It’s not just bears that are breaking into homes in the South Lake Tahoe area.
Human burglars have also been on the prowl, taking advantage of the many vacancies created by Caldor Fire evacuations, although so far the looting is not as widespread as many feared.
Law enforcement agencies from across the state have responded to the Caldor Fire, helping to patrol fire evacuation zones to prevent any criminal activity and so far seems to have deterred most criminals.
"We’ve had really significant numbers out there doing security patrols in evacuated areas to ensure that people can come back to their homes with their property intact," said Sgt. Eric Palmberg with the El Dorado County Sheriff's Department.
However, in the city itself of South Lake Tahoe, it appears as if looters have been bolder. Police have made several arrests related to looting in the area since the evacuations began.
Some residents left so quickly, they forgot to lock up. "We found garage doors rolled up, we found doors unlocked, so they have easy access to a lot of this," said local police officer Traci Trapani in an interview with CBS 13.
As of Wednesday morning, the situation continues to improve. The Caldor Fire is more than 50% contained at 217,000 acres, and the Dixie Fire is at 59% containment at nearly a million acres.
