Fire Officials Optimistic In Fight Against Lake Tahoe Fire

Scientists have said weather will continue to be more extreme and wildfires more frequent, destructive and unpredictable.

The huge California wildfire near Lake Tahoe resort communities has calmed down significantly and was growing at the smallest rate in two weeks, but firefighters must stay engaged and take advantage of good weather while it lasts, commanders said Friday. The Caldor Fire remained only a few miles from the city of South Lake Tahoe, which was emptied of 22,000 residents days ago, along with casinos and shops across the state line in Nevada, but no significant fire activity occurred there on Thursday, officials said. "I'll sum everything up on the incident with the words cautiously optimistic, and that's as the result of a lot of hard work that you've put in now in over two weeks of being here," Tim Ernst, an operations section chief, told firefighters.