Thick smoke prevented air firefighting operations periodically last week. Pushed by strong winds, the Caldor Fire crossed two major highways and burned mountain cabins as it swept down slopes into the Tahoe Basin. People want to come back to their houses and that's what I'm going to try to do,' he said. 'I'm worried about what'll be here when people come back.
He had arranged sprinklers and tractors around the neighborhood. 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. The higher average temperatures are increasing the length of fire seasons and the number of places where fires can occur. Other factors include expanding development, and an overabundance of fuel because of past fire suppression. Climate change is making large, destructive wildfires more likely because of hotter temperatures and drier vegetation.
