Weather may cause King Fire to surge

Smoke from the King Fire on Sept. 21 lingered in the Lake Tahoe Basin all day. Photo/Kathryn Reed

Updated 1:25pm:

Crews are gaining on the massive King Fire in the Eldorado National Forest that officials say was started by an arsonist Sept.13, however the change is weather could hamper efforts. It is at 18 percent containment, with 87,592 acres charred.

For Monday the most significant activity is expected to be on the north portion of the fire. Officials warn the fire may become active again with the predicted return of higher temperatures and lower humidity. The spread is expected to be predominantly toward the northeast due to the southwest wind. The southwest winds are expected to increase through Wednesday. Moisture is in the forecast for later in the week.

Officials will not estimate when they expect full containment.

Thirty-two structures have been reduced to ash, including 10 houses.

More than 2,800 people are still not able to return home. The Camino Seventh-day Adventist Church is open as an evacuation center.

There will be two community meetings tonight at 7, one at Golden Sierra High School in Garden Valley and the other at the evacuation center.

There will be a status update on the King Fire provided during the Sept. 23 6pm Truckee Town Council meeting. Speaking will be:

• Bill Seline – deputy chief, Truckee Fire Protection District
• Troy Adamson – battalion chief, CalFire
• Gretchen Bennitt – executive director, Northern Sierra Air Quality Management District
• Ken Cutler – public health director, Nevada County
• Joanne Roubique – district ranger, USFS.

The presentation will be on TTCTV Cable Channel 18, or at this link on a computer. This format is not available on iPads and iPhones.

The air quality monitors Lake Tahoe Unified School District was using last week are not working, however the air quality on the South Shore is good Sept. 22. The same cannot be said for Grass Valley, Auburn and Foresthill. The National Weather Service in Reno has issued a dense smoke advisory until 5pm Sept. 22 for the Lake Tahoe Basin and Reno areas. Expect smoke in these areas for the better part of the week.

Schools continue to be disrupted because of the fire. On Monday all Foresthill schools, Colfax Elementary and Colfax High school, and two schools in Placer Hills Union School District are closed.

The Eldorado National Forest has expanded its closure area because of the fire. The boundary begins at the intersection of Highway 50 and Wrights Lake Road, then continues north along Wrights Lake Road to its intersection with the Pacific Ranger District boundary, then continues east along the Pacific Ranger District boundary to the Eldorado National Forest boundary, then continues northwest, west and south along the Eldorado National Forest boundary to its intersection with Meadowbrook Road, then continues southwest along Meadowbrook Road to its intersection with Highway 193, then continues south along Highway 193 to its intersection with Rock Creek Road, then continues east along Rock Creek Road to its intersection with Mosquito Road, then continues south along Mosquito Road to its intersection with Union Ridge Road, then continues southeast along Union Ridge Road to its intersection with Carson Road, then continues east 2.2 miles along Carson Road to its intersection with Highway 50, then continues east along Highway 50 back to the starting point.

Highway 50 going west is down to one lane from Riverton to Pollock Pines.

There remains no fire threat to the Lake Tahoe Basin from the King Fire nor are there any evacuations in the basin.

— Lake Tahoe News staff report