Kingsbury, Spooner closed as Tahoe residents flee Caldor Fire

Westbound traffic on Kingsbury Grade is closed at Foothill, Highway 50 is closed at Highway 395 and at Highway 28.

Evacuees from South Lake Tahoe, home to around 22,500 people, streamed over Kingsbury Grade around lunchtime on Monday as evacuations were expanded to include much of the city. A long line of vehicles belonging to people who were seeking to make the turn onto the Grade was backed up on Foothill Lane south of the intersection. RVs and vehicles of all sorts filled the Topsy Walmart parking lot.

The parking lot of the Douglas County Community and Senior Center is filled with evacuees from Lake Tahoe as more are arriving in Carson Valley fleeing the Caldor Fire.

Evacuations have been expanded to much of South Lake Tahoe, including Tahoe Keys, Al Tahoe, the Sierra Tract and Bijou sending residents of the city eastward into Douglas County.

As of this morning, the area just west of the Nevada border remains on an evacuation alert.

The Douglas County School District has closed Whittell High and Zephyr Cove Elementary for the week due to high levels of smoke and the threatening fire.

Superintendent Keith Lewis said the district is working with its counterpart in South Lake Tahoe.

The Douglas County Board of Commissioners has canceled Thursday’s meeting due to the fire danger.

Douglas residents should anticipate increased traffic as evacuees make their way east.