News - Lake Tahoe wildfire evacuations

Lake Tahoe wildfire evacuations :

Lake Tahoe wildfire evacuations worry Nevada residents

By Dave Porter

(AXcess) Reno - A wildfire near Lake Tahoe has forced the evacuation of at least 1,000 homes in California and residents in the Nevada area of Carson City are worried, remembering last year's Sierra Mountain range fire that came close to threatening the evacuation of the Capitol city.

Its fire season in the Sierra Mountain range and this year it's especially dry. But the Lake Tahoe fire is getting a lot of attention as over 220 homes have been destroyed already and another 500 lay in its path.

So far, the Lake Tahoe fire has destroyed over 2,500 acres of heavily wooded land near Angora Lake, fire fighters say.

The fire started a little after 2 pm Sunday afternoon on the California side of South Lake Tahoe, an area where tourism and summer vacationers congregate, but with heavy smoke filling the air, the downtown casinos in Lake Tahoe look like a ghost town.

The smoke is so high up that fighting the flames with fire retardant dropped from the air is out of the question.

Local fire fighters are looking worried, despite multiple teams from several states and the federal government on hand. One Carson City volunteer said he's never seen anything like it before and warned that any increase in winds tonight could turn the Lake Tahoe fire into a deadly wall of flames people there should worry about. "I've never seen anything like this before," he stated. Two fire fighting vehicles were lost to flames, he told AXcess News.

The State Patrol has closed Eastbound highway 50 at Slide Park. In Lake Tahoe, southbound Hwy. 89, north of Emerald Bay is closed, and northbound Hwy. 88/89 at Luther Pass is closed.

Many residents in and around Carson City were packing up their cars and heading North to Reno, taking no chances that the smoke and flames could reach down into the valley community. Those that stay are staring West towards the great pillar of smoke filling the evening sky near Lake Tahoe wondering - and remembering the past wildfire and how quickly winds can come up in the high-mountain plains that comprise the area.

When the wildfire broke down the mountain slopes last year, it send thousands fleeing the area. Reno area hotels quickly filled to capacity as residents of Carson City fled North. That fire took out thousands of acres and came down the Sierra range into the Northwest edge of the city. That evening, winds came up, threatening to jump highway 50 where there would be no stopping it as it swept East toward Silver City, one of Nevada's best-known pioneer miner tourist areas. Luckily, there was a break in the weather and firefighters managed to get it under control.

There are over 500 firefighters working at the moment on the Lake Tahoe wildfire with another 200 volunteers nearby.

Police in El Dorado County are asking people to please stay off the phone lines as worried relatives and friends are jamming the Department with calls. The Sheriffs Department there says it needs the lines free unless you have an emergency. Many of the calls are coming in due to several thousand people being without power and phone service, which has prompted many to question whether they got out of the fire's away in time. Emergency crews are assuring everyone that rescue plans are in effect and the evacuation of homes is going as planned.