South Lake Tahoe, CA…Caldor Fire East Zone Situation Summary: Weather continued to moderate yesterday with cooler temperatures in the 70’s and lighter southwest winds and some gustier conditions on the ridge tops. Fire growth was minimal on the East Zone with some perimeter expansion near Cold Creek on the northeast edge, at Luther Spire east of Christmas Valley, and in timber stringers north of Caples Lake. Today the inversion will break around 10 a.m. when fire behavior may begin to increase. Relative humidity is expected to be in the teens, winds will switch to the east-southeast with gusts to 20 mph on ridges. Exceptionally dry fuel conditions exist in and round the fire area.
Yesterday the fire was active at Lower Echo Lake, hand crews were successful in extinguishing interior hot spots and directly on the fire’s edge. Structure protection preparations and mop-up around cabins continued at both Lower and Upper Echo Lake. The fire was active along the northeast flank, northeast of Pioneer Trail. Here hand crews and dozers constructed a fireline adjacent to active fire to herd the fire toward Cold Creek and connect into completed dozer line along the powerline corridor. At the head of the fire near Trimmer Peak, hotshot crews were successful in extinguishing the fire around numerous hot spots. Dozers and hand crews worked along the fire’s edge from Trimmer Peak southwest to Saxon Creek. In Christmas Valley east of SR 89, the fire remained active and hand crews began constructing indirect fireline using trails in the area that will connect back to the main fire in Saxton Creek.
Today hand crews will continue to build and improve the fireline along the fire perimeter near Lower and Upper Echo Lakes, northeast of Pioneer Trail toward Cold Creek, and east of SR 89 at Luther Spire. Air resources will assist firefighters on the ground with retardant and water drops to slow fire movement and cool hot spots along the fire perimeter as conditions allow. In Hope Valley along California SR 88, a contingency group will use masticators to reduce dense vegetation along the highway corridor.
