Forest Service: Caldor Fire that threatened Lake Tahoe, 100 percent contained
Submitted by Jeff Munson on Thu, 10/21/2021 - 8:52am
After burning for more than 60 days, the Caldor Fire, which threatened the south shore area of Lake Tahoe before firefighters successfully pushed it out of a destructive path, has reached 100 percent containment, the U.S. Forest Service said Thursday.
The fire burned 221,835 acres. According to CalFire, the fire destroyed 1,003 structures (includes homes, business and outbuildings), damaged 81, and injured five firefighting personnel and civilians. The cause remains under investigation. Much of the structure damage was in the Grizzly Flats area and along US-50 near Sierra-at-Tahoe to Echo summit, where a number of historic cabins burned.
According to the Forest Service, communities in the Plymouth and South Lake Tahoe area will continue to see firefighters over the next several weeks as focus now turns primarily to repairing the over 400 miles of constructed line and 660 points impacted by suppression effort.
“Repair efforts set the immediate stage for our resources and community to recovery from this devastating wildfire,” said Jeff Knudson, Incident Commander.
Contained, controlled and out are three distinct phases, according to the Forest Service. For example, although the fire is contained, large diameter trees and stump holes will continue to smolder well into the winter months. Containment, in its simplest form, is a measure of line around the fire. Controlled means fire managers are confident the fire is not likely to get outside the line.
Some fires can linger under control until winter rains or snow arrive and finally bury any and all smoldering logs, embers or ash. And even then, under the right conditions, fires can still show themselves once spring comes, snow melts and the tiniest of hot ember finds just enough air and fuel to show smoke. Rare as it might be, it does happen. When a fire is finally called out, it means it’s out.
No hot embers, no smoke and no fire within the perimeter. Controlled and out are two different things. Closures remain in place not only for the safety of firefighters while they conduct repair operations, but for the safety of the public. Weakened trees, damaged roads and other hazards increase following a wildfire.
Visit the Eldorado National Forest and Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit websites to access the most current information. Planned Operations: Operations will begin removing excess radio equipment from the fire area in preparation for the significant weather events anticipated this weekend. Work on the N. South Road began Thursday as crews started removing hazardous trees and clearing culverts.
The efforts of thousands of firefighters and prior defensible space and forest thinning projects are largely responsible for keeping the Caldor Fire from entering South Lake Tahoe. The U.S. Forest Service made the fire a national priority.
There are 526 total personnel who remain on the fire as of Thursday morning. There remains much work to be done, including repair work on containment lines. Rain and snow is expected this weekend, which may bring debris flows in the fire area. The Forest Service will be monitoring the situation.
"It will be an interesting weekend," a Forest Service spokeswoman said.
