50-acre fire destroys Carson River Resort buildings

Firefighters work to keep flames from spreading to more buildings at the Carson River Resort. Photo/Jeff Cheetham

Three buildings and a mobile home were destroyed late Saturday afternoon at the Carson River Resort.

The fire started in an out building, spread to two others and then into wildland. Dubbed the Carson Fire, it has burned at least 50 acres.

“There is no containment at this time,” Erica Hupp with the U.S. Forest Service told Lake Tahoe News at 8pm. “It is not moving very fast.”

Monitor Pass was closed for a short while after the 3:25pm Aug. 20 fire started. Now Highway 89 is open to one-way controlled traffic right in front of the resort. The resort is less than 3 miles south of Markleeville. Last year the Washington Fire burned in this general area.

The fire is burning in the Humboldt Toiyabe National Forest.

Three helicopters and ground crews are working to stop the spread.

“Where we believe it started was like a workshop where they would run repairs out of,” CHP Officer Chuck Brothers told Lake Tahoe News.

He was the second person on the scene of the fire and was responsible for evacuating the nearly dozen cabins and 30 trailers. Brothers said the dry terrain erupted quickly, the fire rapidly growing for 20 to 50 acres. But he also said crews attacked it fast.

— Lake Tahoe News staff report