
The weeks-old fire was burning about 65 miles north of the Lake Tahoe-area blaze and prompting new evacuation orders and warnings this week. 17.Ĭrews are battling the Dixie, the second-largest wildfire in state history at 1,260 square miles. Forest Service announced Monday that all national forests in California would be closed until Sept. The threat of fire is so widespread that the U.S. More than 15,000 firefighters were battling dozens of California blazes, with help from out-of-state crews. Richard Gerety III of Patterson, California suffered third-degree burns over 20 percent of his body, the Modesto Bee reported.ĭespite the very active fire year, there have not been many injuries or deaths among firefighters or residents.
South lake tahoe fire alert skin#
Outside, evacuees who had stayed in tents sorted through ramen noodles and plastic bags of clothes and keepsakes.Ī firefighter injured while battling the Caldor Fire last weekend was expected to be hospitalized for a month after undergoing skin grafting surgery. In all, Harrah’s, Harveys Lake Tahoe Casino, the Hard Rock and Montbleu Resort have more than 2,200 hotel rooms.Īt the Douglas County Community & Senior Center in Gardnerville, people had their temperature checked before entering a gymnasium of cots set up by the Red Cross. Hotels are housing evacuees, fire crews and other emergency personnel. The state board that controls gaming said that casino regulators were monitoring operations at the four largest gambling properties in the city. South Lake Tahoe bustles with outdoor activities while just across the state border in Stateline, Nevada, tourists can gamble at major casinos.īut on Tuesday, only a few dozen tourists remained on the casino floor of the Montbleu Resort, Casino and Spa. The Lake Tahoe area is usually a year-round recreational paradise offering beaches, water sports, hiking, ski resorts and golf. But since then, nearly two dozen helicopters and three air tankers dumped thousands of gallons of water and retardant on the fire, fire spokesman Dominic Polito said Tuesday. Thick smoke prevented air firefighting operations periodically last week. Pushed by strong winds, the Caldor Fire crossed two major highways and burned mountain cabins as it swept down slopes into the Tahoe Basin. But nearly everyone worried Tuesday about what the fire would do next. South Lake Tahoe city officials said only a handful of residents defied Monday’s evacuation order.
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The fire was 3 miles outside of South Lake Tahoe, California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection Battalion Chief Henry Herrera told KGO-TV. “That’s definitely not going to help the firefighting efforts,” said Courtney Coats, a spokeswoman for the U.S. The National Weather Service warned that weather conditions through Wednesday would include low humidity, dry fuel and wind gusts up to 30 mph.

On Monday, roughly 22,000 residents jammed the city’s main artery for hours after they were ordered to leave as the fire advanced, chewing up drought-stricken vegetation. The city of South Lake Tahoe, usually bustling with summer tourists, was eerily empty and the air thick and hazy with smoke from the Caldor Fire, one of two major fires burning in the same area. A day after an explosive wildfire emptied a resort city at the southern tip of Lake Tahoe, a huge firefighting force braced for strong winds Tuesday as some residents in neighboring Nevada were ordered to evacuate. He has been living in South Lake Tahoe, which was evacuated Monday, for three months waiting for disability payments to come through so he can buy a car. Christian Stevens, who lives in a lean-to he fixed up, waits for a ride out of South Lake Tahoe, Calif., on Tuesday, Aug.
