Caldor Fire update: Evacuation warning extends to Lake Tahoe Basin's Christmas Valley near Meyers

An evacuation warning was issued for Christmas Valley near Meyers in the Lake Tahoe Basin, and parts of Alpine County, including the Kirkwood community, according to Cal Fire in a news release late Thursday morning.

The warning, which alerted to the evacuation of Christmas Valley from Highway 89 West to Echo Summit, was issued via Cal Fire and is located on its Facebook page here.

Caldor Fire - Updated Evacuation Warnings and Orders
El Dorado and Alpine Counties

Road Closures:
• The Highway 50 closure has been extended East to Meyers (Highway 50 and Highway 89 junction).

Evacuation Routes:
• Residents evacuating the area should use Highway 50 East.

Evacuation Order:
El Dorado County
• From Twin Bridges east to Echo Summit
• From Highway 50 South to Amador/Alpine County line
• From Highway 50 North to Flag Pole Peak.

Evacuation Warnings:
El Dorado County
• Christmas Valley from Highway 89 West to Echo Summit

• Highway 89 due West to Watershed Ridge and South to the Amador/El Dorado County line.

Alpine County
• Highway 89 South from Luther Pass Road to the Pickets Junction (Highway 88).
• West on Highway 88 to Kirkwood.

Evacuation Shelter:

Nevada
• A Red Cross Shelter is open for those evacuating from the area at the Douglas County Community Center, 1329 Waterloo Lane, Gardnerville, NV.

The Caldor Fire in El Dorado County has grown to 136,643 acres and is 12 percent contained as of Thursday morning, according to Cal Fire and the U.S. Forest Service.

Throughout the evening and overnight hours Wednesday into Thursday, the fire remained active to the northeast with most growth occurring toward the Kyburz area, with containment lines put down ahead to try to prevent it going into the Desolation Wilderness area, fire officials said.

The wildfire is southwest of Lake Tahoe, burning in areas that hasn't seen fires since the 1940s.

Containment around the Atherton Flat area has held the fire due north. The fire crossed over Highway 50 in the Kyburz area earlier this week, which then started a small spot fire, which then blew up to more than 1,000 acres, according to a Forest Service public information officer.

Winds over the fire will be moderate causing a slight reduction in fire behavior Thursday, however fire conditions still remain active and challenging. There were minimal air operations overnight, and they will be back in full force Thursday.

Meanwhile, with the weather changing over the next two days, firefighters working the Caldor Fire may have better conditions on gaining containment. The next few days will be critical.

"The weather has been favorable the last few days and everything they are doing operationally is working. They are making a good defense," said South Lake Tahoe Fire Chief Clive Savacool. "We are still working on contingency plans but things are looking good for the fire not getting closer. The fire is still not an imminent threat."

There was increased fire activity on the east end of the fire Wednesday morning around seven miles west of Echo Summit. The fire continued to move in a northeast direction during the day but the fire is still west of Strawberry.

Prior this week's spot fire flareup near Kyburz, spot fires have plagued firefighting efforts. But with the wind dying down there should be less of a problem in the coming days. On Wednesday, the fire threw another spot fire across Wright's Lake Road near Kyburz.

"Ninety percent of spot fires are going to cause a fire, so crews will have to go out and mitigate," said Steve Volmer, the chief fire behavior analyst working on the fire. "There has been 3/4 to one mile spotting, but once the wind stops and slows down they will get a reprieve and we'll stop seeing the crown fire runs."

Eric Schwab, Cal Fire incident commander, said they had a "successful day" Wednesday. Firefighters added more backlines across the "heel" at the west end of the fire and they burned into the middle fork of the Consumnes River with its tough terrain. Large smoke columns could be seen throughout the day and Schwab said that was due to the fuels they set fire to and it was "100 percent planned and did exactly as we needed it to."

He said as they gain momentum on the west side of the Caldor Fire it will reduce the complexity of the fire that is burning in areas that have trees up to 40 inches around, fallen timber and thick underbrush that is extremely dry. "Fire hasn't been in many of these areas since the 1940s," Schwab said.

Teams began firing Wednesday night around dozer lines in order to keep the fire from crossing. Schwab said it was critical to stop the fire from moving any further east.

"We will have a lot of resources there," Schwab said of the eastern end, or the head of the fire which now covers more ground than Lake Tahoe does.

"The next couple of days are critical," said Cal Fire Incident Commander Dusty Martin. "There will be technical fire operations on both west and east side so you will see smoke and equipment, all working together to bring this fire to an end. There will be opportunities for solid successes."

The incident commanders said two-to-three helicopters will be based in Kirkwood to reduce travel time.

Martin urged people to follow their incident page: https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/maps/7801/

The numbers Thursday morning:
Size: 136,643 acres (remapping added 10,461 acres)
Containment: 12%
Single Residences Threatened: 15980
Multiple Residences Threatened: 931
Commercial Property Threatened: 577
People Evacuated: 33,056
First Responder Fatalities: 0
First Responder Injuries: 0
Civilian Fatalities: 0
Civilian Injuries: 2
Structures Threatened: 17,488
Structures Damaged: 37
Single Residences Destroyed: 465
Commercial Properties Destroyed: 11
Other Minor Structures Destroyed: 167
Engines: 243
Water Tenders: 27
Helicopters: 21
Hand Crews: 80
Dozers: 51
Other: 6
Total Personnel: 2,897
Air Tankers: Numerous fire fighting air tankers from throughout theS tate are flying fire suppression missions as conditions allow.
Cost thus far: $38,929,811