearly 90 large blazes in the US, primarily in
the west, and are burning trees and brush desiccated by drought. The climate
crisis has made the region warmer and drier in the past 30 years and will
continue to make the weather more extreme and wildfires more destructive,
according to scientists.


LOSING GROUND

Flames from the two-week-old fire churned through mountains, thick smoke sending
tourists packing. South Lake Tahoe residents were asked to conserve water for
firefighting by turning off irrigation, shortening showers and delaying washing.



“To put it in perspective, we’ve been seeing about a half-mile of movement on
the fire’s perimeter each day for the last couple of weeks and today this has
already moved at 2.5 miles on us, with no sign that it’s starting to slow down,”
said Cal Fire division chief Erich Schwab.

Parts of the northern California terrain are so rugged that crews had to carry
fire hoses by hand from Highway 50 as they sought to douse spot fires caused by
erratic winds. The topography and fuels in the region make the fire particularly
complex, said Tim Ernst, a Cal Fire operations section chief.

“This is very aged, very dry timber which holds fire and carries fire extremely
rapidly,” Ernst said. “The topography – even making access to some of our fire
areas is extremely hazardous.”


Firefighters work to protect the Strawberry Station general store on Highway 50
in Strawberry, California. Photograph: Jason Armond/Los Angeles
Times/REX/Shutterstock

Containment dropped from 19% to 14% overnight as the fire grew by more than
25,000 acres and spread east by about 8.5 miles.

Triple-digit temperatures were possible and the extreme heat was expected to
last several days. A red flag warning for critical fire conditions was issued
for Monday and Tuesday across the Northern Sierra.

The fire has proved so difficult to fight that fire managers pushed back the
projected date for full containment from early this week to 8 September. Even
that estimate was tenuous.


OTHER CALIFORNIA FIRES



In southern California, a section of Interstate 15 was closed on Sunday
afternoon after winds pushed a new blaze, the Railroad fire, across lanes in the
Cajon Pass north-east of Los Angeles.

Further south, evacuation orders and warnings were in place for remote
communities after a wildfire spread quickly through the Cleveland national
forest on Saturday.

A firefighter received minor injuries and two structures were destroyed in the
2.3-sq mile Chaparral fire burning along the border of San Diego and Riverside
counties, according to the California department of forestry and fire
protection. It was 10% contained on Sunday.

04:35
The climate science behind wildfires: why are they getting worse? – video
explainer

The Dixie fire, the second-largest in state history at 1,205 sq miles, was 48%
contained in the Sierra-Cascades region about 65 miles north of the Caldor fire.
Nearly 700 homes were among almost 1,300 buildings destroyed since early July.

Containment increased to 26% on the 12-day-old French fire, which covered almost
40 sq miles in the southern Sierra Nevada. Crews protected forest homes on the
west side of Lake Isabella, a popular recreation area north-east of Bakersfield.

The Department of Defense is sending 200 soldiers from Washington state and
equipment including eight C-130 aircraft to help firefighters in northern
California. The C-130s have been converted to air tankers that can dump
thousands of gallons of water on the flames.



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