The Caldor Fire's smoke has overwhelmed the Lake Tahoe region all week, as its flames have started to threaten the area, too.
Now, California's second-largest active wildfire has burned more acres than the lake's own size.
As of Wednesday night, the fire had burned 126,566 acres, according to CAL FIRE. Lake Tahoe covers 122,600 acres.
El Dorado County Sheriff's officials said during a Tahoe-specific community briefing Tuesday night that evacuation orders in the area between Twin Bridges and Echo Summit could prompt evacuation warnings for South Lake Tahoe. CAL FIRE Chief Thom Porter said earlier this week that the Caldor Fire, now the country's top firefighting priority, was "knocking on the door" of the Lake Tahoe basin.
It remains to be seen if the Caldor Fire will get any closer to the region in the coming days.
Although the 2,897 personnel will experience hotter and drier conditions in the coming days, CAL FIRE Meteorologist James Dudley said during Wednesday afternoon's community briefing that lighter winds are expected through the weekend. Changing wind patterns, too, will no longer push the fire in Lake Tahoe's direction as much.
The Caldor Fire's smoke, which has caused extremely unhealthy to hazardous air quality around Lake Tahoe throughout the week alongside the Dixie Fire's fumes, "won't be pushed off" in the lake's direction "nearly as easily."
"If it hangs out over the fire, it can actually stop the sun from hitting the surface," Dudley said of the smoke. "The fire may shade itself, therefore we're not gonna have as much wind also pushing up these canyons in the afternoon."
The Caldor Fire was 12% contained as of Wednesday night, threatening nearly 17,500 structures. Its cause is still under investigation. CAL FIRE officials said the Aug. 31 full containment date listed on its national incident information system page was merely a placeholder from when the fire first broke out.
