San Francisco Chronicle - (Sunday)
Fire evacuees allowed to check damage
GRIZZLY FLATS, El Dorado County — Residents of a small Gold Country town ravaged during the first days of the Caldor Fire will be temporarily allowed back in to inspect the damage starting Sunday.
El Dorado County Sheriff ’s Office officials were preparing to allow some of the 1,200 evacuated residents of Grizzly Flats to return in waves beginning Sunday and probably into Monday.
Most of the rural town’s roughly 650 homes were destroyed in the fire, as was the school, post office, church and fire station.
Meanwhile, fire crews continued to push their hard-won advantage against the blaze that ignited Aug. 14 a few miles south of Grizzly Flats and barreled more than 30 miles to the edge of South Lake Tahoe.
As of Saturday evening, firefighters kept Caldor stalled at 218,764 acres while increasing containment to 65%. The fire, which ranks as California’s 15th largest on record, has destroyed 782 homes and injured 15 people. Nearly 3,990 firefighters are assigned to it.
The drought-driven mega-fire forced tens of thousands to evacuate while threatening to reach Lake Tahoe, one of California’s most cherished jewels.
Nearly a month into battling the blaze, fire officials said Saturday they saw an end in sight, although they warned winds and warm weather forecast through the weekend into the week could grow the fire.
In a Saturday morning update, Brian Mackwood, a Cal Fire operations section chief, said crews would “seek and destroy” flareups south of Highway 50 near Kyburz and anything left in a rocky terrain on the fire’s eastern front.
“Our crews have been working extremely hard,” Mackwood said.
Mackwood also suggested that fire crews got lucky with the weather, despite responding to 12 new lightning-sparked fires Friday.
More than 3,000 lightning strikes were recorded in Northern and Central California in a 24-hour period ending Friday evening as thunderstorms swept across the state. The lightning ignited some new fires, but none was out of control.
Thunderstorms also delivered enough rain to slightly dampen parched vegetation — but only temporarily.
Officials said Saturday they were focused on the cleanup effort from the
Caldor Fire. They were clearing dangerous trees and other debris around Grizzly Flats, the nearby town of Pollock Pines and along the Mormon Emigrant Trail.
Beale Monday, Cal Fire operations section chief, said Saturday evening that cleanup was the “big problem” faced along Highway 50. Access to Kirkwood along Highway 80 was still cut off, but the goal was to hopefully finish clearing the road by the middle of next week, although he made no assurances.
Mark Matthews, chief of the Pioneer Fire Protection District, which covers 296 square miles in southern El Dorado County, said crews had worked every day to clear Grizzly Flats’ roads once littered with fallen power poles, wires and other debris.
He cautioned residents to be mindful of weakened
trees, underground fire smoldering through root systems, and hazardous materials in the burn sites.
Allowing people to return will be an important yet painful step in the town’s recovery, Matthews said. Two of his district’s 20 career and 20 volunteer firefighters were among the hundreds who lost homes.
Gwen Sanchez, a supervisor with the U.S. Forest Service, praised the perseverance of firefighters who for weeks have endured record-breaking fuel conditions, heat waves and thunderstorms while wrestling with extreme fire. And on the 20th anniversary of 9/11, she pointed out that many also responded to the crises on the East Coast, conducting search and rescue missions and backfilling fire stations.
As residents return to the area, dozens have gathered every morning and evening in South Lake Tahoe to celebrate first responders with signs, smiles and hugs.
“This community loves their firefighters,” Sanchez said.
Meanwhile, the Dixie Fire, in Butte, Tehama, Plumas, Shasta and Lassen counties, stood at 960,213 acres and 65% containment Saturday evening.
Humidity overnight moderated fire behavior, but Cal Fire officials said in a Saturday morning report that there’s potential for spots to “become established well outside of the control lines.”
Fire officials said among their priorities are to prevent spread into Highway 395 and into nearby communities.
The blaze has been burning for 58 days.