Douglas County orders evacuations as Caldor Fire approaches Nevada

Douglas County officials placed areas along and near Lake Tahoe under a mandatory evacuation order Tuesday as the Caldor Fire continues to approach Nevada.

The order comes a day after Gov. Steve Sisolak declared a state of emergency in response to the wildfire that has ripped through California and threatened South Lake Tahoe.

At a news conference outside the State Emergency Operations Center hours before the evacuation order, Sisolak emphasized the severity of the blaze, pointing out flecks of ash on his black jacket as he took questions from reporters.

“This is serious, folks,” he said. “This is extremely serious.”

Sisolak said at the briefing that his primary concern is to protect people and property.

The governor’s emergency declaration allowed the state to quickly deploy 55 Nevada National Guard personnel to help with the response. More personnel can be deployed if necessary, Maj. Gen. Ondra Berry told reporters.

Berry said the Guard was helping with traffic control and had also activated two helicopters and a C-130 airplane with firefighting capabilities.

Nevada Division of Forestry Deputy Administrator John Christopherson said agencies are continually preparing for events like the Caldor Fire.

“This is not something that catches us by surprise,” he said.

Christopherson said his agency has multiple crews assigned to the blaze, including those that are managing vegetation ahead of the fire.

The governor praised those who have responded to the fire, including members of the National Guard, emergency personnel, health care workers and the grocery store employees who have kept food stocked on shelves.

“Everybody that’s associated with this has done a great job, and it just shows you that we as Nevadans step up when our neighbor needs help,” Sisolak said.

Evacuations

Jon Bakkedahl, an administrator for the Nevada Division of Emergency Management, said agencies are planning ahead to ensure a coordinated response to the fire.

“We don’t want to be playing catch-up and not have the resources in place,” he said.

Bakkedahl said his agency started coordinating with officials in California more than 10 days ago.

Over the past week, he said, the Nevada Department of Transportation developed an evacuation plan for people who live south of the lake in California.

“And we’re hoping to continue to use that plan to move forward as we look into the potential actions on the Nevada side as the fire moves,” he said hours before the evacuation orders were given in Douglas County.

Meanwhile, three of the evacuation centers set up in Nevada are at capacity as others are opening, including a large shelter in Washoe County, he said.

Bakkedahl could not provide an estimate on when the fire may cross into Nevada but said officials are planning for the worst scenario. He said the best estimate is that the fire will stay in the Tahoe Basin.

The National Weather Service warned of dangerous fire conditions and winds through Wednesday.

Casinos closing

Some casinos in the South Lake Tahoe area on Monday notified the Gaming Control Board that they have started to shut down parts of their gaming operations in response to the encroaching fire, a spokesman for the agency said.

Four major casinos are located in Stateline: Montbleu Casino Resort, Hard Rock Lake Tahoe, Harrah’s Lake Tahoe and Harvey’s.

Caesars Entertainment emailed a statement about its casinos to the Las Vegas Review-Journal saying its two properties —Harrah’s and Harvey’s — were operating and “actively supporting local emergency services, fire crews and displaced Team Members.”

Hard Rock Lake Tahoe also released a statement, saying it was monitoring the situation and was in contact with the local, state and federal government.

At the news conference, Sisolak said operations were being evaluated on an hour-by-hour basis.

The evacuation order does not include the casinos in Stateline.

Contact Blake Apgar at bapgar@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-5298. Follow @blakeapgar on Twitter. Review-Journal staff writer Colton Lochhead and digital content producer Tony Garcia contributed to this report.