The evacuation order for some 22, 000 South Lake Tahoe residents has been lifted but the threat of the Caldor Fire, which is still at 48 percent containment, continues.
The Caldor Fire is still putting Meyers at risk as fire crews are battling extreme winds and blazes in its southeast sections. Other areas like the Kirkwood ski resort are threatened by the fire, too.
Over 5, 000 personnel were deployed to have the surrounding resort communities in the lake’s south shore protected while evacuation is not anymore mandatory. They are also working to keep the fire away from reaching casino employees’ residences, ski resorts, and restaurants.
“We’re also looking long term — what’s going to happen, four, five or six days down the road. We want to make sure we’re planning and having stuff ready and completed before more people can return home,” according to Cal Fire official John Davis. “And if it comes sooner, we are already in the planning process for the whole area that’s still under evacuation order.”
South Lake Tahoe seemed like an abandoned town after the 338 square-mile wildfires wiped out pine trees and reached the Sierra Nevada recently.
While some improvement on the situation was seen in the city Monday, it is still far from the normal happenings during holiday weekends.
“I was honestly convinced this place was gonna go down,” said Dakota Jones, a Lake Tahoe Community College student, who came back to the place on Monday, as reported by ABC7. “It was nice to see that I was wrong.”
Ignited last August 14, the Caldor Fire has continued its ravage, burning as much as 1, 000 acres per hour during its peak. It already has crossed through thick forests, including cabins and hamlets located in the northern Sierra Nevada.
