Winds cooperated Wednesday night and Thursday morning, and firefighters continue to keep the Caldor Fire several miles away from Lake Tahoe, and outside of the city of South Lake Tahoe, but the flames continue advancing east toward the Nevada border.
Snowmaking guns continue to spray water at Heavenly Ski Resort, which is directly in the line of the fire. At the western end of the blaze, near where it began, evacuation orders were downgraded to warnings in North Camino and Pollock Pines, as the Associated Press reports.
The fire was 25% contained as of Thursday morning, and it had grown to 210,259 acres.
Firefighters have been concerned about embers flying from the eastern front of the fire into the residential neighborhoods of South Lake Tahoe. As the New York Times reports, "firefighters positioned themselves in the evacuated neighborhoods of Meyers and Christmas Valley directly south of Lake Tahoe" on Wednesday, and, "Night and day, fire crews are patrolling deserted streets to tamp out the spot fires caused by flying embers."
A creek bed about eight miles from the lake's edge is being focused on as a hopeful firebreak, preventing the fire from burning its way into South Lake Tahoe.
Meanwhile, evacuation shelters in Carson City, Nevada are full, and evacuations still have not been ordered in Douglas County, Nevada, which remains in the fire's path.
"We lucked out a little bit yesterday," said Cal Fire Operations Section Chief Tim Ernst, per USA Today. "We’re still not out of the woods. The fire is still moving."
As the Times reports, firefighters say they were battling "squirrelly winds" around the area of Kirkwood, but the ski area has reportedly been protected so far.
The Caldor Fire has destroyed almost 600 homes, and more than 180 other structures, primarily in the area of Grizzly Flats, near where the fire began on August 14.
Related: South Lake Tahoe Evacuation Causes Major Traffic Jam; Caldor Fire Advances Into Edge of Tahoe Basin
Top image: Highway 50 is deserted as South Lake Tahoe is under mandatory evacuation due to the Caldor Fire on September 1, 2021 in South Lake Tahoe, California. The Caldor Fire has burned over 200,000 acres, destroyed hundreds of structures and is currently 20 percent contained. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
