5. The caldor fire
The Caldor Fire. Courtesy of Josh Edelson.
At approximately 6:45 p m on August 14, 2021 a wildland fire broke out in a rural portion of El Dorado County almost 30 miles southwest of Sierra-at-Tahoe. The area is known as Caldor. It was a former company town for the California Door Company, which harvested timber from the area in the first half of the 1900s. At the height of the fire over 5,000 firefighters were deployed, 81 structures were damaged, 1003 structures were destroyed and 5 persons were injured, but luckily there were no fatalities of fire crews or citizens. The fire consumed over 220,000 acres and while mostly contained to El Dorado County, it caused evacuations in South Lake Tahoe, Stateline Nevada, the Kirkwood area and almost the entire eastern half of El Dorado County.
Crews protect structures. Photo by J Lannon.
Sierra-at-Tahoe was seen as strategic, both as a cherished asset that needed to be protected and as a “last defense” in keeping the fire out of the Lake Tahoe basin. Sierra's insurance carrier brought in a crew of specialists who were trained and equipped to prepare and hopefully mitigate the hazards the fire could impose on the resort’s assets, such as buildings and lifts. For several days before the fire arrived, the team worked to remove as many hazards as possible. They coated the building in thermal gel foam, removed trees that were too close to structures and could cause ignitions of the buildings, removed dead trees from various places to reduce fuel loads and made sure equipment was isolated or protected whenever possible.
The maintenance building was destroyed.
Sierra-at-Tahoe has been working diligently for the last several months cutting down hazardous trees, repairing chairlifts and trying to restore the area to working order, even through dramatic and record-breaking snowfalls. Many of Sierra’s competitors have stepped in to help in these efforts by lending equipment, personnel and even providing replacement parts. Sierra’s supporting companies have been busy creating new haul ropes and other necessary and custom parts to get the resort back online as soon as is possible.
Many of the trees were not incinerated.
The Caldor Fire was the first major wildland fire in the United States to impact a winter resort in such a significant manner. Other ski resorts in the area, Kirkwood and Heavenly, only narrowly escaped Sierra-at-Tahoe’s experience with major fire impingement by the Caldor Fire. While the physical nature of Sierra will undoubtedly change due to the loss of trees, this in itself could foster an improvement to the resort over time. There is a lot to learn from the Caldor Fire and we hope that Sierra will be stronger from it.
As was noted throughout this book, the family vibe at Sierra at all levels has been one of the outstanding characteristics of the resort. Everyone feels the resort is theirs and wants to ensure it continues to be the place “Where Play Reigns Free” for the future generations to come. The team at Sierra-at-Tahoe has told me that their customers are one of their most important planning assets. As we discovered, the Solstice Eatery and Plaza were created because of customer feedback and suggestions. What better time to engage that “Sierra Family Spirit”, but this time in rebuilding from the Caldor Fire.
Sierra-at-Tahoe would love to hear your ideas, suggestions or even words of support as they work through this journey. It can be an original idea of yours or one that you read about in this book. You have a chance to contribute to the ‘awakening’ or ‘rebirth’ of a new, better, improved and more resilient Sierra that hopefully will survive at least another 75 years. “Underneath this burnt landscape is a resort waiting to come out of the ground and be glorious again,” John Rice said “Just like the Phoenix rising from the ashes.”
Photograph by Lisa S Couper.