(Sacramento, CA) — COVID-19 has infected an entire strike team of 16 firefighters who were battling the Caldor Fire, which is approaching South Lake Tahoe. Those firefighters are leaving the frontlines and must now quarantine for up to two weeks. A strike team is comprised of five fire engines and three firefighters, plus a team leader. Cal Fire said the outbreak is the first on the Caldor Fire and no other units have been affected. Cal Fire is warning other firefighters to follow COVID-19 protocols.
Caldor Fire Growing In Size
(Sacramento, CA) — The fast-moving Caldor Fire is burning actively today in Northern California with more than 191-thousand acres charred and just 16 percent containment. The fire has forced some 22-thousand residents of South Lake Tahoe to flee their homes under mandatory evacuation orders. A total of 669 structures have been destroyed, but Cal Fire has deployed more than 39-hundred first responders to the front lines, along with 25 helicopters, 415 fire engines and 92 bulldozers. The Caldor Fire has been burning for 17 days now through El Dorado and Amador Counties.