Caldor fire threatens resort area

Strong winds on Tuesday and Wednesday brought the Caldor Fire closer to the resort city of South Lake Tahoe, Calif. The fire, having blazed through nearly 300 square miles, forced the evacuation of the city’s more than 20,000 residents on Monday. City officials said few defied the order. The fire started on Aug. 14 about 35 miles from Lake Tahoe near Grizzly Flats, Calif.

What’s the outlook for the area? The National Weather Service predicted strong wind gusts and low humidity would continue fire conditions into Wednesday. Fire officials say nearly 4,000 firefighters have arrived in the area, and helicopters and air tankers have dumped thousands of gallons of water and retardant on the fire. Across the border in Nevada, authorities ordered the evacuation of Douglas County (excluding casinos). Gov. Steve Sisolak told residents more evacuation orders could come at any time.

Dig deeper: Read Lynde Langdon’s report in The Sift about fires in the western United States in July.

Editor’s note: WORLD has updated this report since its initial posting.