South lake tahoe fire today drivers#

The California Highway Patrol added 'quite a bit of additional personnel' to help guide a chaotic evacuation from South Lake Tahoe, as huge traffic jams slowed the evacuation of vehicles, said CHP Assistant Commissioner Ryan Okashima.

South lake tahoe fire today drivers#

Not everyone agreed as fierce winds kicked up dust and debris and drivers sat in gridlock. Authorities have also been more aggressive in recent years, issuing warnings and orders sooner so people have more time to flee.

Wallace said traffic was crawling Monday, but praised the evacuation as orderly because residents heeded officials' orders. Climate change has made the West much warmer and drier in the past 30 years and will continue to make weather more extreme and wildfires more frequent and destructive, scientists say. Since then, the dead trees have accumulated and the region has coped with serious droughts, Wallace said. The last two wildfires that ripped through populated areas near Tahoe were the Angora Fire that destroyed more than 200 homes in 2007 and the Gondola Fire in 2002 that ignited near a chairlift at Heavenly Mountain Resort. 'It's just yet another example of how wildfires have changed over the years,' she said as she gathered treasures passed from her deceased parent and her husband's while they prepared to leave. Fires in the past did not spread so rapidly near the tourist city. She said she thought the Caldor Fire would stay farther away. But South Lake Tahoe City Mayor Tamara Wallace said they've been telling people for days to stay away due to poor air from wildfires. On weekends, the city's population can easily triple and on holiday weekends, like the upcoming Labor Day weekend, up to 100,000 people will visit for fun and sun. South Lake Tahoe, at the lake's southern end, bustles with outdoor activities, and with casinos available in bordering Stateline, Nevada. The Lake Tahoe area in the Sierra Nevada mountains is usually a year-round recreational paradise offering beaches, water sports, hiking, ski resorts and golfing. The Dixie, the second-largest wildfire in state history at 1,205 square miles (3,121 square kilometers) about 65 miles (105 kilometers) north of the Lake Tahoe-area blaze, prompted new evacuation orders and warnings Monday. Porter said that only twice in California history have fires burned from one side of the Sierra Nevada to the other, both this month, with the Caldor and Dixie fires. Personal Loans for 670 Credit Score or LowerĬrews from Louisiana, however, had to return to that state because of Hurricane Ida, 'another major catastrophic event taking place in the country and is a pull on resources throughout the United States,' he said. Personal Loans for 580 Credit Score or Lower Best Debt Consolidation Loans for Bad Credit