The Caldor Fire was a large wildfire that burned in the

Eldorado National Forest Eldorado National Forest is a U.S. National Forest located in the central Sierra Nevada mountain range, in eastern California. Geography Most of the forest (72.8%) lies in El Dorado County. In descending order of land area the others counties ...

and other areas of the

Sierra Nevada The Sierra Nevada () is a mountain range in the Western United States, between the Central Valley of California and the Great Basin. The vast majority of the range lies in the state of California, although the Carson Range spur lies primarily ...

El Dorado El Dorado (, ; Spanish for "the golden"), originally ''El Hombre Dorado'' ("The Golden Man") or ''El Rey Dorado'' ("The Golden King"), was the term used by the Spanish in the 16th century to describe a mythical tribal chief (''zipa'') or king o ...

, Amador, and

Alpine County , other_name = , settlement_type = List of counties in California, County , image_skyline = , image_flag = Flag of Alpine County, California.svg , flag_size = , image_seal ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

, in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

during the 2021 California wildfire season. The fire was first reported on Saturday, August 14, 2021, and was fully contained on Thursday, October 21, 2021. The Caldor Fire destroyed 1,003 structures and damaged 81 more, primarily in the

US Highway 50 U.S. Route 50 or U.S. Highway 50 (US 50) is a major east–west route of the U.S. Highway system, stretching from Interstate 80 (I-80) in West Sacramento, California, to Maryland Route 528 (MD 528) in Ocean City, Maryland, on the Atlantic ...

corridor and in the community of Grizzly Flats, 2/3 of which was destroyed by the fire. On August 30, it became the second fire known to cross the

mountain range, following the

Dixie Fire The Dixie Fire was an enormous wildfire in Butte, Plumas, Lassen, Shasta, and Tehama Counties, California. It was named after Dixie Road, near where the fire started in Butte County. The fire began in the Feather River Canyon near Cresta Dam ...

, which crossed a few days earlier on August 18. It then threatened the communities of

Meyers Meyers is a surname of English origin; many branches of the Meyers family trace their origins to Anglo-Saxon England. The name is derived from the Old French name ''Maire'', meaning "mayor", or an officer in charge of legal matters. The English s ...

and

South Lake Tahoe South Lake Tahoe is the most populous city in El Dorado County, California, United States, in the Sierra Nevada. The city's population was 21,330 at the 2020 census, down from 21,403 at the 2010 census. The city, along the southern edge of Lake ...

, causing evacuations to be ordered for more than 20,000 people before the fire's progress was halted. The Caldor Fire was the third-largest and second-most-destructive of the 2021 season in California, and the 15th-largest and 16th-most destructive in recorded California history. The cause of the fire is currently under investigation.

Name

The old logging town of

Caldor Caldor, Inc. was a discount department store chain founded in 1951 by husband and wife Carl and Dorothy Bennett. Referred to by many as the Bloomingdale's of discounting, Caldor grew from a second story "Walk-Up-&-Save" operation in Port Chest ...

is located near Omo Ranch, close to the origin of the fire. The town was part of the

Diamond and Caldor Railway The Diamond and Caldor Railway was a common carrier Narrow gauge railway, narrow gauge railroad operating in El Dorado County, California, in the United States. The 34-mile railroad was primarily a logging railroad but also operated some passenge ...

lumber route, running from Diamond Springs to Caldor. Originally called "Dogtown", the abandoned settlement was renamed after the new owners, the California Door Company.

Events

The Caldor Fire started on August 14, 2021, near Little Mountain, south of Pollock Pines in El Dorado County, about two miles east of Omo Ranch and four miles south of Grizzly Flats. It initially burned slowly, where little attention was given to it because of other larger fires, but exploded in size on August 16 due to high winds and high fuel loads in the area. By the night of August 16 it was . On August 17 the fire grew to as it expanded rapidly north and east, crossing the North Fork

Cosumnes River The Cosumnes River is a river in northern California in the United States. It rises on the western slope of the Sierra Nevada and flows approximately into the Central Valley, emptying into the Mokelumne River in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Del ...

and approaching Sly Park Reservoir. By August 20, the fire had burned nearly to

Highway 50 The following highways are numbered 50: International * European route E50 Brazil * BR-050 Canada * Alberta Highway 50 * Manitoba Highway 50 * Newfoundland and Labrador Route 50 * Ontario Highway 50 (Also referred to as Peel Regional Road 50 ...

, forcing a closure of the highway. Over the next few days, the fire crossed Highway 50 in the vicinity of Kyburz. Starting on August 27, winds drove the fire rapidly east towards the

Lake Tahoe Lake Tahoe (; was, Dáʔaw, meaning "the lake") is a Fresh water, freshwater lake in the Sierra Nevada (U.S.), Sierra Nevada of the United States. Lying at , it straddles the state line between California and Nevada, west of Carson City, Nevad ...

Basin, devastating the once picturesque backdrop to the historic Strawberry Lodge near the

Twin Bridges Twin bridges are a set of two bridges running parallel to each other. A pair of twin bridges is often referred to collectively as a twin-span or dual-span bridge. Twin bridges are independent structures and each bridge has its own superstructur ...

area. By August 30, it had reached

Echo Summit Echo Summit is a mountain pass over the Sierra Nevada in the western United States, located in eastern El Dorado County, California. At above sea level, it is the highest point on U.S. Route 50 in California, which traverses it at postmile 66 ...

, less than from

. While South Lake Tahoe remained at the evacuation warning stage during early morning briefings that day, the entire city of 22,000 people was ordered to evacuate at 10:59 AM. Due to the focused efforts of fire crews aggressively thinning nearby forests, reducing earlier

crown fire A wildfire, forest fire, bushfire, wildland fire or rural fire is an unplanned, uncontrolled and unpredictable fire in an area of combustible vegetation. Depending on the type of vegetation present, a wildfire may be more specifically identif ...

s (typically flames) to surface fires (typically flames) and developing a fire perimeter, evacuation orders were lifted about one week later. By October 2, the fire was at 221,775 acres and 91% containment. By that date, 782 structures were destroyed, 81 structures damaged, with 35 structures still threatened. Staffing was still at 1,589 personnel, with ten helicopters assigned to the incident. The Caldor Fire was fully contained on October 21, 2021.

Impacts

On August 17, evacuations were ordered for Grizzly Flats,

Somerset ( en, All The People of Somerset) , locator_map = , coordinates = , region = South West England , established_date = Ancient , established_by = , preceded_by = , origin = , lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset , lord_ ...

, Sly Park Reservoir and Pollock Pines.

Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

Gavin Newsom Gavin Christopher Newsom (born October 10, 1967) is an American politician and businessman who has been the 40th governor of California since 2019. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as the 49th lieutenant governor of California fr ...

declared a state of emergency for El Dorado County over a day later after the explosive growth. As of Sunday night (August 29), evacuation orders were sent out to some residents of the Tahoe Basin as well as locations in Amador County. The Caldor Fire destroyed 1,003 structures, many of them in Grizzly Flats, in the first day of the fire. There were concerns that runoff from the Caldor Fire's burned footprint would have negative impacts on the water quality of the Lake Tahoe watershed. However, in testing conducted by the League to Save Lake Tahoe in October after the fire was fully contained, it was found that there had been relatively little impact on the

turbidity Turbidity is the cloudiness or haziness of a fluid caused by large numbers of individual particles that are generally invisible to the naked eye, similar to smoke in air. The measurement of turbidity is a key test of water quality. Fluids can ...

of Lake Tahoe's water. In September 2021 it was reported that 18 people had been injured due to the fire, with the majority of them being identified as firefighters. Two people were injured in Grizzly Flats and were airlifted to hospitals.

Cause

The cause of the fire is under investigation. On December 8, 2021, two men (a father and son) were arrested and charged in relation to the Caldor Fire. Court filings stated that investigators believe "...the Caldor Fire likely ignited when a projectile discharged from a firearm and struck an object, causing heated fragments of the projectile to land in a dry receptive fuel bed, igniting the fuels.” This was based on bullet casings, earplugs, electronic device location data, and DNA evidence from the scene, leading the El Dorado County District Attorney's office to believe that the two men started the fire. Both men were accused of violating California state law by reckless arson and were held on a $1 million bail. The attorney for the two men stated that the men are not guilty and were in

the day of the fire, and called 911 to report the fire once they regained cell service. He also stated that the pair knew of the Caldor Fire investigation as early as August 2021, when search warrants were conducted on their homes.

Progression and containment status

Gallery

Effects of the Caldor Fire: Caldor Fire on 2021-10-19 - Sarah Stierch 02.jpg Caldor Fire on 2021-10-19 - Sarah Stierch 03.jpg Caldor Fire on 2021-10-19 - Sarah Stierch 05.jpg Caldor Fire on 2021-10-19 - Sarah Stierch 08.jpg Caldor Fire on 2021-10-19 - Sarah Stierch 10.jpg Caldor Fire on 2021-10-19 - Sarah Stierch 11.jpg Caldor Fire on 2021-10-19 - Sarah Stierch 13.jpg Caldor Fire on 2021-10-19 - Sarah Stierch 16.jpg

References

External links

InciWeb Caldor Fire Page

California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE)
{{California wildfires 2021 California wildfires August 2021 events in the United States Wildfires in El Dorado County, California Wildfires in Amador County, California Wildfires in Alpine County, California