CA Fires 2021: Thousands Evacuate In NorCal; 1.8M Acres Burned

CALIFORNIA — More than 14,300 firefighters continued to defend communities from the threat of 15 massive wildfires Tuesday as unusually dry heat continues to plague Northern California, where crews were battling the raging Caldor Fire as it marched toward Lake Tahoe's, according to Cal Fire.

Meanwhile, monsoonal weather and the threat of lighting storms arrived in the southern reaches of the state on Tuesday, where firefighters were working to quell the Chapparall Fire, which sparked over the weekend and rapidly swelled to nearly 1,500 acres in less than 24 hours.

Since the start of 2021, wildfires have ripped through more than 1.8 million acres in the Golden State, where the state's fire agencies were gearing up for the potential of more wildfires this week amid critical fire weather.

In an effort to head off the potential for more blazes to spark, national forests across California will be closed ahead of the Labor Day holiday weekend. Warm weather, winds and extreme drought has dried forest fuels, creating a volitile recipe for fires to spark.

Starting at 11:59 p.m. Tuesday, all but one national forest in the state will be closed under an order issued by the U.S. Forest Service. All forests in the Pacific Southwest region will remain closed through Sept. 17.

"We do not take this decision lightly but this is the best choice for public safety," Regional Forester Jennifer Eberlien said. "It is especially hard with the approaching Labor Day weekend when so many people enjoy our national forests."

California's firefighting forces are battling gargantuan blazes that have smoldered for weeks. On Monday, 46 new wildfires sparked but were quelled quickly, Cal Fire reported.

READ MORE: California's National Forests To Close Ahead Of Labor Day Weekend

Red Flag warnings remain in effect from Modoc County, through the northern Sierra Nevada, past the Tahoe Basin and down to Mono County for gusty winds and low humidty.

"New or existing wildfires will have the potential for rapid spread and growth under these conditions," Cal Fire reported.

Residents were forced on Monday morning to flee from a long section of the Lake Tahoe shoreline as the 191,607-acre Caldor fire threatened the resort region.

The streets of the popular vacation hot spot — normally filled with thousands of summer tourists — were barren after the rapid growth of the monsterous fire forced a mass evacuation of South Lake Tahoe on Monday and triggered hours of gridlocked traffic.

At an evacuation center in Nevada, Lorie Major told the Associated Press she had packed a bag in preparation to leave and was at the grocery store when she got the alert on her phone.

“I had to tell myself: ’OK, Lorie: Get it together. It’s time to go,’” she said Tuesday from the Douglas County Community & Senior Center in Gardnerville, Nevada.

South Lake Tahoe Mayor Tamara Wallace was among those leaving ahead of an evacuation order. She and her husband took their dogs and items given to them from deceased parents — objects that can't be replaced.

Wallace did not think the Caldor fire would come so close. Fires in the past did not spread so rapidly near the resort city of 22,000 people.

“It's just yet another example of how wildfires have changed over the years,” she said. “It's just a culmination of 14 to 18 more years of dead trees, the droughts we’ve had since then, those kinds of things.”

PHOTOS: Caldor Fire Rages Through South Lake Tahoe

Since the beginning of the year, wildfires have burned more than 1.76 million acres in California, and fire officials expected conditions to become even more dire as the fire season heats up going into the fall.

To help Californians keep safe and keep tabs on where fires are burning, the National Alliance for Public Safety GIS Foundation created an interactive map showing all active fires.

The map showed recently contained fires and regions that have a red flag warning in place. The map does not show evacuation routes, but the foundation also maintains a spreadsheet with updated evacuation maps in areas that apply.

Cal Fire Currently Monitors 13 Fires Of Interest

Caldor Fire: El Dorado County, South Of Grizzly Flats – El Dorado National Forest

• 191,607 acres, 16 percent contained.
• Nearly 35,000 structures threatened.
• 669 structures destroyed, 35,000 structures threatened.
• Evacuation orders and warnings remain in place, new evacuation orders issued.

Chaparral Fire: Riverside And San Diego Counties — Southwest Of Murrieta – Cleveland National Forest

• 1,427 acres, 50 percent contained.
• Evacuation orders and warnings in place.
• Unified Command Cal Fire and the U.S. Forest Service.

Dixie Fire: Butte, Plumas, Lassen, Tehama And Shasta Counties

• 807,396 acres, 48 percent contained.
• Nearly 11,500 structures threatened.
• More than 1,208 structures destroyed (14th most destructive wildfire).
• Evacuation orders and warnings in place for multiple communities.
• Unified Command of Cal Fire, U.S. Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management and National Park Service.

French Fire, Kern County, Sequoia National Forest

• 25,643 acres, 40 percent contained.
• Evacuation orders in place.

Monument Fire: Trinity County, Five Miles West Of Big Bar, Shasta-Trinity National Forest

• 170,945 acres, 29 percent contained.

Federal Incidents

Antelope Fire: Siskiyou County, Five Miles South Of Tennant, Klamath National Forest

• 71,447 acres, 60 percent contained.

Knob Fire: Humboldt County, Two Miles South Of Willow Creek, Six Rivers National Forest

• 1,000 acres, 0 percent contained.
• Evacuations in progress.

McFarland Fire: Shasta, Trinity And Tehama Counties, Shasta-Trinity National Forest

• 122,653 acres, 95 percent contained.

River Complex: Siskiyou County, Seven Miles West Of Callahan, Klamath National Forest

• 106,132 acres, 23 percent contained.
• Complex comprised 23 fires; 16 fires contained
• Evacuation orders in place.

McCash Fire: Siskiyou County, Ten Bear Mountain McCash Creek, Six Rivers National Forest

• 36,461 acres, 1 percent contained.

Walkers Fire: Tulare County, 16 Miles Northeast Of Springville, Sequoia National Forest

• 8,108 acres, 52 percent contained.

Lava Fire: Siskiyou County, Northeast Of Weed, Shasta-Trinity National Forest

• 26,409 acres, 90 percent contained.
• Two structures damaged.
• 23 structures destroyed.

Beckwourth Complex: Lassen/Plumas Counties, Northeast Of Beckwourth, Plumas National Forest

• 105,670 acres, 98 percent contained.
• 23 structures damaged.
• 148 structures destroyed.

South Fire: San Bernardino County, North Of Fontana – San Bernardino National Forest

• 819 acres, 65 percent contained.
• Evacuation orders and warnings remain in place.

Tamarack Fire: Alpine County, South Of Gardnerville, Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest

• 68,637 acres, 82 percent contained.

Extended Attack Incident

Railroad Fire: San Bernardino County, Off Interstate 15 In The Cajon Pass – San Bernardino National Forest

• 69 acres, 60 percent contained.

Roadside Fire: San Bernardino County, Cajon Pass – San Bernardino National Forest

• 61 acres, 50 percent contained.

Washington Fire, Tuolumne County, West Of Sonora

• 100 acres, 75 percent contained.

Historic drought and recent heat waves tied to climate change have made wildfires more difficult to quell on the West Coast. Rising temperatures have made the American 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 have said.

The explosive pace of new wildfires showed no sign of slowing.

The Dixie fire is the Golden State's largest wildfire so far this year, burning 771,183 acres and destroying more than 1,200 structures and more than 600 homes.

Pacific Gas & Electric Co. equipment may have ignited the Dixie fire, according to a report released by the utility last month.

Last month, a repairman reportedly spotted what he suspected to be a blown fuse while he was responding to an outage in Feather River Canyon off state Route 70 in Oroville. Because of rough terrain and roadwork, the worker could not reach the pole for several hours, the utility said. By the time he reached the area, two or three blown fuses may have sparked a fire at the base of a healthy green tree leaning on the pole that held the conductor.

The combination of worsening drought, rising temperatures and arid fuels pointed to another devastating wildfire season, Gov. Gavin Newsom warned in May.

"You're already feeling the temperature shifts," he told reporters. "You already saw those red flag warnings, which are earlier in May than we've seen in many, many years because of the winds that are coming earlier. "

READ MORE:

• Tenaja Evacuations Remain Monday For Chaparral Fire Near Murrieta
  
• Free Air Filtration Device Program Expands To Entire Bay Area
  
• Bay Area Air Quality Advisory Issued For Monday
  
• Massive Fire Threatens Lake Tahoe, More Ordered To Flee
• 4 Key Things To Know About CA's 2021 Wildfire Season
• PG&E Says Its Equipment May Have Sparked NorCal Fire

Patch Editor Paige Austin and the Associated Press contributed to this report.