Caldor Fire

The old logging town of Caldor is located near Omo Ranch,^[7] 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.^[8] Originally called "Dogtown", the abandoned settlement was renamed after the new owners, the California Door Company.^[9][8]

The Caldor Fire started on August 14, 2021, near Little Mountain, south of Pollock Pines in El Dorado County,^[10] about two miles east of Omo Ranch and four miles south of Grizzly Flats.^[11][12] It initially burned slowly, where little attention 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.^[13] By the night of August 16 it was 6,500 acres (2,600 ha).^[14] 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 a closure of the highway.^[15]

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.^[16] 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 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.^[17] 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.^[18][19]

By October 2, 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).^[2]

U.S. Forest Service investigators determined that the Caldor Fire was started by a bullet.^[29] 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.^[30][31] Court filings stated that "the Caldor Fire likely ignited when a projectile discharged from a firearm and struck an object, causing heated fragments of the projectile to land in a dry receptive fuel bed, igniting the fuels".^[32] 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.^[29][33] The suspects were held on $1 million bail, with a preliminary hearing scheduled for August 2023.^[34] 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.^[29]