Rapidly growing Tamarack Fire in California prompts evacuations; bike race canceled

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

RENO – A rapidly growing wildfire in northern California, south of Lake Tahoe, forced the evacuation of a mountain town and the cancellation of an extreme bike ride through the Sierra Nevada, leaving thousands of riders and spectators stranded Saturday and rushing to flee the area.

The Tamarack Fire, which sat at an estimated 500 acres as of Friday night, has grown to over 6,600 acres and closed multiple highways in the area, according to the Alpine County Sheriff's Office.

The fire is located near Markleeville and Pleasant Valley, and mandatory evacuation orders were in place for Markleeville, Grover’s Hot Springs Park and Campground, Shay Creek, Markleeville Village and East Fork Resort.

According to Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest officials, the fire is active on all flanks and exhibiting high rates of spread as it burns timber and bush. It has destroyed at least 3 structures, authorities said.

Link to tweet

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/rapidly-growing-tamarack-fire-in-california-prompts-evacuations-bike-race-canceled/ar-AAMgUgm

[Budi]

1. South of Lake Tahoe

A rapidly growing wildfire south of Lake Tahoe forced the evacuation of a mountain town and the cancellation of an extreme bike ride through the Sierra Nevada, leaving thousands of riders and spectators stranded Saturday and rushing to flee the area.
9 hrs ago


Smoke rises from the Dixie Fire burning along Highway 70 in Plumas National Forest, Calif.

[Budi]

2. The Tamarack Fire, which sat at an estimated 500 acres as of Friday night, has grown to over 6,600..

500 to 6600 acres overnight!

They said, "it just exploded"

[Mr.Bill]

3. The Valley Fire here in Lake County, CA in 2015

went from zero to 100,000 acres in about 12 hours. Burned 1,200 homes. We got evecuated for that one, it came within a few miles of our house. Only thing that saved us was a huge vineyard that had been planted a few years earlier. Vineyards make a pretty good fire break.

[Budi]

4. Wow. That would be terrifying

Fleeing from a fire that size, to save your life.
Yikes!

[Mr.Bill]

5. We went to bed on a Saturday night with the fire moving away from us.

We were awakened at 7:00 am and had five minutes to grab what we could and get in the car. There are only three two lane roads leading out of the area and they all ran through heavily wooded areas. For all I knew two of them could have been closed, so we did not hesitate.

You learn what is important to you when you have five minutes to grab what you can. I grabbed dog food for the dogs and left jewelery behind. Which was stupid because I could just go buy dog food. We were fortunate in that we had someplace to go because a relative lived about ten miles away. We got back to our house two days later. We went through one solid day not knowing if our house was still there.

We went to the refugee center at the high school because my wife was a certified Red Cross disaster worker and helped out there. I helped with the area where they were letting people keep all ther dogs. I helped walk dogs for elderly people who couldn't. It was kind of fun doing that.

[Budi]

6. Must have been surreal & controlled panic, I'm sure.

I'd have some ptsd after that, everytime there's a fire warning, somewhere.

Your story gave me chills just reading it.

Peace & safety to you & yours, Mr.Bill
🍃

[Mr.Bill]

7. We sold that house and moved to a nearby small town. Retirement downsizing.

It's a bit safer here but we got evacuated from here in 2017. It was not a mandatory evacuation, and we had more notice. We went and visited our grandson for a week about 150 miles away.

And yes, there is some PTSD whenever I smell so much as a BBQ grill in the neighborhood.

[Budi]

8. You will be ok

[Mr.Bill]

9. Love your sig line.

Lot's of fond memories from my teen years in that song.