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Mountain Democrat mtdemocrat.com
Friday, August 27, 2021
Fire
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stands of timber, trees more than 40 inches in diameter and a lot of materials like heavy dead and down fuels have been causing control issues. “Those dead and down materials are very receptive, they are extremely dry,” Volmer said. He said once more resources are in, they
will be able to affect a lot more direct line control. Ben Newburn, the unified incident commander for the U.S. Forest Service, said the next few days will be very critical to pushing the containment percentage up. “We’re going to be involved in some very complex firefighting
activities, particularly on the east side of the fire with some of our very technical firing operations,” Newburn explained. “Then also some of the work we’re doing out in the west side of the fire ... you’re going to see some smoke in the air, possibly, you’re going to see a lot of fire equipment
EL DORADO EL DORADO COUNTY COUNTY CHAMBER CHAMBER OF COMMERCE OF COMMERCE
WEDNESDAY, WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER SEPTEMBER 29 29 7:30 7:30 AM CHECK-IN AM CHECK-IN $125 $125 PER PER PERSON PERSON / $500 / $500 PER PER FOURSOME FOURSOME
Tee Time 9:00 am A portionAofportion the proceeds of the proceeds will go towill Bright go to Bright Water Foundation. Water Foundation. Register today Register viatoday via website at website www.eldoradocounty.org at www.eldoradocounty.org or by or by calling 530.621.5885. calling 530.621.5885.
moving around, but let me assure you we are working together to bring a successful end to this incident. “The next few days are going to certainly be a test of our firefighting abilities, and certainly are going to present some opportunities for us to get some solid success on the spire, and start getting some containment.” At Wednesday evening’s Caldor Fire public information meeting, an evacuee asked law enforcement liaison Eric Lee how someone would get prescription medications they left in
their home. “The best way to do that is to contact the American Red Cross,” Lee said. “They will be happy to be able to help you out with that and get you whatever you need.” Lee was also asked how an evacuee will know it’s time they can return home. About 24,500 El Dorado County residents are currently evacuated, according to the California Office of Emergency Services. He said public information officers will work together to get messaging out so people can return
home once the fire has been eradicated in an area or it’s no longer an emergency ingressegress route for fire apparatus and it’s safe. The fire began south of Grizzly Flat Aug. 14 and has since burned to the north and east all the way to Highway 50 and Silver Fork Road. Damage assessment teams as of Wednesday night have identified 465 homes and 11 commercial buildings that were destroyed. The Caldor Fire currently threatens 17,488 structures with about 2,900 firefighting personnel assigned to the incident.
Flames light up a tree trunk up Silver Fork Road near Kyburz Wednesday, above. A dozer operator out of Ventura County, right, unloads heavy equipment along Mormon Emigrant Trail.
Mountain Democrat photos by Thomas Frey
The Caldor Fire Fund has been established to support the families impacted by this fire, and your entire donation will go to support those families. These are our friends, neighbors, and loved ones. With your support, we can help to make a difference in the lives of those who need us now more than ever. All donations to this fund will be unrestricted.
To donate by credit card, visit: www.eldoradocf.org Checks can be made out to Caldor Fire Fund and mailed to: El Dorado Community Foundation PO Box 1388 Placerville, CA 95667
