Caldor Fire Crews Establish Defensive Lines In Christmas Valley To Protect Meyers And South Lake Tahoe
CHRISTMAS VALLEY (CBS13) — High winds Wednesday continued to push the Caldor Fire through the Tahoe basin.
Cal Fire said crews made progress on containment lines but communities were still at risk. At this point, they said the best form of attack is defense.
Fire crews maintained a back burn fire in Christmas Valley off of South Upper Truckee Road, with the intention that it will burn back into the main fire and provide some protection for homes not only in Christmas Valley but Meyers and South Lake Tahoe.
So far it's been a successful battle in Christmas Valley to beat the fire back. No structures have been lost after the head of the fire burned through
But the fight is not over yet because more fire is following.
"Today, we're doing a backburn from Echo Summit down here to Meyers," said Chris Burns, a Truckee hotshot.
Burns is one of the hotshots doing work in Christmas Valley where the Caldor Fire splits. This is happening next to homes right off of South Upper Truckee Road.
Fire crews said they go home by home, yard by yard clearing brush and digging lines to push the fire away.
"Big picture: Eastern front here, this eastern zone that this moving through. Tahoe is still at risk so people are going to still remain evacuated. South end of this fire—Alpine County Douglas County Amador County—all three are at risk still," said Cal Fire spokesman Keith Wade.
The hope now is that better weather will set in like cooler temperatures and fewer wind gusts. So the roughly 4,000 personnel working on this fire can catch a break.