Firefighters battling the Caldor Fire are over a quarter of the way there.
CAL FIRE on Thursday said the Caldor Fire was 27% contained as of 7 p.m. after burning 210,893 acres.
Containment has nearly doubled, percentage-wise, since Monday, when evacuation orders were first issued in South Lake Tahoe. The Caldor Fire was 14% contained as of Monday morning, and it had burned 177,260 acres at that point.
Thanks to the progress, aided by calmer winds and moderate humidity, CAL FIRE on Thursday lifted evacuation warnings in some El Dorado County communities while downgrading orders to warnings in others.
Although the Caldor Fire burned just 634 acres between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. on Thursday, the agency said an additional 27 single residences were destroyed, upping the total to 649. In all, the Caldor Fire has destroyed 811 structures and threatens nearly 32,000 more.
The Caldor Fire remains the 15th-largest wildfire in California’s recorded history, just behind the 1932 Matilija Fire (220,000 acres). Three active wildfires are in the top 20, as the Dixie Fire (865,703 acres, 55% containment) and the Monument Fire (176,463 acres, 30% containment) are No. 2 and 20, respectively.
CAL FIRE and the agencies responding to the Caldor Fire could soon receive additional resources. President Joe Biden on Wednesday night approved California Gov. Gavin Newsom's ask to declare an emergency in the state due to the Caldor Fire.