The Caldor fire raging in the El Dorado National Forest, California has stunned even experienced forest fire fighters. The smoke plume has topped 20,000 feet and, as of this morning, the fire has consumed 53,700 acres of dry combustable timber and brush. Scientists call the plume a pyrocumulus cloud, which are typical of erupting volcanoes and can even generate their own weather systems.
The fire is roughly 40 miles southwest of Lake Tahoe (where a Hackwhacker's daughter and her family live), and is zero percent contained. For very personal reasons, we're watching this one closely.
(photos: from top, Guy Tucker / @wine.alchemy; AlertWildfire U.S. Forest Service handout; PG&E via U.S. Forest Service)
