More than 50,000 residents of California and Nevada have been ordered to evacuate the Lake Tahoe region after the massive Caldor Fire swept closer to populated areas. The evacuation order includes prisoners at the El Dorado County Jail and the entire city of South Lake Tahoe, home to 22,000 people. The forecast continues to call for extremely low humidity and strong winds, with red flag warnings in effect for the northern Sierra and western Nevada.
Meanwhile, the U.S. Forest Service has ordered all of California’s national forests to be closed to the public until September 17, citing the threat of extreme fire conditions to public safety. More than 15,000 firefighters are battling dozens of California wildfires.