so while south lake tahoe, the communities right around south lake tahoe looking a little better right now than maybe they were yesterday. they still have some problems spots specifically on some of the southern parts of the fire. they're still dealing with and they have the winds to contend with, which could change things around here or any other part of the fire in the next 24 hours right now. we're still under a red-flag warning that red flag warning does not end until 11:00pm this evening. for now reporting live in south lake tahoe. i'm chip yost. send it back to you. thank you for this live report. of course we have a couple questions. one being and what's happening with air support in this firefight. in light of all that thick smoke that can often make it difficult for the. >> air drops that are needed to help drop the fire retardant. >> well, they do have dozens of air resources on hand here, including planes and helicopters and they did have an issue, though, yesterday because of the you know, this all this smoke laying over the fire. it was causing visibility issues. so they d

lake tahoe. lake tahoe boulevard which is the main drag here in south lake tahoe if you are familiar with it and normally you would be seeing the lake there to the left. all you can see is smoke. blue and just can't see it through the thick choking smoke back out here live. that's what we are dealing with. that is what emergency workers are dealing with. live in south lake tahoe. >> i'm glad you are wearing that n95 mark. dealing hazardous air quality. that thick smoke and i have been watching current conditions. the kirkwood ski resort clocking maximum sustained winds of 34 miles an hour right now. still dealing gusty conditions in spots. as we head through the day we will continue to see the winds also relative humidity values will plummet down to the single digits and that's why a red flag warning remains in effect until 11 tonight for the caldor fire, the tahoe area, because of gusty winds, low relative humidity values. extreme fire danger once again for that area today. looking at good to moderate air quality for the bay area with that ocean breeze. that's the reason why we are going to see

here's the south lake tahoe airport. just to give you a point of reference when you drive into town, he drive right by it. so this is still not reaching quite into the urban part of south lake tahoe. but. it is still moving and that's a concern for firefighters that what they're trying to do is keep it on the south side of the community. so it doesn't get in there, but it looks like it's making a run for the nevada state line, which is right here. so here, state line with the casinos. here's south lake tahoe fallen leaf emerald bay. all that right now it looks like it's ok, but, you know, as the winds change and so on. it could be a different story. here's evacuation area that we're talking about. this is the map put out by the el dorado county sheriff's department and it shows all of the area under a evacuation order in red, in warning, in yellow. and again, we move into south lake tahoe and the entire area is covered in red. so everything in eldorado county that goes right up here to the plaster line yet tahoma all the

live in south lake tahoe. i'm chip yost. we'll sent it back to you. yeah. chip. a monday night. things were looking pretty bleak. the fire was charging towards myers and and southlake. >> seems like crews have done an extraordinary job to kind of keep it at bay is there a sense of optimism and how are these crews holding up the fatigue wise. >> fatigue was one of my colleagues was talking to one of the firefighters on the front line here is that one of the other big fires and the region for a number of weeks now has been at this one for a couple of almost a couple of weeks of this so yeah, they view that the but this is one of those things, you know, they kind know that's kind of in the cards when you sign up for this kind of thing, especially in recent years with the way wildfires have been going you know, tough job ahead of them. but they were when you see where the optimistic we talked to a captain with cal fire. a little earlier and he was a cautiously optimistic. he hedged a little bit. but anyway, so he

then south lake tahoe. but he does think it's likely going to move much further east into nevada and we're tracking it on our website. you can go to kron 4 dot com or scan. this qr code will take you right to the spot on kron 4 dot com where we've got all the information, the maps, the evacuation areas shelters that people can get help from. >> time now is a 10. still ahead on the kron 00:00am morning news a new vaccine mandate in the city of santa rosa is impacting all city workers will have details on that coming up in a live report. plus, a new crime prevention strategies being discussed in san francisco that pays people for not committing crimes or more on that as well. and we are looking at some mostly cloudy conditions near the coastline today highs this direction staying in the 60's. >> elsewhere in the bay area. lots of blue skies and daytime highs. mostly only in the 70's for inland areas. much cooler than average day ahead of us talking what it means as we move into the afternoon. still to come. a

this pushing the caldor fire ever closer to south lake tahoe of course, we've got crews out. they're mopping up those hot spots, especially in myers that community just south of the lake as for air quality will continue to be looking at good to just a couple of moderate pockets today. one of our better air quality days of this forecast. certainly a nice day to step outside, not just because the blue less hazy skies, but also because of this, look at the 60's and 70's that most of us have across the bay to look forward to for daytime highs today is going to be one of the coolest of this forecast today and tomorrow following each other up with some really good air quality nice sunshine and just generally comfortable weather after this. we start to get warmer into the holiday weekend. by the time we reach friday, it's upper 80's inland and the 90's returning for some of our most inland areas come saturday, sunday and monday are going to be the hottest of your forecast before we cool things back down again into next week. >> and this afternoon we continue to monitor states drought

the flames, though, are slowly creeping still towards the south lake tahoe area. e is a major push tonight to protect heavenly ski resort in south lake officials there say they're focusing on protecting the places like kirkwood heavenly that bring people to heavenly employs hundreds of folks and welcomes. of course, thousands of tourists all the time. fire officials say they're concerned for every aspect of the resort even down to the chairlifts right now. fire crews are staging and one of the heavenly parking lots. they say so they're in a position to attack the fire if the wind shifts and leads the flames to that area. >> the called our dixie and other wildfires sure have put a strain on fire resources all across our state. so the logical question, what happens if a major wildfire should break out right here in the bay area. kron four's, rob hopefully have some answers for us live now from cal fire, san mateo, santa cruz county headquarters up in felton. rob, what have you found out. >> well, the key for the sign outside headquarters here says fire danger today.

how close it is to lake tahoe, south lake tahoe is evacuated, but all of those firefighters are theremes. and recovery efforts after hurricane ida left a path of destruction along the gulf coast. we're going to have a live update from new orleans. majestic mountains... scenic coastal highways... fertile farmlands... there's lots to love about california. so put off those chores and use less energy from 4 to 9 pm when less clean energy is available. because that's power down time. >> from the area's local news station. you're watching the kron 00:00am morning news at 7. >> good morning. i'm darya folsom. and i'm james fletcher. our top story this morning. the caldor fire up in eldorado county, burning closer and closer to south lake tahoe yeah. it's actually made it. now to the airport at the edge of town. and you can see. >> some of the pictures of the fire fight and the flames as we the fire crews are working around the clock to try to protect homes and businesses from the flames. yeah, we got from for sarah stinson once again boots on the ground up there giving us what? >> what is a

this is about a 15-minute drive from south lake tahoe. and normally looking in that direction you'd be able to see the blue waters of the lake but not today. all you can see is smoke. and i don't know if it's obvious, but if you could see the smoke is blowing to the left side of your tv screen. unfortunately that is in the direction of south lake tahoe. it gives you a sense of where the winds are pushing. there is concern this fire could end up on the back side of the heavenly ski resort which overlooks the lake. the fact that this fire has burned into the tahoe basin, that is unprecedented. cal fire says a fire has never crested the sierra nevada in history until this summer. the dixie fire was first. now it's the caldor fire. >> let's go to meteorologist kari hall who's tracking those changing conditions. that red flag warning is not good for firefighters. kari, how long is it going to last? >> this continues until 11:00 this evening. we're looking at those really strong winds pushing that fire off towards the east. this is a look at all

that is unfortunately in the direction of south lake tahoe. so that smoke is going towards the city of south lake tahoe. the fact that this fire has burned over echo summit into the tahoe basin is unprecedented. the fire has never crested the sierra nevada in recorded history. not until this summer. the first time was the dixie fire. the second time the caldor fire. burning here behind me. reporting live here atop the echo summit, bob redell, "today in the bay." >> we can see how dry it is out there as that fire continues to rage on this morning. those conditions out there in lake tahoe are changing by the minute as we saw in bob's report. meteorologist kari hall you have been very busy following all the conditions there. bob was talking about it a little bit but how are conditions looking out there this morning? >> usually the early morning hours are the best time. sad to see that spot where you come around the bend and gets the first view of lake tahoe and now next time we go it's going to look a lot different. all of this land continues to b

burn through part of meyers last night, and now it's inching closer to the lake tahoe airport, just four miles away here from south lake tahoe. now they've got this aggressive line set up here to try to hold this back from south lake tahoe, but, again, it's going to be a race against mother nature with the wind gusts within the fire zone. not only this fire. i wanted to show you this expansive view. gusty winds will impact the dixie fire and antelope fire. coming up, i'll have a look at our increasing wildfire days. >> it looks overwhelming. firefighters exhausted trying to protect homes and businesses on the edge of south lake tahoe. smoke is choking that basin, forcing crews to deal with this fire with little or no help from one of their most-effective tools, and that is aircraft. we were just talking about this and saw it on the map, melissa, what are the conditions around you, and what's the damage that you're seeing? >> reporter: it is bone dry out here. i mean, i'm constantly having to apply chapstick on my lips. it is so dry, you immediately feel it when you get to south lake tahoe. we're here in the commun

lake tahoe airport. it continues to inch closer. it is now only three miles from south lake tahoe. ly ski resort in the path of these potential flames. in most of the lower elevations around south lake tahoe. we are seeing wind gusts 25 to 50 miles an hour. the temperatures will be cooler as we are perfecting some 70s. now let's bring it back to the bay area weather. we're on the other side of this story. it is improving our weather. the same weather system that is bringing the mountains. it is pushing that smoke off to the east. it will certainly switch it up. it pretty clear at the cloing. orinda. overall, i think wave good day coming our way for the start of september. we'll start it off chilly with that fog at the coast. it will begin with 54 in the south bay. the peninsula, 65. the tri-valley, 52. more of these low 50s over the north bay. the daytime highs cooling off another they have to, instead of the upper 90s inland like we had this past week. mid 70s in palo alto and over the bair to frag. my seven-day forecast will show that we do have more comfortable weather coming our

but this south lake tahoe is a ghost town right now. and it is an incredibly eerie feeling, because we're just days away from labor day. this area is supposed to be pulsating with families, weddings, what have you, everyone is gone, everyone but firefighters who have been putting in so many hours, so much labor, physical work, trying to contain this fire. that is kind of where we were at. i can't tell you how eerie it was to be driving down south lake tahoe, and you just feel like the city is yours. you're the only person there. but it's covered in this smoke. it's covered in this ash that is making it very difficult to breathe for long periods of time. but it is a very sad thing to see, because this is a gem. this is an area of california, name me a more majestic lake in california. it is incredibly heartbreaking to see this community emptied out and all these homeowners possibly bracing for the very worst. >> we've seen one or two trucks pass behind you and that's about it. let's bring in henry herrera, cal fire chief, what are you wo

the caldor fire most recently making its approach on up to south lake tahoe. moke, we've seen improvements for the bay smoky conditions do remain all across the sierra nevada but especially around south lake tahoe as this fire continues to expand and winds push months much of that smoke and fire progression further to the east. we are still seeing calm winds in south lake tahoe. that's a bit of good news during overnight hours. any sort of spot fires that pop up around myers or any of those other populated areas can get a pretty hand on those crews can just because winds are calm generally at those lower elevations higher up, though it remained very windy during overnight hours, which means especially on mountain tops and on the slopes fire progression was still made a 25 to 35 mile per hour gusts continue today out of the south and west and a red flag warning remains until 11:00pm tonight. good air quality for almost the entirety of the bay area oakland on up through san pablo bay. a couple pockets of moderate. but this is a big improvement from where we have

you're not familiar this is kind of the first place where you get a good view of lake tahoe as you're driving into southe tahoe. we're about 15 minutes outside of the city of south lake tahoe. you can see behind me, there's the fire that's burning in this canyon below me. today is going to be not a great day in terms of weather, at least from what we see in the forecast. we're under a red flag warning until 11:00 tonight and the winds, they could be gusting anywhere from 20 to 50 miles an hour. those are not ideal conditions for the firefighters. as you look there you can see the smoke is burning towards the left side of your screen unfortunately towards south lake tahoe. that gives you a sense of where the wind is blowing. south lake tahoe evacuated on monday and last night authorities issued new evacuation orders for the nevada side of the lake. the concern continues to be the direction of the fire and the fact that it could wind up on the backside of the popular heavenly ski resort which overlooks the lake. the people who are evacuate ready scared they might not have a home to go back to. >> it was n

south lake tahoe is just about 6 miles or so down highway 50 that will take you right into south lake tahoe where we're at here in myers. they already got some spotting today from that fire. so members that flew from the fire landed here started some spot fires the fire itself is just a few miles down highway 50 here. in fact, a little earlier today there was fire on both sides of the road. to give you a better picture of how the fire is moving in where it's moving. let's show you a map that the national weather service put out today. you see those bright red spots on the map. that's from a satellite view showing the hot spots. the map was put out this morning and show the previous 24 hours of hot spots. you see all the hot spots going eastward northeast towards lake tahoe lake tahoe is on the top right part of your map. you're looking at there now let's show you some video also from the last 24 hours of this fire. the big issue they've been dealing with. the thing that's been pushing that fire toward south lake tahoe is the winds right now. we're under a red-flag warning. the red fla

i'm in california south lake tahoe. this is where all of the emergency workers are staying right now in the casino hotel. this is sort of the brains of the operation. it is quite an operation. the caldor fire continues to burn out of control. this is new video in from echo lake last night. they have been dealing these erratic winds. that red flag warning still in effect. seeing gusts of up to 40 miles an hour at some points. you know those embers creating spot fires that firefighters are really rushing to keep up with right now. the fire has been continuing to move east as firefighters try to squeeze it from the sides to reduce it in size. you can see the flames in the background. that's something that's getting closer to the ski resort. they have been using their snow creating machines to try to keep the fire under control, add moisture to the ground. a little extra protection. more footage from the area of echo lake. firefighters working on back burns yesterday to try eropthe. they are being guided in part by military

yoyou ght t beurprpris thousands of people had to be evacuated out of south lake tahoe, now they are just waiting and hoping everything is going to be ok. joining us now is one of those evacuees. kevin cooper, coop, a long time to medication and marketing specialist in lake tahoe, thank you so much for joining us -- thank you so much for joining us. >> thank you, kristen. it's smoky, a lot of fire, a lot of challenging times for the residents and the services. >> they are doing so much. we thank them for that. folks can say you are safely in the bay area where we have blue skies for now. you evacuated south lake tahoe last night. how close was the fire, and what made you finally say, "i will leave?" because the order came down on monday and you did not leave then. >> drew was just talking about where the fire is located, as it came over echo summit, we are in the angora zone. during this entire evolution of the caldor fire, we have been watching it. residents of suffolk tahoe around the region for many years could not have imagined that firewood and golf state route 88 over to highway

keita whitworth, south lake tahoe. firefighters have so far been able to slow western progress from creeping up to the northwest of south lake tahoe. new video shows what they are up against. take a look at some of these flames engulfing entire trees in a matter of seconds. cabins turned to bear pieces of plywood. this is the intense battle to protect echo summit and part of myers. this morning our team coverage continues with amy hollyfield. she is with calfire's -- calfire's plan. amy: for those of you just waking up, wondering about south lake tahoe, it is ok. so far they have saved south lake tahoe. structures have burned that that they know of, but they are not willing to say that the fight is over, calling this fire very volatile. we have some video to show you from overnight. this is along highway 50, the national guard on the scene of this fire, looking very small next to those flames. firefighters are worried about another windy day. even as that fire moves east, they say the wind can take an amber and carry it

take a look at distressing new images from south lake tahoe. this was the scene this morning as a photographer drove through the fire zone along highway 50. >> this is between echo summit and the the valley floor. the tahoe basin. it's all engulfed in that bright orange haze. the poor air quality in the top of region has only made the firefight. of course much more difficult and it amount of aircraft, if any, that can be put in the area. you can see you can't fight to put out a fire. meteorologist dave spahr joins us now with more on the weather. >> kind of jonathan, good evening, everybody. and we continue to monitor where that to pollution really being generated by these fires is it's pretty much to the southeast of where that wind flow pattern is we'd expected to be that way is a brings up the particulate matter and it gets dumped on the eastern side. there's the carson ridge here and on the western side of it. temperatures are much cooler in the 50's you get on the east side of it into this valley in hure and temperatures are much warmer. yo

>> right now on the kpix 5 news at 7:00 and streaming on cbsn bay area, the tourist towns of south lake tahoe, deserted at this hour as the caldor fire edges closer. good evening, i'm elizabeth cook. >> i'm ken, here's a look at how the fire has progressed over the past two weeks. the area in green is where it all started. dark purple marks where it is now. >> more than 50,000 people are in the mandatory evacuation zone , which now extends south to kirkwood resort and east into kingsbury, nevada. >> evacuees sent to nearby gardnerville yesterday are now being asked to move again, this time to the reno sparks convention center. unclear exactly why, but we know the air-quality in that area, certainly is not safe. ash has been raining down, and evacuees are waiting and hoping. >> start saying your prayers. hoping for the best. hoping your house don't burn down. hoping you got a place to get home, too. >> as of right now the fire is threatening more than 33,000 buildings. nearly 700 others are confirmed and destroyed. the burn area now covers 300 square miles. and containment has dropped to 16%.

and west towards south lake tahoe still calm for south lake tahoehat's where we're seeing those breezy conditions and with winds picking up later today, especially at lower elevations. this result of that potential of ever faster spread of the blaze itself. one of the reasons we do have this red flag warning in effect, a very dry winds gusting as high as 25 to 35 miles per hour today after 11:00pm, we should be seeing some calmer conditions, which is really good news. but today, yet another dry one. and yet another windy one bay area looking really good as far as air quality goes, all that green that you're seeing out there indicating good air quality. good day to step outside breathe in that good air look at temperatures in the 60's and 70's and all that sunshine up above really pleasant day for the bay. some mid 70's in areas like redwood city as well saying carlos each at 75 mountain view at 73 today. san jose and nice 77 and only a couple 80's livermore and antioch or 2 fairly 80 spots oakland at 66 voy host 69 sonoma youngsville sandra fell in

lake tahoe. and i can tell you some good news today because you know, we've been so worried about south lake tahoe that main strip at the state line area still standing and still not seeing a whole lot of flame. it heading right towards it. i know that's something we've been concerned about, but it's mainly very much up in the tree line. it's very remote area where it's burning in its active right now, actually near the eco summit area not necessarily down in town. we drove everywhere. we're trying to check in on everybody. you know, check in on pioneer trail. didn't see any flames there. we checked in near pawnee drive, which is also concerned, didn't see any flames over there and looks like crews have really done a good job of keeping those flames out of the home area out of the homes in myers and then into the pine your trailer, which if you've driven in south lake tahoe. if the flames were on pioneers trail in those homes, it would probably just take off down towards the south lake tahoe area where those casinos are. but again, not seeing a whole lot of bad news this morning. they're also gett

were homes and at least 30,000 more structures are threatened. >> by this fire reporting in south lake tahoe. dan thorn kron 4 news. meanwhile, the bay area expert who studies fires says he's now raising grave concerns about the caldor fire as it creeps closer to south lake tahoe, even though he says enough brush has already been cleared. it's simply not enough to slow down the flames. kron four's, dan kerman continuing our team coverage tonight. >> i just worry that a fire could be pushed into some of the most densely populated areas of lake tahoe, south shore. certainly one of them as the calder fire advances on south tahoe. >> increasing concern from scott stevens, a professor of fire science at u c berkeley. >> it is so densely populated. there's so much infrastructure there that would be at risk, you know, and the fire can move in and really cause havoc to so much of that if they has windblown, you only got fires and marin have really detrimental impacts. >> still, steven says tahoe is in a better position in some respects because a lot of brush clearing has already been done along the

all the homes in south lake tahoe. the south lake tahoe airport right here. there's the see the proximity, maybe 2 and a half miles from the fire line to there and hear those some of those spot fires we've been talking about better popping up just beyond the edge of the fire. so as those fires pop up, they really try to jump on those to prevent those from merging with the larger fire and that would enable the fire to make a better charge. east towards nevada. so the the fire is heading east trying to go north and that is one area of concern for firefighters tonight. the other couple areas kirkwood. you heard a chip yost mentioned how they're trying to protect the cabins and obviously the resort. a lot of kirkwood city area here and highway 88 runs through there. and they're trying to keep this fire to the north of highway 88 you see a bunch of little spot fires popping up just to the south of 88. so they're trying to douse those quickly so that they can control this thing and not allowed to jump highway 88 like it jumped a highway 50 earlier this week that we

not didn't start in plaster ville, but just outside and you can see that big run approaching south lake tahoe and this is the current perimeter map. as you can see, it looks like it's to the south of the south lake tahoe right now, as far as the called or fire as you have been hearing that will check this out as far as the size over 204,000 acres, containment 20% the red flag warning continues decreasing wind tomorrow, so that is a step in the right direction. it's not going to be perfect, but at least we will have a weaker winds in the forecast in the thursday outlook right now, as we check out some of the current observations, myers, south lake tahoe south like to hope that's augusta 18. miles an hour chair six at kirkwood. that's over 9000 ft. that's a wind gust of up to 28 miles an hour. some stronger winds just like yesterday at the higher elevations today, just not as windy as yesterday. so here is the details. here are the details in the red flag morning until 11 o'clock tonight. still some breezy conditions, relative humidity. we've been talking so much about the wind, but the moistur

those smoke levels around south lake tahoe are off the charts. as the firefighters pointed out, a lot less fire activity around lake tahoe. the active areas are these little red dots. there weren't a lot of those in the last 24 hours. most of those actually burning away from south lake tahoe. let's take a look at that smoke pollution level, which around south lake tahoe level was an aqi index of 700. to give you an idea, spare the air is down there, and this is where tahoe has been for the last two weeks. and more of this is going to be ongoing over the tahoe basin next couple of days, kind of in and out of that wildfire smoke at times. back to the bay area, you're seeing some unhealthy air around marin county. moderate air quality elsewhere. we'll have to watch that closely as more smoke in our case is coming down from the northwest coast into the bay area, bringing smoke at times as we head into that morning forecast. you see it there heading into your friday morning. the smoke advisory has been extended through friday. it may get extended on th

reggie: the caldor fire burning closer to self lake tahoe, -- south lake tahoe. red flag warning is still in effect. joining us is the public information officer for the caldor fire. there were no structures burned overnight in south lake tahoe. you have a very long day ahead. captain -- captain castillo, are you there? we will try to get him back on the phone. evacuees who crossed the state line into nevada are considering moving farther east. some people are still taking -- staying at the hard rock. you can see how heavy the smoke is. the casino is exempt from evacuation orders. jobina: the hinder late union square hotel is offering evacuees a special discount and rate rooms. the hotel is charging $75 a night with working included. there also discount at macy's. the owner got the idea for discount last year. >> is really disheartening and i thought, if i can do something that allows someone to possibly relax for a little bit, i have done my part. jobina: front desk staff will check for roof of residency. the special rate runs through november 2. do we have a fir

we're about a 15-minute drive from south lake tahoe. if you look at the direction of the smoke it's moving to the left side of your tv screen. unfortunately that is towards the south shore of lake tahoe. south lake tahoe evacuated monday and last night authorities issued new evacuation orders for the nevada side of the lake. the concern continues to be the direction of the fire that could wind up on the back side of the popular heavenly ski resort. the people have evacuated and are scared they might not have a home to come back to. >> it would be nice to have one more night in our house and hopefully it will be here when we come back. >> there's lots of families and years and memories. it's absolutely devastating. i don't know. we're all very close. >> we're just happy that we're all together and safe right now. >> reporter: the caldor fire as you mentioned has burned around 200,000 acres. it's destroyed almost 500 homes and threatening about 35,000 more structures. containment right now unfortunately just at 18%. again, the weather not

square miles of destruction ashes from the fire can now be seen washing up on the shores of lake tahoe and with south lake tahoe under mandatory evacuation bears have had free rein around town. but for that area of the fire. things are looking better. >> thursday. the reduced winds and better conditions allowed firefighters to light backfires on the outskirts of south lake tahoe. so crews are in here backfiring and they have tell conditions are just right to do this and all it is controlled fire taking away the fuels in front of the fire preventing the fire from being able to come in. >> and move in that direction. so in a sense, we're guiding the fire in a direction that we want it to go. >> and you want to be in control like that. chip yost reporting for us there. here's the latest map from cal fire. you see the vast burn zone. it started over here has grown to the north and to the east. this is highway 89 the fire jumped that. but they protected those homes in the christmas valley area below echo summit. that's still an area of focus. the fight now is spotting just to the east of where this line i

we're starting to see the damage done by the caldor fire which is still spreading threatening south lake tahoe and pictures like this really show what firefighters are up against as are trying to protect thousands of homes there in the south lake tahoe area as people have already evacuated now they're in structure protection mode and also making sure that everybody's lives are saved as well. now the good news is the winds cooperated a little better yesterday. but this fire is moving. >> northeast to the nevada border. now an threatening heavenly ski resort madge. and that's why we've got 4 sarah stinson up there live for us this morning, keeping an eye on the situation as it continues to evolve. sarah, good morning. >> yeah. it's been touch and go. the fire has been heading more and more toward south lake tahoe and towards heavenly ski resort where you can see how smoky it is up there at the slopes. this is where crews are assisting making sure that the do not head down this way because if they did, it would be catastrophic to the south lake tahoe area heavenly is also helping fire crews who a

well, garcia agency officials, firefighters, even the mayor of south lake tahoe have all applauded thecuation efforts about 60,000 people fled the area calmly and safely ahead of the caldera fire. but there is a new problem. we're learning about the water districts around lake tahoe or have reported a dramatic drop in their water levels, and they believe that's because many residents turned on. their sprinklers and water hoses and left them running before they evacuated that could impact the supply of water needed to continue fighting the keldorf fire. it's still moving in a northeasterly direction right now it's about a mile away from homes on the southernmost side of south lake tahoe and on the ridge, west of kirkwood. firefighters are battling 35 mile an hour wind guests. i spoke with a cal fire public information officer a short time ago, he says. there is a sense among firefighters that the next 24 hours will be critical and that maybe they'll be able to get a better handle on this fire once the red flag warning expires. currently it's projected to expired 11 pm tonight, so if the

so obviously air quality around lake tahoe, especially right there in south lake tahoe is going to be. >> really, really poor. of course, evacuations have already occurred in those areas. so that's something that emergency management, those staying around to a fight that fire going to be dealing with health swear in the bay area, especially we've seen just the opposite skies. clearing out really, really nicely. this is your morning view it quite hour right here. you're north calhoun. the weather center forecast is going to be offering up some of our clearest and some of our coolest weather today and tomorrow. if you've been looking for both of those things today and tomorrow, your days to enjoy. so this is where we're at as far as air quality goes, westerly winds continuing to push that smoke out of the region. obviously there's that deeper red in your air quality map still for areas like lake tahoe portions of the northern california too, even right around mendocino county still less than ideal. as far as the air goes. but big improvements for most of the bay red flag warnings do rem

, yesterday we saw there briefing include the fire department, the city police department in south lake tahoe talking about the 22,000 people that successfully evacuated, here's today's update. >> a mental, all of those areas, there are literally fire engines from here all the way down into tahoe. still doing those pockets, there's a lot of pockets of unburned islands that are burning out, that are still closing in on cabins that are in there, so we are in there actively firefighting and defending the structures that are in there. i did see some damage to structures that the fire burned through, extremely fast, extremely hot, and we did the best that we could, and we are still in there. the head of the fire out here has not made it into a wood, yet, our tactic down here, as you can see, we have multiple lines and we are basically trying to hurt this fire, put a line between the structures out here, and the fire, and we can't control it. we don't have any tools out there to stop the fire, so we result to hurting the fire away from structures. and away from people and that's what we are actuall

look at what's happening in south lake tahoe. this is the end of the second week, we have seen unhealthy conditions there. this is going to continue likely through friday. you see it right there south shore, lake tahoe. it is the combination of the caldor fire. >> thank you so much, rob. we are going to continue this reporting for you online. nbcbayarea.com, check it out, we have an interactive map where you can see where the caldor fire have burned. >>> if you are unvaccinated, stay home this labor day weekend, that's the message from the director of the cdc. covid's hospitalizations reaching at 100,000 cases since last winter's surge. everyone including those vaccinated should wear a mask in public and indoor settings. big change of rule, the city reinstated their indoor mask policies regardless of your vaccination status. the move signals a break between vallejo and county health officials. it had no plans to reinstitute a mask rule county wise. >> reporter: the big change is effective immediately. if you want to go anywhere in

he has more now from south lake tahoe. e immediate future of what happens and still evacuated south lake tahoe. i want clear air. you come to tahoe for clear air. it all depends on events in the surrounding mountains where the kalador fire still smolders and burns but threatens less as cal fire takes nothing for granted is this over? no, this is not over this isn't the end. it's not the beginning of the end. it's the end of the beginning and that still means plenty of work ahead. but we found optimism as forest service crews continue to clear trees along highways toeems liks kind of running out of fuel in some areas. but not elsewhere especially in morning.y backcountry and this is the kind of work that has firefighters frustrated sudden hot spots popping up like this keeping them busy with the winds that have been coming off the canyons. we're seeing embers that are moving up to three quarters of a mile in indie direction weather and fire potential all way into the question of off lake tahoe and this region might open up a

reporting live in south lake tahoe. i'm chip yost. we'll send it back to you. >> appreciated ship, although the fire's containment is growing. it was 18% last night at this time this evening. it's up to 23%. the burn area is also growing. our ken wayne is joining us now live from the newsroom with a closer look at the fire zone. good evening. can't. good evening, justine grant, we've seen this fire grow from a under 200,000 acres at this time last night too. about 210,000 acres are close to that. so here's a look at the map of the burn area. >> we want to show you the problem area that this is what firefighters are focused on as we zoom in here this is eckel pass area highway 50 drops down to christmas valley heading into myers and then into the south lake tahoe center of town and you can see that this is an infrared map showing the hot spots all around the area. if you drive up there a lot, you know, a pioneer trail. that's it cut off a lot of people take getting off highway 50 takes you right into where the casinos are and so on. an

he has more now from south lake tahoe. the immediate future of what happens and still evacuated south lake tahoe. i want clear air. you come to tahoe for clear air. it all depends on events in the surrounding mountains where the kalador fire still smolders and burns but threatens less as cal fire takes nothing for granted is this over? no, this is not over this isn't the end. it's not the beginning of the end. it's the end of the beginning and that still means plenty of work ahead. but we found optimism as forest service crews continue to clear trees along highways to fire breaks it seems like the fire is kind of running out of fuel in some areas. but not elsewhere especially in the heavy backcountry and even in christmas valley this morning. this is the kind of work that has firefighters frustrated sudden hot spots popping up like this keeping them busy with the winds that have been coming off the canyons. we're seeing embers that are moving up to three quarters of a mile in indie direction weather and fire potential all w

south lake tahoe coming back to life right now. some people heading home hours after they got the news they had been waiting for. evacuation orders have been lifted. a live look right now. evacuees found out they can return. >> reporter: well, more and more people here at the emergency shelter are getting the word that they can return home. many of the people staying here are from south lake tahoe and they are elated. some are already packing up their belongings. there's a couple school buses behind me that are ready. people are lined up waiting to get inside so they can be shuttled back to south lake tahoe and back to their homes. now, we've seen evacuees from inside the shelter starting to make their way outside all afternoon and evening loading up their cars with pillows and suitcases. shwe spoke with tony mora who lives in south lake tahoe and says he is ready to pack his stuff up and head home with his family. >> sister just called us and said that tahoe got reopened. but all the stores are going to be closed for a while until

in south lake tahoe, hope remains. and cal fire says more than 40,000 people were evacuated in total. 22,000 from here in south lake tahoe. alyssa goard, nbc bay area news. >> one of the most thankful about the evacuation orders lifted, mayor of south lake tahoe. tamara wallace. thanks for taking the time this evening in midst of what you're going through. >> thank you. >> it's been a nerve racking stretch of days for your city. tell me how you're feeling right now? >> i'm feeling elated, my community is starting to repopulate. i have not repopulated yet because services are still limited and i didn't want to drain what limited services there are. and so we're going to wait a few days to go back home. but my community is starting to fill up again, so as you can see, welcome home. it's pretty amazing. >> absolutely. what was the low point for you? did you even have time to have a low point, when you thought your city might burn? >> absolutely. my worst nightmare in the 25 years i've lived in south lake tahoe was knowing

september 1st. >>> ann remains on assignment in south lake tahoe as the caldor fire continues to grow of control. >> good morning. >> the evacuation orders have been extended past the state line. into nevada behind me. i'm in california south lake tahoe. this is where all of the emergency workers are staying right now in the casino hotel.

our same camera a few weeks ago, the same shot when the fire forced everyone in the south lake tahoe n to evacuate. now, south lake tahoe is trying to get back to normal after the caldor fire. evacuations are lifted and tourists are starting to come back, but will this region ever be the same? housing, tourism and water clarity of the lake itself. let's bring in tamara wallace, the mayor of south lake tahoe who has been with us a few times now in the last few weeks. mayor wallace, good to have you back on the program. can i ask with you, are you back home with your husband and kids and are your neighbors back home? >> we are back home. most of my neighbors are back home. everybody started school today. i have two kids who are teacher started his first day of high school today. so everybody's getting back to normal. >> okay. now, i can see a small smile on your face which is good news. as you know, president biden was in your area touring the burn zone just a few days ago. is there any tangible help that you are getting, your region is getting from the federal level? >> so far we've re

dan thorn continuing our team coverage tonight from south lake tahoe. fire crews are continuing to work to save homes in the south lake tahoe area as thousands remain evacuated. the caldor fire has grown and continues to rage on along highway 50 the flames were seen burning through dry brush and trees below echo summit earlier monday. >> strong winds have been adding fuel and pushing the fire close to the road as the relentless thick smoke has made visibility difficult in the area. >> evacuation shelters have been set up in neighboring nevada for the more than 20,000 people who had to escape. this couple is staying in the tent with others of the douglas county community center. they're from myers where the fire has been burning dangerously close by. it was a little >> kind of scary and getting everybody out. and then going home and packing really quick. >> have to hope and faith and just hope that get through it. other families, especially those with pets are using tents as well. it's not bad. we've been kept in the 4th. fend off the fast-moving fire fro

this happened just west of fallen leaf lake last night and then south of the city of south lake tahoeews in that it hasn't dropped into south lake tahoe just yet of course, areas further south from there like myers have seen a couple of spot fires pop up. and as we work our way through this forecast despite the fact that we don't have red flag warnings in effect anymore. it doesn't mean we're out of the woods just yet. as far as the bay area's concerned, calmer winds means better chance of haze falling out into the bay and we're already seeing the evidence of that in air quality this morning. yesterday it was good today. it is moderate and likely to see some poor pockets. a pink popping up if not today, on into tomorrow and the rest of your holiday weekend. 60's for your highs in san francisco in right along the coastline. as for bayshore cities, it will mostly be daytime highs in the 70's today. another really comfortable one for the spots saying carlos at 77 degrees. south bay temperatures mid to upper 70's san jose and i 77 freeman through hayward in the 70's. well, pleasanton and

"today in the bay's" alyssa gourd continues our coverage from south lake tahoe. >> reporter: south lake tahoe was a ghosttown. authorities downgraded the evacuation order and cars started flooding in. >> i'm feeling happiness and joy that my house didn't burn down and we can all go back. >> reporter: most of these families had been evacuated for about a wecht. they sought shelter all over northern california and nevada. some stayed with family and friends, those who couldn't found their way to emergency shelters. >> we were told that we had to evacuate, so we evacuated a little bit more further. and then that same day, they told us we had to evacuate again. >> reporter: as they began unpacking their bags. >> welcome home. >> reporter: they shared excitement about getting their lives started again. >> just walking around and going to the gym now. >> reporter: getting back to normal is bittersweet for some. >> happy, but at the same time, i'm sad because many people lose their house over there and there in the fire and everything lost. yeah. it's terrible for many people who lost their ho

highway 50 south lake tahoe right here. you see the southern tip of the lake and the fire is charging to the north and to the east in this direction. the winds have been blowing it that way. and as we zoom in a bit. this is where the stand is being made protecting all of these homes in south lake here along highway 89 new of christmas valley. you have pockets of heat. certainly. but you do not areas where homes have been lost. crews have been working obviously over time through the night to do that. and if you back it up a little pedal to the west a bit. you can see, you know, the inner portion of this fire is obviously less intense. the fire started over here and the grizzly flats area. they are that 2 weeks ago. now and it has been burning to the east and to the south a bit and you can see where the hottest parts of the fire are right now kirkwood has then save so far they're running the snowblowers or the snow making machines there which are pumping out water this is the evacuation map which hadn't changed for a few days

wind depth embers and created spot fires one mile past the fire line, leaving south lake tahoe at risk>> the fire was spotted well over the 89, well into the tahoe basin. >> homes are threatened, our community is threatened and i never thought that was possible. >> these are some of the views from overnight, crews desperately working to save structures as the fire rages on. many homes were not as lucky. in their briefing tuesday morning, kyle fire says structure defense is a priority as it pushes into tahoe. >> all night long we are doing structure prep and defense and a lot of this area down the 50 toward the 89. that continues to be our priority because we have so many structures to watch out for. >> the residence of south lake tahoe worked their way out of town when evacuation orders went into effect. the mayor says the city was evacuated in five hours. car lines like this are a common site into a normal labor day weekend but this year is not normal, empty streets, a fire rages on and hope it ends with a city still standing. >> people's lives are more important than worrying about t

area and conditions are improving for the firefighters reporter melanie townsend is in south lake tahoe with more. >> about 10 miles away from the south lake shore. we caught up with hot shot firefighters in christmas valley. they are taking advantage of these clear conditions that we're seeing tonight to do more controlled burns on the east side of the caldor fire. they're hoping these controlled burns move upwards. it away from this area. and cal fire says they also are prioritizing cutting down in trimming down trees along christmas valley in areas in east zone. they also want to put more attention on kirkwood tonight. they're saying that could just be an explosive. >> area. they're also going to try to take advantage of these clear conditions by attempting to do more airdrops. that is if the smoke allows them to do that tonight. last night. we know they dropped about 80,000 gallons of fire retardant on this fire. captain purple willborn with fact metro fire says they currently have about 4,000 fire personnel working to make sure the planes do not spread to talk hopeful. >> today. ou

well, as flames continue to threaten south lake tahoe. the community, his starting to come together to support one another. kron four's terisa stasio brings us that story. the caldor fire has forced a lot of people out of their homes, including the couple i just spoke with a just a short time ago right now i'm here in gardnerville. >> at the douglass community center that's been turned into a disaster relief facility for people who really don't have anywhere to go right now because there are no hotels because so many of them are have to remember that south u u- lake tahoe has a population of about 22,000. >> and then there's all of the other towns and cities around there that have evacuated. when i spoke with the couple, they shared with me this take a look at this picture. this is what it looked like behind their home as they took off in mid august. they were some of the first people affected by the fires and they tell me what it's been like for the past couple weeks to not know if their home was still standing. >> we the fire is coming