Anatomy of a firefight

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Today is turning out to be a much better day for firefighters than Sunday. With less wind, there is less smoke, and that allows a much more effective firefight.

‘There were winds yesterday; it was sort of an explosive start, from my understanding.... Once the fire started hitting the timber, it really started to explode. With the external wind blowing yesterday, it really made it dangerous,’ said Sgt. Don Atkinson of the El Dorado County Sheriff’s Department.

‘Today, fortunately, we haven’t had the [external] winds, so we’ve had a chance for the firefighters to have a chance to map it [the fire] and know where to fight it from. But that changes from moment to moment. So the plan they have right now might not be good in five minutes. So they have to be flexible. Right now they’re trying to isolate it so it doesn’t escape from the boundaries they have right now.’

One major problem with battling the blaze Sunday was heavy smoke. ‘Smoke cuts visibility, and we had almost zero visibility with the smoke,’ Atkinson said. ‘It makes it difficult not only for people in the basin but also for the firefighters, who can’t see. The wind moves the smoke around, cuts visibility and makes it much more difficult to fight it.’ People have reported ash falling all over South Lake Tahoe, and many residents who have not yet evacuated are watering down their homes and roofs and leaving sprinklers on in hopes of preventing embers from igniting.

-- Tami Abdollah