Evacuation Warnings for All of South Lake Tahoe as Caldor Fire Rages

Lake Tahoe Caldor Fire (Justin Sullivan / Getty)
Justin Sullivan / Getty

Evacuation warnings have been issued for all of the southern side of Lake Tahoe due to the advancing Caldor Fire, one of several large wildfires burning in California.

Caldor Fire Twilight (Josh Edelson / AFP / Getty)

In this long exposure photograph, fire and smoke push into the Lake Tahoe region during the Caldor fire near Tragedy Springs, California on August 29, 2021. (Photo by JOSH EDELSON / AFP) (Photo by JOSH EDELSON/AFP via Getty Images)

The San Francisco Chronicle reported:

All residents on the California side of Lake Tahoe’s south shore were warned Sunday night to be ready to leave their homes in the face of the monstrous Caldor Fire as crews fought to beat back the blaze and new mandatory evacuation orders were issued outside the city of South Lake Tahoe.

The entire Desolation Wilderness was ordered evacuated, and Sunday night’s warning included all areas surrounding the south side of Lake Tahoe up to the Nevada border, including the city of South Lake Tahoe. Some areas south of the city were previously ordered to evacuate.

The 2-week-old blaze has frequently resisted all efforts to control it. On Sunday, a combination of critically dry vegetation and strong winds helped it cast flames as far as 1 mile ahead at times, officials said.

The Caldor Fire was 13% contained as of Sunday evening, down from 19% that morning. The 168,387-acre fire has destroyed 472 homes, and more than 21,000 structures were threatened.

The Caldor Fire is still not as large as the Dixie Fire, the second-larges in the state’s history, which has consumed over 765,000 acres, at 48% containment. That blaze became the first to burn from one side of the Sierra Nevada to the other.

Firefighter Caldor Fire (Justin Sullivan / Getty)

TWIN BRIDGES, CALIFORNIA – AUGUST 30: Firefighters extinguish hot spots as the Caldor Fire moves through the area on August 30, 2021 near 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)

However, the Caldor Fire is advancing rapidly, and threatens a more densely populated area near the Lake Tahoe region.

Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of the recent e-book, Neither Free nor Fair: The 2020 U.S. Presidential Election. His recent book, RED NOVEMBER, tells the story of the 2020 Democratic presidential primary from a conservative perspective. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.

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