Caldor Fire: Thousands still under evacuation orders as blaze grows in Northern California

August 23, 2024

EL DORADO, Calif. — Dawn Hoefler was organizing donations for evacuees of the massive Dixie Fire when she received a warning. A different, fast-moving blaze was closing in near her Northern California town and she needed to leave.

Hoefler and her husband were soon packed and in the car, calling other neighbors near their home in the Sly Park area of Pollock Pines to make sure they were evacuating, too. The Caldor Fire in El Dorado County had gone from several thousand acres Monday, to more than tripling in size the next day, and was up to more than 68,000 acres as of late Thursday.

The Hoeflers had no idea where to go. They called a hotline that directed them to an evacuation center in El Dorado.

More than 36,000 residents across nine California counties are under evacuation orders as numerous blazes burn in the state, with 23,000 from El Dorado County, according to the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services. At evacuation centers, anxiety brewed Thursday over the stress of enduring yet another fire, another evacuation. Many recalled the King Fire that burned nearly 100,000 acres in El Dorado County in 2014, and 2018′s Camp Fire more than 100 miles away. For some, it was not their first evacuation.

Survivors of California’s deadliest wildfire haunted as new blaze nears: ‘I can’t do it again’

As of a Thursday evening briefing, Cal Fire officials said the blaze was still holding to areas south of Highway 50, though it was a couple hundred yards away. Much of Pollock Pines sits north of the highway.

“It is in the vicinity of Pollock Pines and it’s under mandatory evacuation,” public information officer Dave Lauchner said early Thursday about the fire. “Wind conditions are not pushing the fire toward Pollock Pines.”

But the winds could change course. Lauchner said winds had shifted unfavorably in recent days, and the spread of the fire is “really dependent on that.”

The Caldor Fire had demonstrated what officials described as “extreme fire behavior,” and in a Thursday morning update, officials warned of new spot fires that could spur potential growth of the blaze, even as conditions moderated growth overnight.

As the blaze mushroomed in recent days, fire crews battling the Caldor Fire needed help, and firefighters helping with the Dixie Fire were sent to assist.

“They were released from the Dixie Fire and sent straight over the hill because they were the closest resources available,” Cal Fire Director Thom Porter told reporters Thursday, according to the Sacramento Bee.

Resources have been strained across the state because of the sheer number of active fires, including the Dixie Fire, the state’s second-largest inferno in history.

“The Dixie Fire took a ton of resources from the state,” Lauchner told The Washington Post.

When it was clear that the Caldor Fire was spreading wildly, a request for more resources was made, and additional crews began arriving on the scene Wednesday. Lauchner said firefighters may be pulled from parts of other fires if they aren’t being “utilized on any significant piece of firefighting.”

At the El Dorado Community Hall, Dawn and Paul Hoefler were getting updates on the status of the fire as more people arrived. The center, set up along railroad tracks up a dirt road, was loaded up with tents and cots for evacuees and volunteers. The inside was lined with folding tables, and packages of water bottles piled high. Organizers said about 150 people had been through there.

Dawn Hoefler said the couple worried their old car wouldn’t make the drive to Oregon, or to Michigan, to stay with family, so the couple planned to stay at the shelter until it may be safe to return home.

Share this articleShare

Katy Pollock, secretary of the community hall, said the “generosity of the community has been overwhelming.”

Local businesses have donated everything from trash cans to dish soap and dog food. Members of the community brought in air mattresses, as well as vegetables from their garden to feed those taking shelter.

Dawn Hoefler said the first night at the shelter, a homemade pasta dinner “tasted just like mine.”

But as helicopters flew overhead and new evacuees entered, those at the center grew anxious about the fire spreading without containment near their homes.

Cal Fire official Dusty Martin said Thursday evening that he anticipates that evacuations in current mandatory areas may “last for a little while, at least a week, maybe upwards of two weeks.”

“Our number one priority is to get the community back in to their homes,” he said at a briefing, “but as our law enforcement liaison stated, we have to do that safely and make sure it’s safe for residents and safe for the fire personnel.”

As of Thursday, nearly 7,000 structures were threatened. More than 650 firefighters were working to put out the fire that had sparked five days earlier.

The Caldor Fire had ravaged much of the small town of Grizzly Flats days earlier. Pollock compared it to the total destruction of the town of Paradise, a community destroyed in 2018 by the deadliest wildfire in California history. Images of the Grizzly Flats showed numerous structures gutted, some with just frames left standing and others leveled. Road signs were scorched, and power lines lay burned on the ground. All that was left of a post office was mangled metals.

The wildfire was everywhere. Could a school bus driver and 22 kids find a way out?

While at the shelter on Thursday, Pollock left suddenly — she heard there may be a way to get into Grizzly Flats to help a friend rescue their stranded horse.

Fire officials said no evacuation orders had yet been lifted, and returning was not recommended. He said it may be a few days before crews get a full picture of the extent of the destruction in Grizzly Flats.

“We understand the eagerness to get back in, and the stress,” Lauchner said. “We want to make sure they’re safe and don’t put themselves in harm's way.”

Competing blazes and a heat wave are complicating efforts to help Dixie Fire evacuees

Thousands have been told to leave their homes as Dixie Fire spreads. What should you do if you need to evacuate?

ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7uK3SoaCnn6Sku7G70q1lnKedZLuiwMiopWhqYGd%2BcHyXaGhyZ5OWuaW70WadoqqVYr2wuMuomqRloJ67pr%2BMnq2am6WWwaq7zaxm