Caldor Fire Recovery
Recovery after a major wildfire is a long term process. The first steps involve repairing areas damaged by fire suppression, and mitigating safety hazards such as fire weakened trees, burning stump holes, damaged utilities, and hazmat concerns. Restoration builds on these effforts.
The Caldor Fire Restoration Project will restore severely burned areas, repair fire damaged infrastructure, and reduce the risk of uncharacteristic or catastrophic wildfires.
Background:
The Caldor Fire was reported the evening of August 14, 2021 in the Middle Fork Cosumnes canyon. This fire was driven by winds and an extremely receptive fuel bed due to an extended drought. It expanded rapidly north and east and threatened over 30,000 structures and closing 3 major highways (50, 88 and 89). At over 219,000 acres the Caldor Fire encompassed or impacted the communities of Omo Ranch, Grizzly Flats, Sly Park, Pollock Pines, Strawberry, Kyburz, Phillips, Echo Summit, South Lake Tahoe, and Kirkwood and heavily impacted surrounding communities with evacuations and economic losses. Grizzly Flats was the most heavily impacted community with the loss of more than 600 primary residences.
The Caldor Fire is the largest fire in Eldorado National Forest history and the 2nd fire in California (after the Dixie Fire) to cross over the Sierra Nevada crest and burn into the Lake Tahoe Basin.
Disaster Area Declaration: On Sunday September 12th, 2021 President Biden declared the Caldor Fire as A Federal Disaster area. This is the first Federal Declared wildfire in El Dorado County.
Containment: After burning for over 60 days, the Caldor Fire reached 100 percent containment on October 21, 2021. The Caldor Fire was declared "controlled" on November 17th, 2021 at 5:00 pm.
Affected Forest Service Administrative Units:
- Eldorado National Forest (approximately 167,000 acres) within the Placerville, Pacific and Amador Ranger Districts
- Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit (approximately 10,000 acres).
Caldor Fire: One Year Later - Video Series
A four-part video series was developed to introduce the fire restoration efforts.
Topics
Please select from the following options to learn more.
Recreation Residence Rebuild Determination FAQs – Frequently Asked Questions
This series of FAQs answers questions about each rebuild determination:
- Not Suitable for Rebuild
- Suitable for Rebuild
- Rebuild - alternative location on lot
- Rebuild – hazard mitigation plan required
The Eldorado National Forest Rebuilding Guidelines for Recreation Residences provides design guidelines for the rebuilding process.
Geologic and Flood Hazard Assessment of Cabin Sites within the Caldor Fire
Geologic and Flood Hazard Assessment of Cabin Sites within the Caldor Fire - Eldorado National Forest and Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit (Gallegos, Annis, and Moore, 2023)
Correction to Gallegos et. al., 2023
Maps:
3 - Geology Forni to 42 Milestone
4 - Geology Pyramid to Phillips
5 - Geology Echo
6 - Flood Forni to 42 Milestone
8 - Flood Echo
Geologic and Flood Hazard Assessment of Cabin Sites within the Caldor Fire - Phase II Report Eldorado National Forest (Gallegos and Annis, 2024)
Caldor Fire Incident Information - 2021
The incident information website on Inciweb has been deactivated. Communications were also distributed through multiple digital and social media sites where it can still be found:
- ENF Facebook: www.facebook.com/eldoradonf
- ENF Twitter: twitter.com/EldoradoNF
- LTBMU Facebook: www.facebook.com/LakeTahoeUSFS/
- LTBMU Twitter: twitter.com/LakeTahoeUSFS
Fire Suppression Repair
The suppression of the Caldor Fire has involved the clearing of vegetation and the disturbance of soil across the landscape. To protect those damaged areas and retain soil and vegetation productivity, repair of fire lines and other infrastructure damaged in the fire suppression activities was completed.
Repairs for the Caldor Fire was completed on fire lines, drop points, safety zones, staging areas, spike camps, helispots, stream crossings, roads, water drafting locations, trails, and at all facilities used by suppression resources if damage occurred.
The objective of the fire suppression repair is to place areas disturbed by fire suppression activities into a condition that will not negatively affect natural and cultural resources and will not contribute to excessive erosion and sedimentation on the landscape. This must be done in a manner which does not compromise public and firefighter safety.
BAER - Burned Areas Emergency Response
After a large wildfire, special actions may be necessary to provide for public safety and protect critical natural and cultural resources on National Forest System (NFS) lands. For example, loss of vegetation exposes soil to erosion, runoff may increase and cause flooding, and sediment may move downstream damaging roads and infrastructure or put endangered species and cultural resources at-risk. The Forest Service Burned Area Emergency Response (BAER) program addresses these situations on NFS lands with the goal of guarding the safety of Forest visitors and employees and protecting federal property, and critical natural or cultural resources from further damage.
Recreation Sites with Fire Damage
Several recreation sites remain closed due to fire damage. These are noted on the forest recreation pages here:
- Please check for current conditions and status.
Private Property Assistance
Assistance from multiple agencies with private property concerns outside of federal land will be coordinated through El Dorado County. Contact 530-621-5101 for more information about these services as they become available. This El Dorado County Caldor Fire Recovery web page will be updated when new information is available:
- El Dorado County Caldor Fire Recovery web page: www.edcgov.us/Pages/Caldor-Fire-Recovery.aspx
Postfire Restoration
- General Technical Report PSW-GTR-270: Postfire Restoration Framework for National Forests in California (pdf)
- Caldor Fire Restoration Project
Links
- Video - Forest News Episode 2: Fuel Treatment Areas
- Video - Forest News Episode 1: California Fire Intensity
- El Dorado County Caldor Fire Recovery web page: www.edcgov.us/Pages/Caldor-Fire-Recovery.aspx