By Livia Albeck-Ripka

As the Caldor fire tore toward Lake Tahoe, California firefighters hacked down trees and bulldozed earth in paths up to 40 feet wide in the hopes that the fire would stop in its tracks when it reached their line of defense.

But after all that action, South Lake Tahoe and the neighborhoods to its south — all too familiar with the unruly nature of flames — are in a holding pattern on Friday. They must wait and see if the fire, which was between three to five miles away, will break through.

Caldor

Updated

“The fire’s got to reach that containment line and hold,” said Kevin Brown, a spokesman for Cal Fire currently based in Placerville, about 65 miles from the lake.

The wind had eased on Thursday, slowing the blaze to a creep. 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 Thursday evening, the Caldor fire had burned more than 210,000 acres and was 27 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.

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.”

Site Index

Site Information Navigation

Source: Read Full Article