San Francisco: The Caldor Fire raging Northern California has scorched 214,107 acres of land so far with 37 per cent containment, fire officials said.
The blaze has become the 15th largest wildfire in California history and while there were no reported deaths, seven firefighters and two civilians have been injured, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE) said in a report Saturday.
Fire behaviour in west zone continued to decrease Friday night thanks to a slight rise in humidity levels and decrease in temperatures across the entire area, Xinhua news agency quoted the report as syaing.
In the east zone, crews were successful in holding the fire within its current footprint, the report added.
The fire has destroyed 892 buildings in El Dorado and Amador County and threatened thousands more, CAL FIRE said.
The entire South Lake Tahoe area has been under evacuation orders since Monday, with new evacuations across the Nevada border.
Saturday morning, it was still unclear when South Lake Tahoe residents could return, according to a report by the San Francisco Chronicle.
“That’s the big question, I can’t say if it will be several days or several weeks.” Jaime Moore, the public information officer for the Caldor Fire, was quoted as saying in the report.
To better provide public and firefighter safety due to extreme fire conditions throughout Northern California, and strained firefighter resources throughout the country, the US Department of Agriculture Forest Service Pacific Southwest Region is announcing a temporary closure of all national forests in California, according to CAL FIRE.
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