California Tahoe Wild Fire blaze jumps defensive line*

26 Jun 2007 23:35:51 GMT
Source: Reuters

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif., June 26 (Reuters) - Fire crews evacuated a
neighborhood near California's Lake Tahoe on Tuesday afternoon as the
wildfire that has consumed more than 2,700 acres (1,100 hectares) of
forest around the resort area jumped a defensive line.

Firefighters told residents of the Tallac Village area of South Lake
Tahoe to leave their homes as the blaze broke through its northern
containment line, a potentially dangerous situation if winds pick up.

In the nearby Tahoe Keys neighborhood on Lake Tahoe, residents
voluntarily began to leave.

Earlier on Tuesday, a U.S. Forest Service spokesman said the fire was
expected to be fully contained no later than Sunday because fire crews
combating the blaze had brought much of it under control. But officials
said 500 homes and 300 commercial properties remained threatened.

High winds that fanned the flames on Sunday eased on Monday, allowing
firefighters to begin containing the blaze after it swept across rugged
terrain and through bone-dry timber, burning down 275 structures, 200 of
them homes, local officials said.

By Monday evening, nearly 1,900 firefighters backed by 171 engines and
12 helicopters had contained 40 percent of the blaze, and a drop in
temperature overnight and rise in humidity were helping keep it in check.

An estimated 1,000 residents evacuated at the height of the fire have
begun to return to see if their homes had been saved, damaged or
destroyed. Reflecting the blaze's haphazard path, smoldering foundations
stood next to unscathed vacation homes.

Investigators believe the conflagration, named the Angora fire, was
man-made, but they do not yet know if it was started accidentally or
intentionally.

Ecologists who have studied the Lake Tahoe area have expected a major
fire for years as more homes have been built deeper into forests prone
to wildfires, especially after dry winters.

California firefighters are expecting a busy fire season across the
state because there was little rainfall this past winter. (Reporting by
Kathryn Reed in South Lake Tahoe)