Caldor fire in California has sparked emergency evacuation orders
Home to over 190,000 residents, people in El Dorado County are urged to mandatory evacuations as the Caldor Fire continues to spread rapidly. The Caldor fire started last Saturday at the nearby Omo Ranch village.
Since then, it has grown bigger, reaching more than 30,000 acres with zero containment, as reported by Cal Fire – California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.
Though this Northern Californian fire had seriously injured two people, it still can’t be contained.
Caldor fire is considered the second-largest wildfire in California after spreading to more than 23,500 acres last Tuesday. Whatever started the blaze is still unknown and under investigation. Cal Fire officials estimate it will be fully contained on August 21.
Yes, it is getting closer. #CaldorFire pic.twitter.com/0ZKNsl2Ol2
— Sam Stanton (@StantonSam) August 17, 2021
A community meeting was held last Tuesday evening, and Cal Fire officials said that firefighters continue to endure the changing conditions on the ground. Caldor fire’s shapeshifting tendencies make it a struggle for officials to map the incident precisely. Also, the smoke from the nearby Dixie Fire blocks any air attack efforts making it more difficult to contain.
Dusty Martin, Cal Fire’s incident commander, said, “We are here to see this until the end.”
We have the single largest fire burning in California history (#DixieFire), another fire showing explosive growth (#CaldorFire) and in a matter of hours a large area of Northern California is about to go under Red Flag Warning conditions. pic.twitter.com/hMpEw6UvMH
— Drew Tuma (@DrewTumaABC7) August 17, 2021
On Tuesday afternoon, Governor Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency for El Dorado County, preparing the California National Guard and releasing additional resources for affected neighborhoods.
The residents of Grizzly Flats are the most affected as only a few homes were left standing. Two residents are airlifted after obtaining serious injuries.
There are downed power lines and poles scattered on the streets of Grizzly Flats. Houses were almost left as ruins and destroyed to smoldering ash. An elementary school and a post office were also damaged.
#CaldorFire 11:45 pm. Due to rapidly expanding fire tonight the El Dorado County Sheriff has issued mandatory evacuations notices for the Grizzly Flats.
— EldoradoNF (@EldoradoNF) August 17, 2021
El Dorado Sheriff’s Office stated that firefighting during the night and the challenging terrain contributed to the difficulty of accessing the fire.
Fire officials say the fire is impossible to predict to verify how many structures were lost. As Caldor fire continues to expand, residents near Leoni Meadows, Happy Valley, Grizzly Flats, and Barney Ridge were ordered to evacuate.
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At around 100 miles, other firefighters are still fighting the Dixie Fire – the second-largest in California history and the nation’s largest wildfire. This burning blaze was active for 34 days, but it was 30% contained. Its major threat is that 39,000 customers might be forced to lose power to prevent the spread of more wildfires.
