South Lake Tahoe residents allowed to return home as Caldor Fire eases

California state officials have cleared the way for tens of
thousands of people, who were forced to flee South Lake Tahoe because of the
Caldor Fire, to begin returning to their homes.

State fire officials announced that the evacuation orders
issued for the area were reduced to warnings as of 3 pm on Sunday, the
Associated Press reported.

Nearly 22,000 people had been forced to flee the popular
resort and nearby areas last week as the Caldor Fire roared toward it. But
according to the authorities, calmer winds and better weather helped in keeping
the flames in check in the past few days.

The blaze is still on, but it remains a few miles outside of
the resort on the California-Nevada border, which normally would have been
packed for the Labor Day weekend.

According to the fire officials, no homes have been lost on
the eastern side of the fire nearest the lake. The huge blaze has burned
hundreds of homes further west.

Overnight, crews working on the eastern edge of the blaze
were able to hold the fire within current containment lines and the immense
blaze was now 43% contained, according to Cal Fire.

The fire has injured five firefighters and civilians and
burned more than 700 homes, Cal Fire reported. Nearly 28,000 homes, businesses, and other buildings remained threatened, ranging from cabins to ski resorts.

The fire began on August 14 and was named after the road where
it started and raged through densely forested, craggy areas. California has
experienced increasingly larger and deadlier wildfires in recent years as
climate change has made the West much warmer and drier over the past 30 years.
Scientists have said that the weather will continue to be more extreme and
wildfires more frequent, destructive, and unpredictable. No deaths have been
reported so far this fire season.