Evacuations have been expanded in El Dorado County as the Caldor Fire grows closer to the Lake Tahoe Basin.
Thursday night, El Dorado County sheriff’s officials issued new mandatory evacuation orders from Twin Bridges through Echo Summit, extending north of Highway 50 to Flagpole Peak and south of the highway to the Amador-Alpine county line. The nearly 50-mile Highway 50 closure, which begins at Sly Park Road in Pollock Pines on the west end, has also been extended on the east end.
The Lake Tahoe Visitors Authority, the area's tourism agency, recommended on Thursday that visitors should "postpone any immediate travel plans to the area until further notice," a sure blow to the area where its tourist economy was in full swing. “This is the week before Labor Day weekend — a busy weekend, normally,” South Lake Tahoe City Manager Joe Irvin said. “That is not going to be the case this year.”