Lake Tahoe threatened by massive fire, more ordered to flee

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. (AP) — Fire officials ordered more evacuations near Lake Tahoe and told other residents to be ready to leave as a destructive fire roared through forests southwest of the alpine lake that straddles the California-Nevada state line.

Several communities south of the lake were abruptly ordered to evacuate Sunday afternoon and residents on the southern and southwestern shores of the lake were warned to be ready to evacuate if ordered.

The community of Meyers, south of the small tourist city of South Lake Tahoe, was among those evacuated. Many people had apparently left earlier, likely because of the terrible smoke that has created horrendous air quality, said fire spokesman Keith Wade, who said he watched people leave.

The fire destroyed multiple residences Sunday along Highway 50, one of the main routes to the south end of the lake. The fire also roared through the Sierra-at-Tahoe ski resort, destroying secondary buildings but leaving the main buildings at the base intact.

“Today’s been a rough day and there’s no bones about it,” Jeff Marsoleis, forest supervisor for El Dorado National Forest, said Sunday evening. A few days ago, he had thought crews could halt the Caldor Fire's eastern progress, but “today it let loose.”

Flames churned through mountains just a few miles southwest of the Tahoe Basin, where thick smoke sent tourists packing at a time when summer vacations would usually be in full swing ahead of the Labor Day weekend.

“To put it in perspective, we’ve been seeing about a half-mile of movement on the fire’s perimeter each day for the last couple of weeks, and today, this has already moved at 2.5 miles (4 kilometers) on us, with no sign that it’s starting to slow down,” said Cal Fire Division Chief Erich Schwab.

Some areas of the...