Firefighting Force Battling Caldor Fire More Than Doubles To 600 Wednesday

EL DORADO COUNTY (CBS13) – Cal occurrence is short-staffed arsenic it battles the Caldor Fire successful El Dorado County.

The authorities bureau reports the main crushed for the shortage is the Massive Dixie Fire burning to the north.

READ MORE: Placerville Home Destroyed By Fire

The Dixie Fire, the 2nd largest wildfire successful California history, is taking up much than fractional of each disposable firefighters successful the state. Of the 10,345 firefighters connected occurrence lines close now, 6,041 were assigned to the Dixie Fire Wednesday morning.

Calfire listed 600 unit connected the Caldor Fire Wednesday night, up from lone 242 successful morning.

Both numbers are considered tiny for a wildfire that has present grown to much that 60,000 acres and is threatening much than 5,000 structures.

“We are successful a resource-deprived environment,” Calfire Battalion Chief Dusty Martin said. “There are aggregate fires going connected astir the authorities of California and we are each competing for the aforesaid resources.”

READ MORE: UPDATES: Caldor Fire Grows To 65,474 Acres, 0% Contained

Besides Calfire’s stretched personnel, the U.S. Forest Service is besides stretched thin, reporting a shortage of its hotshot crews.

Ivan Arabadjiav lives successful Pollock Pines. He was evacuated from his location and believes it volition past the wildfire.

He says helium watched the occurrence burning successful a distant country for respective days earlier it exploded successful size.

“It would person taken a batch little effort to enactment it retired if they got connected it close astatine the beginning, you know,” Arabadjiav said. “Probably they didn’t person the resources origin there’s truthful galore fires retired there, you know?”

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Steve Large