Over half of the wildland firefighters deployed nationally are battling wildfires in California, as evacuations are underway in South Lake Tahoe and the state contends with unprecedented behavior in its two largest active wildfires.
Tony Scardina, Deputy Regional Forester with the U.S. Forest Service, said Monday during a California Governor's Office of Emergency Services briefing that over 15,000 of the 27,000 wildland firefighters in the U.S. are currently in California. Over 8,000 firefighters are battling the Dixie and Caldor fires, currently California’s two largest, according to CAL FIRE.
Both of those fires crested the Sierra Nevada. No fire had crested the mountain range prior to this month, CAL FIRE Director Thom Porter said during Monday’s briefing, and two have now done so before the end of August.
"We need to be really cognizant that there is fire activity happening in California that we have never seen before," Porter said.
Evacuation warnings became orders in South Lake Tahoe on Monday, as the Caldor Fire jumped Highway 50. Red Flag Warnings are now in effect around Lake Tahoe through Wednesday, with especially strong winds forecasted through Tuesday night and the fire continuing to burn through dry vegetation.
The low humidities, high temperatures and strong wind comprise "the worst possible scenario" for South Lake Tahoe, Cal Poly Professor of Wildland Fires and Fuels Management Chris Dicus said Monday afternoon.
"I've seen this, unfortunately, way too many times, and it would shock me if it doesn’t reach the town of South Lake Tahoe," Dicus, who's also the President of the Association for Fire Ecology, told KCBS Radio’s Liz Saint John in an interview on Monday.
The Caldor Fire reached 14% containment just before noon on Monday, according to CAL FIRE. Porter said firefighters were making progress on the western side of the fire, including near the devastated town of Grizzly Flats.
Firefighters haven't had the same luck on the eastern side, particularly as it has neared the Tahoe Basin. Difficult road conditions make the fire difficult to access as it burns through heavy timber, Porter said, while Dicus noted the fire's smoke makes it hard for accurate aerial support.
Porter said the Caldor and Dixie fires are the state's most critical right now, and progress containing fires in Northern and Southern California has freed up more resources to fight the pair. But officials are still concerned about the rest of California amid the drought and as the calendar flips to September, and Porter issued an ominous warning to state residents watching fires burn from afar.
"Every acre can, and will, burn someday in this state," Porter said. "Be ready now. Be ready now, before there's a warning. When there's a warning, you put everything in the car and you go, or you wait for the order and you go. Be ready now."
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