Kris said he was evacuated at 3:00 a.m.

As of 6 p.m. the fire has crossed MET and is expected to reach Hwy 50. Spot fires well ahead of the main fire. Very sad and dire situation.

Evacuation orders have now been moved to Strawberry and Hwy 50 is closed. The effort will be to try to keep the fire between Hwy 50 and Hwy 88 but that isn't likely in my opinion. And if they do it will direct the energy towards Strawberry. We have had moderate fire conditions for the majority of this fire but this thing could get very ugly if fire weather conditions get worse. Keep your fingers crossed.

According to last nights (8/24/21) Caldor fire evening update, they have dozer lines along MET to Silver Fork road to Hwy 50 and are hoping to try and contain the fire there. However, the dozer lines "aren't big enough" and aren't ready for them to start firing operations along that road (line) yet until they get a lot more preparation done. They said the fire is very close to this line and is challenging them. For those who aren't familiar with the term, a firing operation is often and incorrectly referred to as a backfire. A backfire is a large fire that is set ahead of the fire to try to take the fuel and energy out at the head of a fire. Firing operations occur along many parts of a fire, including the heel, the flanks and the head, in an effort to create or expand containment lines. A firing operation involves using a border such as a road, a river, a hand line, a dozer line etc. and then going along that line as setting low intensity fire to burn out the fuel in an effort to create or expand the containment line. For example, as the fire backs down the hill moving north towards Hwy 50, crews could go along the river or the Hwy using firing operations to consume the fuel so that engines and or hand crews can keep it from igniting beyond that line to the north.

If crews are able to use the MET and Silver Fork line to commence firing operations, it could contain or at least reduce the intensity and spread of the fire to the east and northeast, which could prevent it from reaching the Strawberry trail. More than likely there would still be spot fires beyond the line but ideally they would be able to keep them smaller thereby reducing the intensity of the fire in that area. If a low intensity fire goes through the trail, it would be much better than a major run through that area which would be devastating. The biggest problem is that due to the direction of the smoke, firefighters aren't able to use aircraft in this area of the fire. That means that it needs to be a ground fight or we need the winds to shift to enable them to get aircraft into this section of the fire. There is still a strong possibility that the fire could reach Hwy 89 and could even go all the way to Lake Tahoe. The next two or three days will be crucial.