Soon we learned
that a fire was burning over several hundred acres of forested land just north
of Pollock Pines. Luckily, the homes there are scattered and surrounded by
defensible (cleared) spaces, making it unlikely that they were in much danger.
Surely, we thought, firefighters would soon bring the fires under control, and
that would be an end of it.
We were wrong. Over
the next week the fire went on burning, spreading first to 2800 acres, then to
10,000 acres. On one particularly hot and windy day it swelled to 80,000 acres,
more than a hundred square miles. A giant pyrocumulus cloud spanned the sky,
and smoke and ashes began raining down. El Dorado County had the dubious
distinction of having the largest
California wildfire of 2014.
Now, the fire is
still spreading. It has grown to more than 95,000 acres, and at its easternmost
edge is only a few miles from beautiful Lake Tahoe. A dozen homes have been
destroyed, thousands of acres of forest have burned. Thousands of people were
evacuated from their homes temporarily; some have gone back to intact homes,
others have found smoke or worse. Thankfully, no lives have been lost, though
four firefighters (including a prison inmate who was working on the front lines) have been
injured.
Highway 50 is not
too wide at Pollock Pines, and a successful effort has been made to keep the
fire from spreading across it. Only that highway and a reservoir lie between hundreds
of homes, including ours, and the fire.
Highway 50 is no
longer “the loneliest highway in America.” Thousands of firefighters from
hundreds of miles away, even from Idaho and other states, have hurried along it
night and day. Overhead, helicopters carry water, and planes drop fire retardant
on the flames. All along the road, people have posted signs thanking those who
have come to help.
Fifteen miles to
the west of Pollock Pines, the county fairground in Placerville is being used
for the many cattle and other animals that had to be moved out of the burning
area. Fire engines, bulldozers, and huge mobile dormitories for the
firefighters fill the parking lot of a nearby Raley’s supermarket.
As the fire has
moved to the northeast, we have been less affected by it. The air is clear
again here, though there is still some smoke in the Lake Tahoe area. Life seems
normal again in many ways. This morning it is even raining, for the first time
in months. The rain is a double-edged sword, though. Falling on the clayey soil
here, it will make it harder for firefighters to keep their footing.
The fire will probably
continue raging for weeks. Now more than 40% contained, it cannot last through
the approaching rainy season, but the effects will be long-lasting for the scarred
land, the burned forests, some homeowners, and the wildlife.
