California wildfire near Lake Tahoe nearly half contained

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. (AP) — The huge wildfire near the Lake Tahoe resort region was about half contained Tuesday, with the head of California's firefighting agency saying crews largely have been able to keep flames away from populated areas.

“We've been able to herd these fires around and outside of the main community corridors,” California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection Chief Thom Porter said.

That includes the city of South Lake Tahoe and nearby Meyers that were threatened by the Caldor Fire as it churned east, and the communities of Pollock Pines and nearby Sly Park near where the fire ignited 3 1/2 weeks ago.

“Unfortunately, that hasn’t happened in every case,” Porter said at a briefing. “But by and large, we’ve been able to do a great job in protecting lives, property.”

Nearly 1,000 structures have been destroyed in the fire near Lake Tahoe on the California-Nevada border, including 776 homes. Many were in the community of Grizzly Flats near where the fire started and was able to burn before officials could divert significant resources from other blazes scorching California.

Others include the Dixie Fire, the second-largest in the state's recorded history, which also has burned through rural, forested communities that firefighters were unable to protect.

The perimeter of that fire, which is farther north in the Sierra Nevada, has grown to 800 miles (1,300 kilometers), said Tony Scardina, the U.S. Forest Service's deputy regional forester for California.

That's the equivalent of “driving the I-5 from the southern border of California to the northern border of California,” he said of the major north-south interstate.

The Dixie Fire was 59% contained. It began in mid-July and has destroyed more than 1,200 buildings, including 688 homes.

Hot, dry,...