California's swelling Caldor Fire triggered another mandatory evacuation order for South Lake Tahoe on Monday, along with other communities near the region.
Driving the news: The order, effective Monday, affects more than 100,000 residents in El Dorado County. Traffic was gridlocked on Highway 50, as people fled South Lake Tahoe.
State of play: The blaze was continuing to expand within and near the Lake Tahoe Basin, with winds of up to 50 mph, per the National Weather Service.
The National Weather Service extended its red flag warning through Wednesday.
- Evacuation orders for communities in Amador County were issued Sunday night as the fire approached the Lake Tahoe Basin.
By the numbers: The Caldor Fire had grown to 177,260 acres on Monday, according to Cal Fire. It was 14% contained.
Our thought bubble, via Axios' Andrew Freedman:Climate change, along with decades of land management policies, is leading to larger wildfires in the West. It's also creating more frequent extreme fire weather conditions that lead to wildfires that are nearly impossible to contain.
- Nine out of 10 of California's largest wildfires on record have occurred since 2010.
- A sweeping UN-sponsored Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report published this month found that the connection between human emissions of greenhouse gases and global warming is "unequivocal."
Editor's note: This article has been updated with details of the gridlocked traffic.
