Friday Caldor Fire Update reports 71 percent containment; Grizzly Flats residents return to homes

As of Friday morning, the Caldor Fire is reported to be at 71 percent containment, and residents of Grizzly Flats, the community closest to where the fire began on Aug. 14, are finally being allowed back home. An estimated containment date has been set for Monday, Sept. 27.

El Dorado County issued the following on Friday:

The entire area of Grizzly Flats will be fully open with no restrictions starting Sept. 17 at 5PM. If you are a resident who was unable to receive a permit last Sunday or Monday and would like the packet of information we provided, you may pick it up at the front counter of the Sheriff's Office from 8AM-5PM located at 200 Industrial Drive, Diamond Springs.

You will no longer need a permit to access the area but the information packet may be useful for future needs.

Please do not move/remove any hazardous debris from the property or you could jeopardize eligibility for the State's debris removal program. See more information about that program here: https://www.edcgov.us/Pages/Caldor-Fire-Debris-Removal.aspx

If you have any questions, you may email EdCCaldorRecovery@edcgov.us or call a staffed line from 8AM-5PM at 530-621-5101.

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As of Friday, the fire has burned 218,847 acres across multiple counties. The cause of the fire is still under investigation. The estimated containment date is set at Monday, Sept. 27.

Weather Concerns

Observations:

Temperature inversions developed overnight with moderate humidity recoveries in the thermal belts and ridges with good recoveries in the valleys. Winds over the majority of the fire area became downslope as the sun set with speeds around 3 to 5 mph. Temperatures in the valleys dropped into the mid-30s to low 40s with overnight temperatures remaining around 15° warmer above 6500'.

Friday Forecast:

Temperatures will remain warm on Friday with high temperatures reaching back to near 80° in the valleys. Dry air will remain over the region with humidity's dropping back into the teens and low 20s with poor overnight recoveries above around 6500'. Winds will be terrain driven over most of the fire area gusting up to 25 to 30 mph along the ridges and around 20 mph in the valleys during the afternoon.

West Zone

Provide for the life safety of citizens and emergency responders. Implement structure and critical infrastructure defense. Construct control lines and take advantage of targets of opportunity as allowed by fire behavior and resource availability. Improve and hold established control lines. Mitigate hazards in and around communities and roadways to "make safe" for repopulation.

Thorough mop up and tactical patrol of perimeter contained.

Thorough mop-up, backhaul of hose, and tactical patrol will continue in all West Zone Branches. Crews will continue to strengthen and improve control lines in Branch 10 and 20. In DIV N, crews will cut direct and indirect line. MIST tactics will be used in the Desolation Wilderness. Fire Suppression Repair continues to evaluate repair needs and will implement the Incident's Fire Suppression Repair Plan.

East Zone

From Highway 89 west to Scout Peak, crews will remain engaged in strengthening direct containment lines with mop up to reduce the threat to structures. In the Christmas Valley area, resources will continue to patrol and mop up as necessary. On the northeastern side of the fire, resources will strengthen existing fireline and continue to use direct tactics.

On the southern flank of the eastern finger of the fire, a combination of direct hand and dozer line has been completed to keep fire from moving to the south and east. Crews will continue to mop up and secure the line.

In the northwest part of the zone, west of Upper and Lower Echo Lakes, crews will continue to construct direct fireline toward Pyramid Peak. In the Lower and Upper Echo Lake areas, mop up and patrol continues.

Crews patrolled the fireline area to the southwest in the Scout Peak area. Direct line construction continues to the southwest. Crews are constructing direct line to the east and to the west from the DP 68, in the Strawberry Creek area. In the Caples Lake area crews will hold line, mop up, and extend fireline past the zone break.

A suppression repair group is continuing the process of mending hand and dozer lines built to prevent erosion in the upcoming winter months. They are working directly with resource advisors to ensure clear direction of work assignments is established.

Current Situation

The Caldor Fire started at approximately 6:45PM on August 14, 2021. The fire is currently 218,857 acres in size, with 71% containment. Active fire suppression efforts are ongoing. While containment continues to increase there are still many areas that continue to burn. We will continue to work on the Desolation Wilderness, Echo Lake, Lake Margaret, Caples Creek, and around the Kirkwood Ski Resort as well as other areas where fire remains present. These efforts will continue until full containment is achieved.

Weather will be a challenge for firefighters over the next couple of days as we enter a Fire Weather Watch on Saturday. Winds over the fire will begin to increase today with ridgetop winds from 13-18 MPH and 20-25 MPH tomorrow with gusts up to 35 MPH.

While repopulation has begun there are still roads and areas that remain closed for firefighter and public safety. We are working with local utilities such as PG&E which has identified more than 17,000 hazard trees that need to be taken down before to help ensure the roads are safe to travel. A portion of Highway 50 remains closed between Kyburz and Myers for public safety. Several personnel are working along the highway falling hazard tress and repairing infrastructure, such as power and phone lines.