The wind had eased by Friday morning, slowing the blaze enough for firefighters to attack it head on. But although cooler weather and lower winds are forecast for the coming days, “fire conditions could change in an hour or a day,” Mr. Brown said.
As of Friday morning, the Caldor fire had burned close to 213,000 acres and was 29 percent contained. Crews continued dropping hundreds of thousands of gallons of water and fire retardant while firefighters crossed the water by boat — pumping water from Lake Tahoe to save remote cabins and vacation homes.
Little remains known about the origins of the fire, which began almost three weeks ago near the Eldorado National Forest. Last month, it leveled much of the town of Grizzly Flats, and has so far destroyed more than 650 homes and 12 businesses. Four emergency workers and two civilians have been injured.
More than 30,000 other buildings remain threatened, authorities said Friday.
Jeffrey Spencer, 61, who evacuated with his wife and mother-in-law from their home near the Eldorado National Forest, about 10 miles south of Lake Tahoe, said that though the fire continued to burn just miles from their house, he was feeling “cautiously hopeful.”
“Our lives and important papers and valuables, we got to get out,” Mr. Spencer said. “The rest can be replaced.”
Source Article from https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/03/us/caldor-fire-lake-tahoe.html
Comments