High winds threaten to whip up flames approaching Lake Tahoe

A day after an explosive fire emptied a resort city at the southern tip of Lake Tahoe, a huge firefighting force braced for strong winds on Tuesday as residents in neighbouring Nevada were put on notice to be ready to flee.

The city of South Lake Tahoe, usually bustling with summer tourists, was eerily empty and the air thick and hazy with smoke from the Caldor Fire, one of two major blazes plaguing California. On Monday, roughly 22,000 residents jammed the city’s main artery for hours after they were ordered to leave as the fire advanced, chewing up drought-stricken vegetation.

City officials said only a handful defied the order. But nearly everyone worried on Tuesday about what the fire would do next.

“It just kind of sucks waiting. I mean, I know it’s close down that way,” said Russ Crupi, gesturing south from his home in the Heavenly Valley Estates mobile home park, which he and his wife manage for a living. He had arranged sprinklers and tractors around the neighbourhood.

“I’m worried about what’ll be here when people come back. People want to come back to their houses and that’s what I’m going to try to do,” he said.