What Tahoe Looks Like Right Now

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE — Sometimes you can’t assistance but scope for a cliché: South Lake Tahoe connected Monday evening was the calm earlier the storm. After a frenzied mandatory evacuation that forced thousands to flee, the municipality went eerily still.

Everything was closed. Supermarket parking tons were empty; restaurants and motels were deserted. A antheral evacuating by bicycle, covering piled precocious down his seat, pedaled past. The roads felt wider without immoderate traffic.

On the past days of August, Lake Tahoe would usually beryllium heavy with tourists paddleboarding, fishing, lounging, drinking and hiking.

“You’ll ne'er spot South Lake Tahoe similar this again,” a nonmigratory told maine earlier closing his car doorway and driving down an bare roadworthy toward Nevada.

The mandatory evacuation portion created by the fast-moving Caldor occurrence extended from Tahoma, Calif., connected the occidental enactment of the lake, to the Nevada borderline arsenic of Monday evening.

And yet a 10-minute thrust distant determination was urgency successful the aerial arsenic hundreds of firefighters fought to prevention Lake Tahoe. The Caldor fire, which ignited 2 weeks ago, crested a ridge connected Monday and, propelled by beardown winds, began descending into the well-populated Tahoe basin.

The occurrence was 15 percent contained connected Monday, though that fig hardly seemed to substance arsenic the occurrence bore down connected South Lake Tahoe.

Less than a twelve miles from the lakeshore, inmate occurrence crews bounded down mountainsides to enactment retired spot fires. The switchbacks starring to Echo Summit, the 7,482-foot walk that leads to the Gold Rush towns on the American River, were covered with the yellow-jacketed men and women of Cal Fire. They squinted up astatine the upland and the occurrence descending it.

I drove betwixt these 2 places connected Monday evening, betwixt the quiescent municipality and fiery hillside, and I had occupation processing the contrast.

It was astir arsenic if South Lake Tahoe was taking a heavy enactment connected Monday night, steeling itself for a conflict with the occurrence that seemed determined to sound astatine its gates.

Until Monday, the Caldor occurrence had burned up and down distant Sierra hillsides, brushing past tiny Gold Rush hamlets. More than 480 homes person been destroyed successful the fire’s path, galore of them abrogation cabins.

But what comes adjacent for the Caldor occurrence is simply a terrifying imaginable of an wholly antithetic magnitude. With the occurrence present successful the Tahoe Basin, Cal Fire estimates that 33,679 homes are threatened.

After a strangely beauteous sunset connected Monday, a household of ducks floated past an bare white-sand formation successful South Lake Tahoe. They seemed oblivious arsenic the aerial became dense with fume — and a municipality awaited its fate.

For more:

• The latest connected the Caldor occurrence from The Times. Plus, this map tracks wildfires successful the West.

• In lawsuit you missed it, we wrote past week astir however galore radical fleeing their homes successful Tahoe moved determination precocious to flight the pandemic.

• Worried astir the smoky air? Here’s a guide to interpreting the aerial prime scale with tips to enactment safe.

• Wildfire presumption tin beryllium confusing. This is what it means erstwhile a occurrence is 30 percent contained.

Thomas Fuller is the San Francisco bureau main for The New York Times.

California

• Theranos trial: Jury enactment volition statesman connected Tuesday successful the proceedings of Elizabeth Holmes, who is battling 12 counts of fraud and conspiracy to perpetrate ligament fraud implicit mendacious claims she made astir her blood-testing start-up Theranos. The proceedings is being held successful national tribunal successful San Jose.

• Greener buildings: This month, authorities regulators updated California’s gathering codification to necessitate caller homes and commercialized buildings to person star panels and batteries, 1 of the astir sweeping biology updates to gathering codes ever attempted by a authorities agency.

  But immoderate experts interest these caller requirements volition thrust up the state’s already precocious operation costs and enactment caller homes retired of scope of middle- and lower-income families. Read much from The Times.

• What you get: See what $2 cardinal homes look similar successful Los Angeles, Berkeley and Boonville.

• Tyler Skaggs: Here’s what you request to know astir the decease of the Los Angeles Angels pitcher, who died successful 2019. The proceedings for Eric Kay, a erstwhile Angels worker accused of supplying Skaggs with drugs that killed him, volition statesman successful October.

• Recall election: The Times newsman Shawn Hubler discussed the upcoming callback predetermination of Gov. Gavin Newsom connected Monday’s occurrence of “The Daily.” Listen here.

• Forests closed: The U.S. Forest Service is closing 20 cardinal acres of California’s nationalist forests to nationalist entree for 2 weeks opening connected Tuesday due to the fact that of utmost occurrence conditions and strained firefighting resources, according to The Sacramento Bee.

SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA

• San Diego families: Six families from the suburb of El Cajon person made it safely retired of Afghanistan aft they went to the state this summertime to sojourn relatives and got stuck, officials said connected Monday. The whereabouts of 2 different El Cajon families remains unclear, The Associated Press reports.

• Californians connected Afghanistan: In a Southern California legislature territory wherever Democrats narrowly outnumber Republicans, voters interviewed implicit the play were mostly agreed connected astatine slightest 1 issue: After a two-decade war, President Biden was close to propulsion American troops retired of Afghanistan.

• First time back: San Diego Unified welcomed tens of thousands of students connected Monday for the archetypal time of school, marking the archetypal clip the territory has been unfastened for full-time in-person learning since the pandemic began, writes The San Diego Union-Tribune.

CENTRAL CALIFORNIA

• Student refunds: When a assemblage assemblage strategy successful Central California decided connected Monday to mandate the Covid-19 vaccines astatine each campuses, it did truthful 1 time aft the driblet date, meaning students could nary longer get a afloat refund if they chose to driblet retired of schoolhouse to debar immunization, reports The Fresno Bee.

• Covid surge: The San Joaquin Valley has crossed much than a quarter-million Covid-19 cases since the archetypal patients successful the portion were infected 18 months ago, according to The Fresno Bee.

NORTHERN CALIFORNIA

• Students stranded: At slightest 24 Sacramento-area students are confirmed to beryllium stranded successful Afghanistan arsenic turmoil continues successful Kabul. The bureau of Ami Bera, a Sacramento congressman, contacted San Juan Unified and is moving with the territory to bring students backmost safely, according to The Sacramento Bee.

• Gun violence: In an effort to trim transgression rates, San Francisco volition commencement a aviator programme successful October to wage $300 a period to radical who the authorities judge are astir astatine hazard of shooting someone, reports The San Francisco Examiner.

• Vaccination mandate: West Contra Costa Unified, which serves much than 28,000 students successful the East Bay, is considering requiring that each eligible children successful the district get vaccinated against Covid-19, according to The San Francisco Chronicle.

• Sutter Health: The Sacramento-based wellness attraction elephantine has settled for $90 cardinal implicit charges of knowingly inflating Medicare costs and violating the False Claims Act, The San Francisco Chronicle reports.

Where we’re traveling

Today’s question extremity comes from Elizabeth Schenk, who recommends Sonoma County’s Sea Ranch, “one of her favourite places connected earth.”

The Times wrote astir Sea Ranch, California’s modernist utopia, a fewer years back.

Your callback questions answered

Can I constitute successful a replacement candidate?

You can, but if it’s Gavin Newsom, it won’t count. California instrumentality prohibits the incumbent from being listed successful a callback arsenic a replacement candidate.

Your write-in ballot besides volition not number unless your preferred write-in campaigner is connected the state’s certified database of write-in candidates.

Read answers to much of your often asked questions astir the California callback election.

Tell america what other you privation to cognize astir the recall. Email your questions to CAtoday@nytimes.com.

And earlier you go, immoderate bully news

A World War II seasoned celebrating his 96th day successful Torrance connected Saturday was amazed by a sojourn from each 5 of his children.

“It’s conscionable truthful wonderful,” the nonagenarian, David Botelho, told The Los Angeles Daily News. “It’s truthful uncommon I get to spot them each together.”