Fire Threat Remains, Despite Evacuations

Winds have been easing, allowing firefighters to make progress containing the spread, but authorities remain concerned.

The lifting of a mandatory evacuation order for South Lake Tahoe's 22,000 residents is a confident milestone in the fight against the Caldor Fire, but it remains only 48% contained and still threatens areas south of the resort town. Firefighters are confronting aggressive winds and flames in some southeast sections of the Caldor Fire, which could still reach Meyers, a community more than a mile high known as the gateway to Lake Tahoe, and other areas including the Kirkwood ski resort. And although the evacuation is no longer mandatory for the smoke-cloaked city on the lake's south shore, more than 5,000 personnel are still working to protect the surrounding resort communities and the homes of employees who staff casinos, restaurants and ski resorts.