Weather continues to fuel California fires
SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. — Spiking temperatures and increasing winds Sunday added to the challenges faced by firefighters battling blazes across Northern California, including one that continued its march toward the Lake Tahoe resort region.
“It is going to be the hottest day so far since the fire began, and unfortunately, probably the driest,” said Isaac Lake, a spokesman on the 2-week-old Caldor Fire.
Flames churned through mountains just a few miles southwest of the Tahoe Basin, where thick smoke sent tourists packing.
Triple-digit temperatures were possible and the extreme heat was expected to last several days, Lake said. A weather watch for critical fire conditions was issued for today and Tuesday at higher elevations across the Northern Sierra.
Crews working in rugged terrain scrambled to douse spot fires caused by erratic winds.
“It’s so dry out there that when embers blow out into the unburned fuel beds, the probability of ignition is 90 percent,” Lake said.
The blaze was 19% contained after burning nearly 245 square miles. More than 600 structures have been destroyed and at least 18,000 more were under threat.
Fire managers pushed back the projected date for full containment from early this week to Sept. 8, but even that was tenuous.
Meanwhile, California’s Dixie Fire, the second-largest in state history at 1,193 square miles, was 48% contained in the Sierra-Cascades region. Containment increased to 22% on the 12-day-old French Fire, which covered more than 38 square miles in the southern Sierra Nevada.