SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, California (AP) – Sunday’s high temperatures and rising winds added to the challenges facing firefighters in northern California’s flames, including one that continued its march into the region of the Lake Tahoe resort.
“It will be the hottest day so far since the fire started and sadly probably the driest,” said Isaac Lake, a two-week Caldor fire spokesman.
The flames occurred through the mountains a few miles southwest of the Tahoe Basin, where thick smoke sent tourists to pack their bags at a time when summer vacations would be in full swing before the end of Labor Day week.
Three-digit temperatures were made and the extreme heat was expected to last several days, Lake said. A red flag warning was issued on Monday and Tuesday for critical fire conditions throughout the Sierra del Norte.
Crews working on steep terrain were stretched to put out fires caused by erratic winds.
“It’s so dry out there that when the embers come out of the unburned fuel beds, the probability of ignition is 90%,” Lake said.
The fire that broke out on August 14 was contained by 19% after burning about 635 square miles (an area larger than Chicago). More than 600 structures have been destroyed and at least 18,000 more were threatened.
The Caldor fire has proved so difficult to fight that firefighters pushed back the scheduled date for full containment from earlier this week until September 8th. But even that estimate was tenuous.
In Southern California, a section of Interstate 15 closed Sunday afternoon after winds caused a new blaze, called Railroad Fire, across the Cajon Pass tracks in northeast Los Angeles.
Further south, there were still evacuation orders and warnings for remote communities after a wildfire spread quickly through the Cleveland National Forest on Saturday. A firefighter received minor injuries and two structures were destroyed in the 5.9-square-mile Chaparral fire that burns along the San Diego and Riverside counties, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. It was 10% content on Sunday.
Meanwhile, the California Dixie Fire, the second largest in state history at 3,089 square kilometers (1,193 square miles), was at 48% in the Sierra-Cascades region, about 105 kilometers north of the fire. of Heat. About 700 homes were part of about 1,300 buildings that have been destroyed since the fire began in early July.
Containment increased to 22% in the 12-day French fire, which covered more than 38 square kilometers (98 square kilometers) south of the Sierra Nevada. Crews protected the forest houses on the west side of Lake Isabella, a popular recreational area northeast of Bakersfield.
More than a dozen large fires are being fought by more than 15,200 firefighters across California. The flames have destroyed nearly 2,000 structures and forced thousands to evacuate this year as they covered large strips of the West with unhealthy smoke.
California fires are among nearly 90 major fires in the United States. Many are found in the west, burning trees and sprouting dried up by drought. Climate change has made the region warmer and drier over the past 30 years and will continue to make the climate more extreme and forest fires more destructive, according to scientists.
The Department of Defense is sending 200 U.S. Army soldiers from Washington State and equipment, including eight U.S. Air Force (C-130) aircraft, to help northern California firefighters, it reported. on Saturday the U.S. military said in a statement. The soldiers are expected to arrive in California in early September after a week-long training. The C-130s have become air tanks that can pour thousands of gallons of water into the flames.