Air tankers and helicopters were helping hundreds of firefighters battle a wildfire south of Lake Tahoe where no structures have been damaged but the California mountain town of Markleeville remained on standby for possible evacuations.
About 500 personnel were expected to be on the fire lines about 20 miles west of the Nevada border, Sierra Front fire spokeswoman Jenny Ramella said Monday.
The fire, sparked by lightning Friday, has burned nearly 15 square miles of timber and grass. It was about 10 percent contained after forcing the evacuation of some campgrounds, officials said.
Elsewhere, cooler weather helped crews making progress against a huge forest fire in a remote area of the San Bernardino Mountains – the largest of the several blazes burning in California. The fire about 90 miles east of Los Angeles was 24 percent contained and holding steady at about 27 square miles as firefighters attacked the flames with a fleet of water-dropping aircraft.
“It’s starting to behave itself a little bit, and we’re catching up and getting around it,” said Lee Beyer, a spokesman for crews fighting the fire. About 500 buildings, including old cabins, had been threatened, but none was lost. The flames forced several hundred people to leave camps and vacation homes in the mountains.
From ABC 7 News: https://abc7news.com/news/hundreds-of-firefighters-battle-blaze-south-of-lake-tahoe/801012/