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21-702: The Caldor Fire was a large wildfire that burned 221,835 acres (89,773 hectares) in the Eldorado National Forest and other areas of the Sierra Nevada in El Dorado , Amador , and Alpine County , California , in the United States during the 2021 California wildfire season . The fire was first reported on Saturday, August 14, 2021, and was fully contained on Thursday, October 21, 2021. The Caldor Fire destroyed 1,005 structures and damaged 81 more, primarily in

42-552: A closure of the highway. Over the next few days, the fire crossed Highway 50 in the vicinity of Kyburz . Starting on August 27, winds drove the fire rapidly east towards the Lake Tahoe Basin, devastating the once picturesque backdrop to the historic Strawberry Lodge near the Twin Bridges area. By August 30, it had reached Echo Summit , less than five miles (8.0 km) from South Lake Tahoe . While South Lake Tahoe remained at

63-463: A firearm and struck an object, causing heated fragments of the projectile to land in a dry receptive fuel bed, igniting the fuels". The two men's attorney stated that they had been in Eldorado National Forest in the Omo Ranch area on the day the fire began, were not guilty of starting it, and had called 911 to report it as soon as they had cell service. The suspects were held on $ 1 million bail, with

84-543: A high density of transportation routes, with 2,367 miles (3,809 km) of roads, and 349 miles (562 km) of trails. Roads under Forest Service jurisdiction total 2,158 miles (3,473 km). There are 209 miles (336 km) of county roads, and 400 miles (640 km) of private roads within the National Forest boundaries. The forest was established on July 28, 1910, from a portion of Tahoe National Forest and other lands. Somerset, California Somerset

105-802: A judge ruled that there was insufficient evidence to try them. The old logging town of Caldor is located near Omo Ranch , close to the origin of the fire. The town was part of the Diamond and Caldor Railway lumber route, running from Diamond Springs to Caldor. Originally called "Dogtown", the abandoned settlement was renamed after the new owners, the California Door Company. The Caldor Fire started on August 14, 2021, near Little Mountain, south of Pollock Pines in El Dorado County, about two miles east of Omo Ranch and four miles south of Grizzly Flats . It initially burned slowly, where little attention

126-520: A preliminary hearing scheduled for August 2023. After a hearing in December 2023, an El Dorado County judge ruled that there was insufficient evidence to try them in relation to the fire, but enough to charge them with weapons violations. They have pleaded not guilty on those charges. Eldorado National Forest Most of the forest (72.8%) lies in El Dorado County . In descending order of land area

147-509: A state of emergency for El Dorado County over a day later after the explosive growth. As of Sunday night (August 29), evacuation orders were sent out to some residents of the Tahoe Basin as well as locations in Amador County. By August 30, the number of people covered by evacuation orders in El Dorado County was more than 53,000. A private consulting firm estimated the total economic impact to

168-486: Is an unincorporated community in El Dorado County , California . It is located 6.25 miles (10 kilometers) south of Camino , at an elevation of 2,093 feet (638 meters). Its ZIP Code is 95684. Somerset is a rural town located at the junction of Bucks Bar Road, Grizzly Flat Road, and Mount Aukum Road. Most of the land in the Somerset area is divided into ten acre properties. The main roads are asphalt but almost all of

189-480: Is located within the forest's boundaries, as is most of the Mokelumne Wilderness (which extends into neighboring Stanislaus National Forest and Humboldt–Toiyabe National Forest). A cool montane version of Mediterranean climate extends over most of the forest, with warm, dry summers and cold, wet winters. A wide variety of hardwoods , conifers , shrubs , native grasses , and forbs are represented in

210-519: The US Highway 50 corridor and in the community of Grizzly Flats, 2/3 of which was destroyed by the fire. On August 30, it became the second fire known to cross the Sierra Nevada mountain range, following the Dixie Fire , which crossed a few days earlier on August 18. It then threatened the communities of Meyers and South Lake Tahoe , causing evacuations to be ordered for more than 20,000 people before

231-463: The turbidity of Lake Tahoe's water. U.S. Forest Service investigators determined that the Caldor Fire was started by a bullet. Based on bullet casings, earplugs, electronic device location data, and DNA evidence from the scene, on December 8, 2021, a father and son were arrested and charged with reckless arson. Court filings stated that "the Caldor Fire likely ignited when a projectile discharged from

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252-477: The Eldorado National Forest. The forest receives about 56 inches (1,400 mm) of precipitation annually. Average annual runoff is about 29 inches (740 mm). This is equal to an annual water yield of 2.4 acre-feet (3,000 m ) per acre (737,000 m³/km²); therefore National Forest lands yield an estimated 1,444,000 acre-feet (1.781 × 10  m ) annually. The Eldorado National Forest has

273-643: The Tahoe region's economy, expressed as lost visitor spending due to evacuations and poor air quality, at $ 268 million. There were concerns that runoff from the Caldor Fire's burned footprint would have negative impacts on the water quality of the Lake Tahoe watershed. However, in testing conducted by the League to Save Lake Tahoe in October after the fire was fully contained, it was found that there had been relatively little impact on

294-455: The evacuation warning stage during early morning briefings that day, the entire city of 22,000 people was ordered to evacuate at 10:59 a.m. Due to the focused efforts of fire crews aggressively thinning nearby forests, reducing earlier crown fires (typically 100–150 feet (30–46 meters) flames) to surface fires (typically 15 feet (4.6 meters) flames) and developing a fire perimeter, evacuation orders were lifted about one week later. By October 2,

315-490: The fire was at 221,775 acres and 91% containment. By that date, 782 structures were destroyed, 81 structures damaged, with 35 structures still threatened. Staffing was still at 1,589 personnel, with ten helicopters assigned to the incident. The Caldor Fire was fully contained on October 21, 2021. The area burned by the fire came to 221,835 acres (89,773 hectares). According to Cal Fire, there were 21 total confirmed injuries among fire personnel and civilians. In September 2021 it

336-482: The fire's progress was halted. The Caldor Fire was the third-largest and second-most-destructive of the 2021 season in California, and is the seventeenth-largest and sixteenth-most destructive in recorded California history. The U.S. Forest Service determined that the fire was caused by a bullet. A father and son who had called 911 to report the fire were accused of starting it by reckless use of firearms. In January 2024,

357-658: The forest boundary, where several small scattered pieces of national forest lands are separated from the main body and surrounded by lands of other ownership. The forest ranges in elevation from 1,000 feet (300 m) in the foothills to more than 10,000 feet (3,000 m) above sea level along the Sierra crest. The mountainous topography is broken by the steep canyons of the Mokelumne , Cosumnes , American , and Rubicon rivers. Plateaus of generally moderate relief are located between these steep canyons. The Desolation Wilderness

378-1204: The others counties are: Amador , Alpine , and Placer counties in California; and Douglas County in Nevada with 78 acres (320,000 m ). The forest is bordered on the north by the Tahoe National Forest , on the east by the Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit, on the southeast by the Humboldt–Toiyabe National Forest , and to the south by the Stanislaus National Forest . Eldorado National Forest headquarters are located in Placerville, California . There are local ranger district offices in Camino , Georgetown , Pioneer , and Pollock Pines . A complicated ownership pattern exists. The parcels of other ownership (private or other agency land) are mostly isolated and surrounded on all sides by government land. An opposite pattern occurs outside of

399-410: The various Eldorado National Forest ecosystems . The principal plant communities found here are: Old-growth forests totaling 122,000 acres (49,000 ha) have been identified in the Eldorado National Forest, consisting of: The major commercial forest species are white fir, red fir, ponderosa pine, Jeffrey pine, sugar pine , Douglas fir , and incense cedar . Water is a major resource of

420-505: Was given to it because of other larger fires, but exploded in size on August 16 due to high winds and high fuel loads in the area. By the night of August 16 it was 6,500 acres (2,600 ha). On August 17 the fire grew to 30,000 acres (12,000 ha) as it expanded rapidly north and east, crossing the North Fork Cosumnes River and approaching Sly Park Reservoir . By August 20, the fire had burned nearly to Highway 50 , forcing

441-585: Was reported that 18 people had been injured due to the fire, the majority of them firefighters. Two people were injured in Grizzly Flats and were airlifted to hospitals. The Caldor Fire destroyed 1,003 structures, many of them in Grizzly Flats when the fire destroyed two-thirds of the community in the early morning of August 17. On August 17, evacuations were ordered for Grizzly Flats, Somerset , Sly Park Reservoir and Pollock Pines . Governor Gavin Newsom declared

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