Caldor Fire jumps north of Highway 50 amid red-flag winds, nearly topping 100,000 acres
The Caldor Fire burning in El Dorado County jumped Highway 50 on a day of high winds and red-flag fire conditions and continues to head northeast Sunday.
Southwest winds in Northern California pushed the Caldor Fire further Saturday and ignited a spot fire past the closed highway near Kyburz.
On Friday, Caltrans shut down Highway 50 in both directions from Pollock Pines to Meyers over potential fire hazards for motorists. The 46-mile stretch of road serves as the main link between Sacramento and the Lake Tahoe area.
An official fire progression map of the Caldor Fire shows a relatively small spot fire in the Kyburz area on the north side of the highway, while the bulk of the blaze remains active south of the highway.
In a Sunday afternoon video operations briefing, Cal Fire Section Chief Tim Ernst said that the spot fire had grown to about 200 acres. Cal Fire officials had been fighting to keep the fire south of the road; winds decreased in intensity late Saturday allowing for only moderate fire spread.
The fire has burned 98,149 acres and remains uncontained. Since Saturday, 16,000 additional acres of forest were charred. The blaze has destroyed 328 structures, including many in Grizzly Flats, and has damaged 19 more.
On Tuesday, the fire exploded in size and burned through Grizzly Flats, destroying most of the small mountain town. Many homes, plus an elementary school, a church and a post office were destroyed. A new damage assessment map released Saturday and available to the public online shows a swath of destruction in the area.
Official damage assessments are still ongoing and the map is not a complete overview of damages.
Ernst said during Sunday’s briefing that although southwesterly winds have been pushing the fire northeast, significant personnel and resources remain on the western flank of the fire in order to protect homes in the area.
“The majority of the work we’re doing right now is in a structure protection, structure defense type of mode,” Ernst said.
Ernst said that much of the eastern flank of the fire is burning in rugged terrain, making access difficult. Fire crews remain north of the fire along Highway 50 to protect commercial and residential buildings in the highway corridor. Meanwhile, the situation on the fire’s southern flank has been improving.
“We are starting to gain a lot of upper hand in this lower piece,” he said. “We do expect to see some more positive containment here in the next 24 hours on this southern piece of the fire.”
The National Weather Service’s Sacramento office issued a red flag warning Saturday for a large portion of El Dorado County, including the Caldor Fire zone.
The Weather Service predicted fast-moving gusts in the area of the fire, blowing northeast and potentially up to 40 mph, starting about 11 a.m. and lasting through 8 p.m. Meteorologists predicted “critical fire weather conditions in the vicinity of the Caldor Fire.” After the warning expired, fire officials said that conditions had improved.
“The fire activity was moderate overnight due to the southwest winds decreasing and moderate overnight humidity recovery,” U.S. Forest Service and Cal Fire officials wrote in a Sunday morning update. “Spot fires continued to develop throughout the evening.”
Fire officials say 13,114 structures are still threatened — scaled down slightly from Saturday’s estimate of about 15,000 — and thousands of residents remain evacuated from areas surrounding the fire. Much of El Dorado County is under mandatory evacuation orders, spanning from Pollock Pines and Sly Park out to Strawberry. An evacuation warning stretches nearly to Lake Tahoe’s Emerald Bay.
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A full map of El Dorado County’s evacuation orders and warnings is available online.
An additional evacuation order was issued on Saturday for the areas south of Farnham Ridge Road and east of Bridgeport School Road down to the Amador County line. The El Dorado County Sheriff’s Office said in a social media update that the area includes only a few homes. Evacuation warnings are in place in parts of northern Amador County.
The Caldor Fire started on Aug. 14 near Omo Ranch and remained relatively small until late Monday, when it tripled in size overnight. The expected containment date for the Caldor Fire is Aug. 31.
A total of 1,558 fire personnel have been assigned to the Caldor Fire, along with 20 helicopters, 22 dozers and 142 fire engines. Two civilians have been injured by the fire.
This story was originally published August 21, 2021 at 11:53 AM with the headline "Caldor Fire jumps north of Highway 50 amid red-flag winds, nearly topping 100,000 acres."
