Fire Evacuations at Lake Tahoe
Aug. 30th, 2021 06:07 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
canyonwalkerFires are burning all over the west, smoke is everywhere even 2,000 miles away, yadda yadda yadda. Stories about wildfires burning in California, Oregon, Washington, and Idaho (and other states) have become such a fixture in the news feed that it's easy to tune them out. Thus my ear perked up this morning when I heard that evacuation had been ordered for South Lake Tahoe.
Part of why news of the fires has faded into the background noise of the daily news is that the fires have been burning mostly in wilderness and sparsely populated areas. And hooray for that! We don't need a repeat of the tragedy when 2018's Camp Fire killed 85 people when it swept through Paradise, California.
South Lake Tahoe is a town of 20,000 residents plus many tourists. By midday today the fire had already swept through many cabin/vacation home areas in the mountains west of the area and had approached to within 7 miles of town. Authorities ordered evacuation of South Lake Tahoe and many adjacent communities.
News reports showed long lines of vehicles on the roads, with drivers waiting for hours to get out of town. That's because there was just one exit route left. US-50 west of South Lake Tahoe has been closed for a while now as fires have crossed it, and authorities closed California 89 to the north today (AFAICT). That left only US-50 east into Nevada.
Thankfully with authorities focused on getting everyone out the traffic jams cleared up by late this afternoon. Sometimes evacuation orders can see a bit aggressive. In the past there have always been residents who're like, "Naw, man, I'll stay here." After what happened in Paradise a few years ago— when the evacuation order came too late and people burned alive stuck in traffic jams trying to flee— more people are cautious now.
Update: pictures of Lake Tahoe in the smoke vs. not (next blog)
Part of why news of the fires has faded into the background noise of the daily news is that the fires have been burning mostly in wilderness and sparsely populated areas. And hooray for that! We don't need a repeat of the tragedy when 2018's Camp Fire killed 85 people when it swept through Paradise, California.
South Lake Tahoe is a town of 20,000 residents plus many tourists. By midday today the fire had already swept through many cabin/vacation home areas in the mountains west of the area and had approached to within 7 miles of town. Authorities ordered evacuation of South Lake Tahoe and many adjacent communities.
News reports showed long lines of vehicles on the roads, with drivers waiting for hours to get out of town. That's because there was just one exit route left. US-50 west of South Lake Tahoe has been closed for a while now as fires have crossed it, and authorities closed California 89 to the north today (AFAICT). That left only US-50 east into Nevada.
Thankfully with authorities focused on getting everyone out the traffic jams cleared up by late this afternoon. Sometimes evacuation orders can see a bit aggressive. In the past there have always been residents who're like, "Naw, man, I'll stay here." After what happened in Paradise a few years ago— when the evacuation order came too late and people burned alive stuck in traffic jams trying to flee— more people are cautious now.
Update: pictures of Lake Tahoe in the smoke vs. not (next blog)
