Massive fire threatens Lake Tahoe, more ordered to flee

People have been told to flee from a long section of the Lake Tahoe shoreline as a huge forest fire threatens to push into the resort region straddling California and Nevada

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. -- People were told to flee from a long section of the Lake Tahoe shoreline Monday as a huge forest fire threatened to push into the resort region straddling California and Nevada. The new orders for people to immediately evacuate included part of the tourist city of South Lake Tahoe and about 15 miles (24 kilometers) up the western shore of the lake. It comes a day after communities several miles south of the lake had abruptly been ordered evacuated as the Caldor Fire raged nearby. South Lake Tahoe's main medical facility, Barton Memorial Hospital, proactively evacuated 36 patients needing skilled nursing and 16 in acute care beds Sunday, sending them to regional facilities far from the fire, public information officer Mindi Befu said. The rest of the hospital was evacuating following Monday's expanded orders. The region is facing a warning from the National Weather Service about critical fire weather Monday through Tuesday across the northern Sierra Nevada and southern Cascade Range.