At A Shelter, Lake Tahoe Residents Fleeing A Massive Fire Wonder What’s Next

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Mimi Routh, 79, unloads a suitcase from her car after evacuating from the Tahoe Senior Plaza to a shelter in nearby Gardnerville, Nev.

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Routh is one of about 50,000 people who have been evacuated in the Tahoe area since the fire began. The mass exodus, coupled with the unfavorable weather conditions that have made it difficult to contain the fire for weeks, means shelters are filling up and hotel rooms are hard to find and expensive. COVID restrictions have also limited the number of people that can be housed in any given shelter.

Routh tells NPR she is grateful to have landed a safe spot at the Red Cross shelter at the Douglas County Community Center in Gardnerville, Nev. Initially she was told there was no cot available and that she’d have to drive to another shelter in Reno, Nev., 55 miles north.

«It was a big shock, she says, talking through an N95 mask and shielding her eyes from the ominous orange smoke-obscured sun after a mostly sleepless night.

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Firefighters work to put out a spot fire ahead of the main wall of flames on the Caldor Fire near South Lake Tahoe.

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She and a friend have spent a few nights at the shelter, but Wedgwood tells NPR that they’re about to leave because they can’t bring in their dogs. She’s hoping to find a hotel.

«The nice thing is we’re not in some mountain community where there’s no services around, she says, choosing to focus on a tiny bright spot in an otherwise grim situation. «I forgot a couple things at home and I was able to go over to Walmart and pick them up in a minute so no problem.

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Bill Erlach, Reno Fire Battalion chief, says spot fires igniting near densely populated neighborhoods remain a chief concern with the Caldor Fire.

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This week they were mopping up hot spots from a small spot fire that blew out in front of the main flank and ignited near a subdivision in the woods. Meanwhile, on the front lines, a chopper dropped water on a steep granite slope in a canyon near South Lake Tahoe. Towering pine trees above were engulfed in flames.

Erlach says the fire won’t be slowed down until there is a major weather change. Meaning it could be weeks or more until thousands of people can even try to go home.