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SOUTH LAKE TAHOE — The battle to save South Lake Tahoe from the massive Caldor Fire took a positive turn Wednesday as lighter-than-expected winds kept flames from spreading into the resort town.
But only a few miles inland from the famed alpine lake, firefighters struggled to keep the 204,000-acre blaze — still just 20% contained — from destroying hundreds of homes and two of California’s most famous ski resorts, Heavenly and Kirkwood.
At both resorts in the hills south of Lake Tahoe’s shores, workers ran dozens of machines normally used for snow-making around the clock, pumping out millions of gallons of water to soak buildings, ski lifts and forests in a high-stakes attempt to halt the advancing fire and even raise the humidity levels around the imperiled areas.
Bill Clark, the snowmaking supervisor at Heavenly, worked all night Tuesday into Wednesday morning with several co-workers, setting up and maintaining the machines along the side of the mountain.
“It’s go time,” Clark said in a post Tuesday on his Facebook page. “We’re trying to do whatever we could do to put water on the ground and help out. We’ll see what happens.”
“Godspeed,” said one of his admirers. “Please save our mountain!” said another.
Snow machines, also called snow guns, can pump up to 150 gallons of water a minute at pressures up to five times a typical a fire hose. Some are mounted on poles, and others are portable. They draw water from reservoirs and wells on ski areas — Heavenly has two reservoirs, one of which holds 50 million gallons.
Invented in 1934 in Hollywood by Warner Brothers technical director Louis Geib, who built a machine with a powerful fan and three rotating blades that shaved ice from a 400-pound block to create a fake blizzard for the movie “As the Earth Turns,” the machines are a staple at nearly every ski resort in the United States, particularly as warming temperatures from climate change have reduced snow in some areas.
Now, as wildfires spread across the West, the machines are increasingly being used by the ski industry to help reduce fire risk during major blazes.
“They can spray water 100 to 200 feet,” said Brooke Alba, a spokeswoman for SMI Snowmaking, a company in Midland, Mich., that manufactures snow-making equipment. “Having lots of mechanical sources of water spraying at the same time as a fire is approaching is like having lots of people spraying water.”
By Wednesday morning, a major operation was underway to convert Heavenly’s two massive parking lots into an incident command post to provide support for 1,500 firefighters.
Green tape stretched across one section of the upper parking lot to become the catering operation. Robert Griffith, working logistics for the U.S. Forest Service, unloaded pallets of hoses and fittings for the fire crews.
“It will be fully operational in the next few days,” he said.
Tahoe Douglas Fire Marshall Eric Guevin said Wednesday afternoon that the fire was about 4 miles west of Heavenly.
A bulldozer was cutting a fire line on the western edge of the resort. The goal: to keep the fire from spreading out of control in the area, which could further put South Lake Tahoe and nearby communities at risk if strong winds from the south blow embers toward the lake.
“Even though this is an asset we want to protect very much, we have to make sure that the homes and everything are protected down there,” said Guevin, standing in the upper parking lot of the resort where the base camp was being built.
“The fire is running in a northeast direction, so it’s coming in this direction,” he said.
At the Sierra-at-Tahoe ski resort, the fire burned through on Monday. But most facilities, including the lodge, administration building and gear shop were saved, said Mike Reitzell, president of Ski California, an industry organization. A maintenance building burned, and the condition of the forest around the resort is unknown, he said, adding that snow-making machines, along with private fire crews provided by AIG Insurance, the resort’s carrier, helped firefighters stave off more damage.
At Kirkwood Ski Resort, embers from the main fire reached the property Wednesday. About 25 firefighters from both San Mateo County and Cal Fire grabbed maps as Battalion Chief Jake Pelk briefed them on the long day ahead.
A sprinkler sprayed water in two directions at the base of Kirkwood Village near a ski lift, while snowmakers shot mist in the air that gusty winds pushed back into the hillside.
“I’m betting that it’s either gonna roll over the top or it’ll come over the meadow,” Cal Fire Capt. Jason Signes said of the fire, gesturing north. “Expect swirling winds throughout the day, because we’re in the bowl. You guys know how water flows? It’s gonna do the same thing in here.”
By 1 p.m., the crews had hopped in their trucks and headed up hillsides and down side roads, positioned in four different residential pockets and near the resort itself to clear away small trees and brush and pull in hoses.
“We have a lot of dynamics here,” Pelk said, “a fire that makes its own winds; we’re also getting swirling winds from the north. We’re challenged by a lot of different efforts.”
The Caldor Fire, which began Aug. 14, has destroyed 544 homes and 12 businesses, according to Cal Fire. Another 34,000 homes are threatened. More than 50,000 people have been evacuated in Eldorado County, around South Lake Tahoe and into Stateline, Nevada.
Red flag weather conditions with 35 mph winds remained in place until 11 p.m. Wednesday. But overnight late Tuesday, they weren’t as severe as anticipated, which helped fire crews save the communities of Meyers and Christmas Valley.
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A shift in the winds also pushed away some smoke, allowing helicopters to fly again Wednesday. The fire seemed to be moving east on ridgetops, generally more toward rural Nevada than South Lake Tahoe. But with the fire seven times the size of the city of San Francisco burning in steep terrain during California’s worst drought in nearly 50 years, crews knew there was still much work left.
“We’re looking at a very aggressive firefight,” said Cal Fire Capt. Keith Wade, “and even if the fire progresses east, we want to make sure it stays out of the houses.”
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