Mountain Democrat, Monday, September 20, 2021 by mcnaughtonmedia

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C a l i f o r n i a ’ s O l d e s t N e w s pa p e r – E s t. 18 51

Volume 170 • Issue 110 | 75¢

mtdemocrat.com

Monday, September 20, 2021

Fire chief reports ‘good day’ in Caldor fight Eric Jaramishian Staff writer Firefighters continue to make progress on the Caldor Fire, allowing Highway 88 to open for travel. The route reopened just after 4 p.m. Thursday, Caltrans announced on social media. The road is one of the main highways leading to the Tahoe Basin. Cal Fire Operations Section Chief Brian Mackwood said crews are still clearing large timber between Carson Valley and Jackson. “We have a bunch of crews working in that general area trying to get the larger timber off the highway,” he said. Highway 88 has been closed since the fire threatened Kirkwood late last month. Mackwood said Highway 50’s closure will likely be extended and that officials want to reopen 88 to provide access to Lake Tahoe. “There’s going to be a lot of fire engines working in there, so keep your speeds down in that corridor,” he said. Crews continue to hold the fire near Caples and Silver lakes and were mopping up the area Thursday and Friday, according to U.S. Forest Service Section Chief Kyle Jacobson. On that southern flank of the eastern finger of the fire containment lines built by hand and dozer are complete. This should keep Caldor from moving further east or south. “It’s just a little stubborn down (there) … but resources are making good progress,” Jacobson said. In Desolation Wilderness near Echo Lake, fire crews were able to guide the fire into rocky terrain and were seeing little heat late last week. West of Echo Lake firefighters report they are constructing containment lines toward Pyramid Peak. Firefighters reported Thursday they were able to contain the last bit of fire line in the Trimmer Peak area in South Lake Tahoe. Resources there continue to patrol and mop up where necessary and will monitor hot spots. Jacobson said firefighters were able to establish more containment near Scout Peak, but a few more days of mop up and patrol will be needed. No further progression of the fire has been reported near Kirkwood. “Overall, a good day for the folks on the ground and in the air,” Jacobson said. In Strawberry PG&E crews are working to restore power, according to El Dorado County sheriff ’s Sgt. Simon Brown. Sheriffs will authorize repopulation of that area when it is safe and will not wait for PG&E, said Brown. California Interagency Incident Management Team 4 Commander Rocky Opliger said it’s the areas with difficult terrain that are left to contain. More accurate mapping put the number of acres burned by the Caldor Fire at n

See Fire update, page 11

Photo courtesy of U.S. Forest Service

A CL-415 dips into Lake Tahoe in the fight against the Caldor Fire. The CL-415 can drop more than 20 loads of water on a fire in an hour, depending on the proximity of the water source. Each load is 1,600-plus gallons.

Fighting the Caldor Fire a feat from the sky

Larry Weitzman Mountain Democrat correspondent

irefighters on the ground endure arduous conditions in terrain sometimes not

fit for a mountain lion. But now they get the help of new aerial firefighting equipment in the form of large transport category aircraft, the biggest on the Caldor Fire being a DC-10 provided

Photo courtesy of 10 Tanker

The DC-10-30s are currently the biggest fire bombardment tool in the firefighting arsenal, dropping 85,000 pounds (9,400 gallons) of retardant (or water) in one pass of a mile long and hundreds of yards wide — all in about 20 seconds.

by 10 Tanker, one of only four DC-10-30 former airliners converted into a massive aerial firefighting tool. The 10 Tanker fighting the Caldor Fire was formally owned by Continental Airlines and started its new life as an aerial firefighting tool in about 2006. Based in Albuquerque, N.M., these DC-10-30s are currently the biggest fire bombardment tool in the firefighting arsenal, dropping 85,000 pounds (9,400 gallons) of retardant (or water) in one pass of a mile long and hundreds of yards wide — all in about 20 seconds. And for the Caldor Fire, the McClellan-based 10 Tanker can takeoff, deliver its load and return to base in 35-40 minutes and take off again 20 minutes later. A 10 Tanker, which has a wingspan of 165 feet, is 182 feet long and stands about 57 feet high, started life carrying almost 400 passengers in a fuselage with an interior width of nearly 19 feet. It has three, super powerful GE 51,000 pounds of thrust jet engines. With roughly three hours of fuel on board (about 9,000 gallons) and almost n

See Skies, page 12

Relief for fire victims

PLACE ADDRESS LABEL HERE

Photos courtesy of Hilary Mulligan

The El Dorado County Community Foundation’s Caldor Fire Fund relief distribution took place at Folsom Lake College, El Dorado Campus, left, Sept. 9-10. More than 600 households were given relief funds at that event. Overall, the El Dorado Community Foundation has contributed to 2,400 affected households on the West Slope and 2,400 households on the East Slope in the Caldor Fire footprint. Funds total approximately $1.4 million, benefiting almost 15,000 El Dorado County residents. Funds were distributed in South Lake Tahoe at South Tahoe Middle School, above, Sept. 12.

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