SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. (AP) – The lifting of a mandatory evacuation order for South Lake Tahoe’s 22,000 residents is a confident milestone in the fight against the Caldor Fire, but it remains only 48% contained and still threatens areas south of the resort town.
Firefighters are confronting aggressive winds and flames in some southeast sections of the Caldor Fire, which could still reach Meyers, a community more than a mile high known as the gateway to Lake Tahoe, and other areas including the Kirkwood ski resort.
And although the evacuation is no longer mandatory for the smoke-cloaked city on the lake’s south shore, more than 5,000 personnel are still working to protect the surrounding resort communities and the homes of employees who staff casinos, restaurants and ski resorts.
“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, Cal Fire official John Davis said. “And if it comes sooner, we are already in the planning process for the whole area that’s still under evacuation order.”
When the 338 square-mile (876 square-kilometer) wildfire gobbled up pine trees and crossed the Sierra Nevada last week, South Lake Tahoe transformed into a ghost town. The city appeared slightly rebounded on Monday, yet mostly empty compared to normal holiday weekends.