10:21 a.m. PDT August 24, 2021
The Caldor Fire grew by about 10,000 acres Monday under the influence of a 6 mph wind gusting out of the south, southwest, and west at 8 to 15 mph while the relative humidity was in the high 20s. Most of the activity was on the southeast and northeast sides. So far crews have been able to keep it south of Highway 50 except for a spot fire near Granite Springs Road that has burned several hundred acres. During a Monday night mapping flight the fire was about two miles southwest of Sciots Camp and 14 miles southwest of Lake Tahoe.
The fire was mapped Monday night at 117,000 acres.
Monday night fire activity moderated overall, but with some small spot fires and significant terrain-driven runs on the southeast side. Humidity recovery allowed crews to engage in direct control tactics and to continue indirect line construction.
To see all articles on Wildfire Today about the Caldor Fire, including the most recent, click HERE.
The Incident Management Team (IMT) reported Monday that in three or more days the following areas have the potential to be threatened: Silver Lake, Kit Carson, Plasse, Kirkwood, Twin Bridges, Sierra-at-Tahoe, Caples Lake, and the Lake Tahoe Basin.
Monday the IMT identified a long list of “critical resource needs” requested by today, Monday, including 330 engines, 60 hand crews, 17 Division Supervisors, and 40 other overhead personnel.
The weather forecast predicts very challenging conditions for firefighters over the next two days — strong winds Tuesday afternoon, 13 mph gusting out of the south-southwest at 20 mph, with 30 percent relative humidity and 70 degrees. Overnight the wind will slow to 6 mph from the southwest, then increase again Wednesday, 14 to 17 mph gusting up to 26 mph from the southwest with the RH in the low 20s.
This weather combined with the historically low fuel moistures could result in very significant growth of the fire Tuesday and Wednesday.
Damage inspections are in progress with approximately 40 percent of the current fire perimeter having being inspected. Crews have documented the destruction of 455 residences and 11 commercial structures. On the list of structures destroyed are one school, a church, a post office, and two fire stations (Grizzly Flats Forest Service and Pioneer Fire Dept. Station 35). PG&E currently has about 3,000 customers without power.
The El Dorado County Sheriff in collaboration with CAL FIRE has released a map displaying properties that have been inspected for any damage or that have been destroyed by the Caldor Fire.
Bill,
You do a Great job keeping us informed, THANK YOU !
Thank you
Would be interesting to see the Caples prescribed fire scar on the same map.
Sorry Bill, not your fault….this blog is ridiculous….some real haters out there….Peace……
Yeah. I can remember when we used to talk about wildland fire here.
I look at this site daily to get updated fire information so please don’t stop doing what you do best. Ignore the rest. Thank you for the information and articles.
Craig McCue
Sasquatch HI-MT Water, Inc
Currently assigned to the Schneider Springs fire in Washington.
I wonder where the source of ignition was and what type of fuel work was surrounding the immediate area? If it’s now spotting 1.8miles ahead of itself no fuels work will stop that! But fuels work could have stopped it small maybe where it started, any clues here Bill?
I just care about the animals ? people gone nuts!!
All those people have pets Dina’ that’s a cruel thing to say
In 2018, when they had a difficult situation with the Carr Fire that burned from Redding to Shasta, they backed off about 20 miles and built a fire line about 10 miles long, West of Shasta Lake.
When they did that, they conceded that the fire, which was then 10×10 miles, would grow to be 10 x 30 miles.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carr_Fire
In the case of the Caldor fire, there is a string of Lakes between the fire and Lake Tahoe. From Lake Aloha to Lower Echo Lake.
It seems logical to take advantage of the natural fire line afforded by the lakes.
The distance through Twin Bridges to the Desolation Valley lakes area is about 1/2 the size of the Caldor fire.
So that’s only 5 or 6 days in front of the fire, if it keeps growing Northeast at the same steady rate.
If they’re planning on keeping it out of the Suburban area of South Lake Tahoe, they would also have to put in a North South running fire line in the Nebelhorn area of Highway 50, where it does a big 180.
Before you burn along that line (which is on the far side of Ralston ridge, in a new basin) I would hope that the large unforested expanse of desolation wilderness would function as a fire break. Also the Echo Lake basin is full of cabins and property. Not that Grizzly Flats wasn’t.
Come on folks! Let’s cool it with the religion, name calling, anger, masks and politics.
Please stay on topic. This article is about the Caldor Fire.
Now is not the time to be posting your religious rhetoric when so many of our fellow Americans homes are on the verge of be lost. These are the times and events that at one time brought us together to support one and other and actually be there for each other in any and every way possible. All of this needless nonsense that means nothing has no place right now and makes me want to puke. Go help and support your neighbors, support our firefighters, do something of real value. Keep you moronic thoughts to yourself and visit another site where all you people can arouse each other until the cows come home. I have to get back to work !! While your at it get a job and a vaccine while your at it. Once you have a family member die then you will get vaccinated!!
I may have missed it, but didn’t see anything about shortage of FFs. With Great Basin down to PL2 and easing of fire weather in other regions, more resources are either coming available or being released daily. Sounds more like conditions and “fightability” are significant challenges to suppression, however.
In some situations, no matter how many resources are deployed, the monsters aren’t immediately tameable until conditions give me a break.
https://youtu.be/EzUpOpNR6aE
Mask requirements, vaccine mandates, all extreme burdens on a country based on the US constitution and the bill of rights.
All people want to do is their jobs with known of the government over reach.
Perhaps we just say NO!! To the over reach and No to the power grab.
Freedom in society is far more important and cannot be traded off in the name of so called safety.
God lets things burn and fall when his people worship false idles, are vain, and do not obey the basic rules he set forth.
Start praying and let god do his work and I would wager once we got the population praying instead of forced half baked money grabbing vaccines rains will fall and fires will go out.
Here’s an idea Vito: get a grip!
Wait, let me get my tinfoil hat
Not really conducive the discussion at hand, but thanks for playing.
Holy crap
I thought this was a wildfire info site
Not platform for complainers
Reading this was a terrible experience. Right now people are faced with the destruction of their lives on so many levels. God is angry right now because people have decided to let others clean up their dirty work and sit back and complain. If the virus doesn’t knock the breath out of you this fire will. I think it is time to give a damn about your fellow man and lend a helping hand. Wear a mask, visit the temple inside your soul, and stop thinking God will help when He gave you the intellect to know you reap what you sow.
Another Rocket Scientist
There are some people I want to keep distance from for sure.
I so agree we better start loving each other
Prove your statement with facts not unproven beliefs
Tell you what, Vito. Drive on over to Kyburz and stand in the middle of US-50 and beg God stop the fire, that will be swirling all around you, on both sides of the highway. You won’t need a mask, because there won’t be anybody else there except overworked firefighters, who will likely be wearing respirators and oxygen tanks.
If you happen to suffer burns from this expedition, head up to South Lake Tahoe to the hospital, where the ER is nearly full of like-minded fellows like you, who came down with COVID in spite of their purity of heart and sincerity of prayer. Perhaps they will find time and facilities to treat you.
Y’know Vito, some of us who are atheists nonetheless are willing to acknowledge the possibility that God gave us vaccines and the common sense to use masks. And maybe, just maybe, God is angriest at the false believers who wrap themselves in the mantle of piety and expect miracles instead of relying on the readily available tools.
There’s an old story abut a religious man who turns down three rescues and eventually dies in a flood. When he gets to heaven he asks why his prayers weren’t answered. to which God replies “I sent you three rescuers. What else were you expecting?”.
Think about that Vito. Now excuse me while I touch up the defensible space around my home that’s 30 miles from the fire.
Well, here’s the view from dispatch, even though I can’t see inside people’s brains. We’ve got resources available out the butt in region 2 and we’re all pretty confused about why the forests seem to be locking down all our engines and crews in region. Getting name requests daily from r1, r6, r4, r5. Seems like when our supervisors run it up, DOs turn down requests. Maybe just the over simple view from a 3rd year seasonal but seems like people want to help and are not being allowed.
3rd year seasonal, lol. I’m in R2 and we have nobody in our zone. Plenty Overhead though.
As my father said, Open Quote, ‘you will never find a atheist in a fox hole.” Close quote. Battle of the Bulge, Voices of History YouTube Richard H Wheeler my father …your friend! South Lake Tahoe needs our prayers. It’s possible that no amount of man power and/equipment will stop this fire!! Miracles do happen.
Number 6:24-27✝️✡️
Stay safe! Shalom
Can I join your cult and drink the kool-aid?
Your rant is noted. Now go away. It is a fire site. Freedom is not “I get to do whatever the H*** I want.” It is contingent on you not doing things that harm others. Stop with your mythological reading of the constitution. Large complex societies require governance, agreed rules, public health and safety laws, and courts. But this is about helping people know when to evacuate their homes, and the potential loss of natural treasures because many people won’t see what is happening and change some patterns.
Amen