7:57 p.m. PDT Sept. 1, 2021
A mapping flight at 4 p.m. Wednesday showed that the Caldor Fire at that time had not spread as much as it had in previous days. However there were several hours of daylight left. The blaze has also been active during the night, even creating spot fires some distance from the main fire when you would hope that every self-respecting wildfire would go to sleep as the wind is supposed to slow down and the humidity should increase. But the historically low fuel moisture is the wild card. The 100-hour and 1,000-hour time-lag fuels have no significant diurnal variation.
To see all articles about the Caldor Fire on Wildfire Today, including the most recent, click HERE.
The fire is still about the same distance from the shore of Lake Tahoe, about 4 miles, and it is 3 miles from the Nevada state line. Firefighters expect the northeast side to keep moving toward north and east. The head, or the far northeast area, has spread uphill to above 9,000 feet, where the sub-alpine vegetation should act to slow the movement, but the frequent spotting keeps it moving.
Near Kirkwood on the southeast side about 800 acres have burned south of Highway 88 west of the ski area. North and northwest of the ski area the fire continues to grow north of the highway even as it moves into locations with more granite than vegetation. One large finger of fire is a half mile north of Caples Lake.
The number of confirmed residences destroyed by the fire has risen to 595 and 185 other structures. On Tuesday the numbers were 486 residences and 183 others. A map is available showing the locations that have been surveyed for structure damage.
The Red Flag Warning ends Wednesday at 11 p.m.
8:46 a.m. PDT, Sept. 1, 2021
These maps show the extent of the northeast side of the Caldor Fire during a mapping flight at 5:35 a.m. PDT September 1, 2021. It appears that the fire came very close to structures on Highway 89 south of Meyers.
The fire is about four miles from South Lake Tahoe.
We will post more information and additional maps later today.
6:41 p.m. PDT, August 31, 2021
Mandatory evacuations have been ordered for some areas within two counties across the state line in Nevada; click for the details for Alpine and Douglas Counties. We were unable to find a usable map but there is a half-assed one at the Douglas County link for that county only. The previous very good map for the rest of the fire is still available, but it does not include the sections in Nevada. Maybe the new areas will get added.
Below is an updated map, with data from 4:30 p.m. PDT August 31, showing the expansion east of Highway 89. At that time it had grown nearly six miles east of the highway.
1:46 p.m. PDT August 31, 2021
Here are three updated maps of the Caldor Fire from a fixed wing mapping flight at 9:30 a.m. Tuesday. The fire continues to spread to the east and northeast. At that time it was 4.5 miles south of South Lake Tahoe and the shore of the lake. The large finger of fire east of Highway 89 grew at least 3.5 miles past the highway.
On the east side, the Caldor Fire has crossed Highway 88 in at least two places, 1.5 miles west of Kirkwood, and 1.6 miles west of Tragedy Spring. Some of the fire across the highway west of Tragedy Spring may be associated with a firing operation.
The #CaldorFire continues to grow, spotting in to subdivisions around Meyers and the Apache Ave. area, Tuesday. @NorthBayNews pic.twitter.com/lKzspqFWHW
— Kent Porter (@kentphotos) August 31, 2021
Fire crews are working extremely hard on the Caldor Fire. No structure losses reported pic.twitter.com/iw35MVFuTd
— CHP South Lake Tahoe (@CHPSouthLake) August 31, 2021
8:46 a.m. PDT August 31, 2021
Monday the Caldor Fire south of Lake Tahoe burned downhill to the east off the Echo Summit toward a populated area south of Meyers, jumped across Highway 89, and kept going up the slopes on the east side of the highway for another two miles, according to data from a 5:55 a.m. mapping flight Tuesday. The fire front was more than a mile wide when it entered the valley along Highway 89. At 5:55 a.m. it was about half a mile south of the Highway 89/50 junction.
Tuesday morning the fire had burned 191,000 acres. It was about 5 miles from South Lake Tahoe and the south shore of the lake.
The weather forecast is not good news for the residents or firefighters. A Red Flag Warning is in effect through 11 p.m. Tuesday for wind gusts on ridges up to 45 mph and low relative humidity on the east and northeast sides of the fire.
These weather conditions will allow the fire to become active early Tuesday morning and continue burning throughout the night. Fire Behavior analysts expect spotting distances will again be more than 0.75 miles.
The mandatory evacuation areas extend around Lake Tahoe from Tahoma on the west side, east to the Nevada border, including South Lake Tahoe. A detailed zoomable map showing the areas under evacuation orders is available.
We do not have a report on the effects on structures near Highway 89, but as of Monday evening 486 residences and 183 other structures had been confirmed as destroyed.
Resources assigned to the fire include 25 helicopters, 415 fire engines, 92 dozers, 74 water tenders, and 82 hand crews for a total of 3,904 personnel.
