Caldor Fire prompts evacuation of Pollock Pines, Kyburz
POLLOCK PINES — The Caldor Fire continued extreme growth for a second straight night in El Dorado County, with winds rocketing the fire dangerously close to well-populated communities along Highway 50 and surrounding areas late Tuesday.
Sheriff’s officials that evening issued a number of new evacuation orders across a sprawling range of territory, including the entirety of Pollock Pines, Cedar Grove and Kyburz; most of Camino; eastern portions of Pleasant Valley and Somerset; a large stretch between Mormon Emigrant Trail and Highway 88; and areas near the Union Valley, Ice House and Loon Lake reservoirs.
The fire on Tuesday devastated the community of Grizzly Flats, population of about 1,200, within hours of the town being urgently evacuated.
At least two civilians were airlifted to hospitals with injuries described as “severe” and “serious,” both of them picked up in Grizzly Flats, Cal Fire and Forest Service officials said in a joint statement.
Precise destruction tallies are not yet available due to dangerous conditions, Cal Fire says, but Sacramento Bee journalists observed many homes, a post office, an elementary school and a church all burned to the ground in Grizzly Flats.
The fire as of 7 a.m. Wednesday had grown to 53,772 acres, more than eight times bigger than the 6,500 acres reported 24 hours earlier, according to incident updates from Cal Fire’s Amador-El Dorado Unit. The blaze grew more than 30,000 acres overnight.
The fire appeared to have flared up overnight in the Grizzly Flats area, which had been largely obliterated Monday night.
Early Wednesday, hot spots were still burning throughout what had once been neighborhoods, but a handful of houses had survived, some because they had defensible space and no trees nearby.
A retirement home belonging to Rege and Janet Brannagan on Meadow Glen Drive appeared to be one of only two that survived the fire.
Their son, Mike Brannagan, said in a phone interview from San Luis Obispo Wednesday that his parents had evacuated around 9 a.m. Monday night, hours before the mandatory order to get out.
“They were smart,” Brannagan said. “They didn’t want to be scrambling at 3 in the morning.”
The family had managed to pack photos, paintings and other items to take to safety as they evacuated to Cameron Park, Brannagan said, adding that he wonders what his parents will be returning to with much of the community destroyed.
“The crazy part was my dad just talked to me about it Saturday because of the Dixie Fire,” he said.