Seen in a long camera exposure, the Caldor Fire burns at Sierra-at-Tahoe ski resort on Monday, Aug.Seen in a long camera exposure, the Caldor Fire burns on Sunday, Aug.Seen in a long camera exposure, the Caldor Fire burns as a chairlift sits motionless at the Sierra-at-Tahoe ski resort on Sunday, Aug.The new orders came a day after communities several miles south of the lake were abruptly ordered evacuated as the Caldor Fire raged nearby. “I am asking you as our community to please remain calm.” “This is a systematic evacuation, one neighborhood at a time,” South Lake Tahoe police Lt.
Police and other emergency vehicles whizzed by. Vehicles loaded with bikes and camping gear and hauling boats were stuck in traffic, stalled in hazy, brown air that smelled of campfire. Thousands of people rushed to leave South Lake Tahoe as the entire resort city came under evacuation orders and wildfire raced toward Lake Tahoe, a large freshwater lake straddling California and Nevada.Įvacuation warnings issued for the city of 22,000 on Sunday turned into orders Monday. “On behalf of the State of Nevada, I would like to thank all of our brave first responders, local government agencies, and nonprofit entities who continue to go above and beyond to assist our communities during the Caldor Fire,” Sisolak said. “We will continue to use all our available resources to fight this fire and assist those in need.” Steve Sisolak declared a state of emergency Monday as the Caldor Fire pushed nearer to Lake Tahoe, forcing the evacuation of South Lake Tahoe. However, there was the prospect that the weather conditions would offer a reprieve, with the National Weather Service saying that "gusty" and "variable" winds were likely but canceled its high winds warnings.SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. There is hope that record-breaking winds, which pushed the fires into residential communities, will die down and the flames will be dampened by snow which is expected on Friday.Ĭolorado monitoring stations across Jefferson, Boulder, and Larimer counties had recorded preliminary hurricane-force wind gusts, with some exceeding 100 miles per hour on Thursday afternoon, CNN reported.ĭaniel Swain, a meteorologist at the University of California, said it was "genuinely hard to believe this is happening in late December." He tweeted that the fires were exacerbated by a "record warm & dry fall" combined with "an extreme (100mph+) downslope windstorm."
Fires have ravaged parts of Boulder County. A Mountain View wildland firefighter in the Centennial Heights neighborhood of Louisville, Colorado on December 30, 2021.