Thousands of firefighters battled on Tuesday to keep a behemoth blaze from surging closer to Lake Tahoe, the blue alpine lake surrounded by resort communities straddling the California-Nevada state line.
The Caldor fire, just 9% contained, has become the nation’s number one priority for firefighting resources, said Thom Porter, director of the California department of forestry and fire protection.
“It is knocking on the door to the Lake Tahoe basin,” Porter said. “We have all efforts in place to keep it out of the basin but we do need to also be aware that is a possibility based on the way the fires have been burning.”
Porter said he personally did not believe the fire would get into the basin but that he could be proved wrong.
The Caldor fire has already incinerated nearly 180 sq miles (466 sq km) of El Dorado national forest and destroyed more than 630 buildings. More than 17,000 structures were still under threat.
The blaze has exhibited extreme behavior and evaded containment efforts. Now surging through the steep and rugged terrain, officials are fighting to keep the flames out of communities tucked into the conifer-covered canyons.
Read the rest and see the pics and video here: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/aug/24/caldor-fire-lake-tahoe-california-wildfire
That 35 second video is harrowing, and it seems to be a metaphor for life today on planet earth. Fire, smoke, destruction, death. Each cruel incident of devastation brings us more fully into our 1775 moment.
.