Fire official says Caldor Fire "has simply outpaced us" as it nears Lake Tahoe
CBSN
Firefighters tackling the Caldor Fire now have priority over available resources as the blaze has become "the number one fire in the country right now in terms of priorities for values at risk," according to El Dorado National Forest supervisor Jeff Marsolais. Burning only 11 miles southwest of the Lake Tahoe area, local officials said they worry about the fire's spread.
"This fire has just simply outpaced us," Marsolais said Tuesday night at a community briefing. "We emptied the cupboards of resources, and the local fire chiefs of Amador and El Dorado counties sent every resource they could, and no matter how many folks we tried to get on it, it just continued to outpace us." As of Wednesday morning, the Caldor Fire has burned 126,182 acres and is only 11% contained, Cal Fire reports. The massive blaze has already damaged 461 residences, 34 structures, 11 commercial properties and 165 minor structures, with more than 17,000 structures still in its possible path. The cause of the fire remains under investigation. Fire officials expect to fully contain it by August 31.Ashley White received her earliest combat action badge from the United States Army soon after the first lieutenant arrived in Afghanistan. The silver military award, recognizing soldiers who've been personally engaged by an attacker during conflict, was considered an achievement in and of itself as well as an affirming rite of passage for the newly deployed. White had earned it for using her own body to shield a group of civilian women and children from gunfire that broke out in the midst of her third mission in Kandahar province. All of them survived. She never mentioned the badge to anyone in her battalion.