Kyburz Fire now 98% contained; 75 acres burned

The Kyburz Fire is burning about 25 miles west of South Lake Tahoe. It has burned both sides of Highway 50 near and around the American River. It started on Highway 50 near Whitehall.

10 a.m. update 7/27/15:

The Sand Flat Campground has reopened as firefighters can almost total control of the fire lines. They now have 98% of the fire contained.

An updated infrared look at the scene has again reduced the amount burned to 75 acres.

They will not be updating the fire command website after Tuesday as they transfer o a forest Type 4 organization.

9:00 p.m. update 7/26/15:

202 firefighters remain on the Kyburz fire. They have gained control of 90% of the perimeter of the 98 acre fire.

Highway 50 is open and free of controls but drivers need to watch out for firefighting vehicles and personnel.

Sand Flat is the only campground closed.

Fire restrictions are in effect in the Eldorado National Forest. Outside of designated campgrounds only gas fires can be used if you are in possession of a California Campfire permit.

8:00 a.m. update 7/26/15:

Fire officials have changed the number of acres burned to 98 acres and the fire is now 80% contained.

Size change due to more accurate mapping from the infrared flight.

The road is open but motorists need to watch out for firefighting equipment and crews still in the area.

7:25 a.m. update 7/26/15:

Highway 50 has reopened with no restrictions or controls.

The fire is reported as 75% contained after burning 200 acres in the steep terrain along the American River Canyon and north of Highway 50.

Power lines in the area have been re-energized.

11:00 p.m. update 7/25/15:

Firefighters are being moved to other fires since the Kyburz Fire is now 75% contained. 388 firefighters remain on the scene.

New fires: 2 small fires at Blue Lakes and at Cody Lake are being handled by incident personnel.

5:25 p.m. update 7/25/15:

Fire crews made great progress on the Kyburz Fire Saturday, getting containment around 70% of the fire.

PG&E power-lines will be re-energized at 8:00 p.m. tonight.

Ice House Reservoir is now open for public use.

At this time, Highway 50 is still one lane of controlled traffic through the fire area.

9:00 a.m. update 7/25/15:

There are no new fire size or containment updates as of yet. The Kyburz Fire is still listed at 200 acres in size and 30% contained. There are 667 personnel working this fire. Expect changes in numbers today with reinforcement of line they have completed around the fire.

All mandatory evacuations have been lifted. A voluntary evacuation order is in place for Sand Flat campground east to Strawberry.

Traffic on Highway 50 is expected to be heavy today with one lane of escorted cars alternating through the fire area. Cal Trans has message boards in place in South Lake Tahoe to show travel time. At 9 am they show "heavy traffic" with no estimated time of travel. http://quickmap.dot.ca.gov/

Boats have been prohibited on Ice House Reservoir as they are interfering with helicopter water bucket operations. Camping and shoreline use is still allowed.

8:30 p.m. update 7/24/15:

The fire has burned 200 acres and is still listed at 30% contained. There is a line around the fire but it has not been sufficiently reinforced yet according to the fire command. Once that happens the containment figures will be updated.

The south side of the fire is an area of concern with multiple tree falls in the old Cleveland fire area.

667 firefighters are on the scene with 55 engines, 13 crews, 18 water tenders and 3 helicopters.

5:25 p.m. 7/24/15 update:

Highway 50 will be open by about 5:30 p.m. to one lane of escorted traffic through the fire area. The escorted portion is about a mile long due to firefighting equipment on the roadway.

CalTrans has been preparing to have Highway 50 open all day. Trees along the roadway that were of concern have been addressed, either by heavy amounts of water or by cutting them down according to Steve Nelson of CalTrans.

There was just a Kyburz Fire briefing at the command center is at the El Dorado County Fairgrounds in Placerville.

A big backlog of traffic on Hwy 88 occurred on Friday due to traffic being diverted from Hwy 50 to Hwy 49 and over to Hwy 88. There was a paving project by CalTrans District 10 which District 3 (the one over El Dorado County) was unaware of. They had the contractor shut down the project for the day to alleviate the traffic according to Nelson.

Hwy 80 to Hwy 89 from the north is also a detour, and with no road construction Friday-Sunday, this may be an easier route.

Ice House Reservoir is closed to boating due to the need for water to be drawn to fight the fire.

So far, the fire remains at 200 acres burned with 30% containment.

10:35 a.m. 7/24/15 update:

The fire remains at 30% contained and has burned 200 acres.

Opening Highway 50 is a priority. The highway will be re-opened one lane with metered traffic once the safety concerns are mitigated. Fire officials will be looking at reopening possibly late afternoon or this evening if fire operations progress well today.

Detour is south on Sly Park road 5 miles to Mormon Emigrant Trail (Iron Mountain road) to Highway 88. Note: People's GPS is rerouting them Sly Park to Park Creek road which will lead back into closure area. Do not go that way. Big trucks should take Highway 49 south to Jackson and east on Highway 88 to Highway 89 north to Lake Tahoe.

Sand Flat is the only campground closed. The Crystal Basin and Silver Fork areas are still open for camping, however access to these areas is affected by the road closure on Highway 50. Access to the Ice House road area is via Highway 49 to Highway 193 to Georgetown, east on Wentworth Springs road to Ice House road (paved all the way). Access to the Silver Fork area is via Sly Park road to Mormon Emigrant Trail to South Fork road. Fire restrictions are still in effect.

About 90% of the fire is on the north side of the river burning in steep slopes below Weber Mill Road. The west side of the fire has burned into light fuels from the 2013 Kyburz fire. PG&E power-lines have been de-energized between Whitehall and Kyburz. Cooler than normal temperatures and light winds have kept the fire to a low rate of spread.

Westside Desolation Wilderness walk-in permits are being issued out of the Placerville Ranger District office at 4260 Eight Mile road, Camino, CA 95709. 530-644-2324.

8:30 a.m. 7/24/15 update:

Crews were able to tie in line around the north side of the fire overnight and will be working on reinforcing that today. The south side of the fire (south of Highway 50) has quite a few dead trees that are causing short range spot fires. Crews worked on structure protection in the 29 and 30 mile summer home tracts overnight.

8:00 a.m. 7/24/15 update:

The Kyburz Fire has burned 200 acres as of this morning, but is now 30% contained. Hwy 50 remains closed in both directions.

CalTrans will reevaluate the closure at 10 a.m. this morning.

The fire is burning on both sides of the highway and has jumped across the American river heading east.

There are 350 personnel working this fire.

7:20 a.m. 7/24/15 update:

There are no new updates from the Kyburz Incident Commander. CHP reports that both lanes of Highway 50 between Pollock Pines and Meyers remain closed to through traffic. They are allowing people that live in the non-evacuated area to travel on Hwy 50.

South Tahoe Now will continue to update this story as information becomes available.

9:00 p.m. update:

The air attack on the fire is shutting down for the night, but crews are working the first from the ground.

The Kyburz Fire has burned 100 acres ad remains at 5% contained. Firefighters made good progress this evening.

A mandatory evacuation remains in effect for Whitehall to Sand Flat Campground and there is a voluntary evacuation for Sand Flat to Strawberry.

CHP is diverting as much South Lake Tahoe traffic as possible from Placerville onto Hwy 49, then Hwy 88. Mormon Immigrant Trail is still available as well.

7:15 p.m. update:

Firefighters are making good progress on the Kyburz Fire. They have 5% containment around the 100 acre fire which started near Whitehall.

CHP says Highway 50 between Meyers and Sly Park will remained closed overnight and the need for closure will be reassessed Friday morning.

An evacuation center has been set up at the Pollock Pines Community Center. 2675 Sanders Drive, Pollock Pines, Ca 95726. Their phone number is 530-647-8005.

6:15 p.m. update:

CHP is directing traffic heading east to SR 49, the to Hwy 88 and trying to eliminate excess flow on El Dorado County operated Mormon Immigrant Trail.

The fire burning near Sand Flat campground has burned 100 acres.

5:45 p.m. update:

The Kyburz Fire has now burned 100 acres in the American River canyon near Whitehall on Highway 50.

The Red Cross is establishing shelter operations for the Kyburz Fire at the Pollock Pines-Camino Community Center.

Highway 50 is closed east of Sly Park road and west of Meyers. A detour between Pollock Pines and South Lake Tahoe is on Mormon Emigrant Trail (Iron Mountain road) to Highway 88. Note: People's GPS is rerouting them Sly Park to Park Creek road which will lead back into closure area. Do not go that way.

5:10 p.m. update:

There are 224 firefighting personnel on the Kyburz Fire. 21 engines, 5 crews, 6 water tenders including Tankers, helicopter, and Super Scooper are working the fire burning west of South Lake Tahoe.

Mandatory evacuations are in place for Whitehall to Sand Flat Campground, with voluntary evacuations from Kyburz to Strawberry.

Inciweb still says the fire has burned 60 acres though unconfirmed air tanker reports say up to 100 acres so far.

4:40 p.m. update:

Helicopters and air tankers, including "Super Soaker" from South Lake Tahoe area hitting the fire hard according to Lisa Herron from U.S.F.S.

The new South Lake Tahoe plane brought the initial 1,600 acres from Lake Tahoe and is now using Union Valley Reservoir.

The fire has burned 60 acres.

4:30 p.m. update:

Fire is now just west of the Sand Flat Campground. Evacuations are now mandatory in the area and voluntary from Kyburz to Strawberry. structures are threatened.

So far, 60 acres have burned. The fire is north of the American River on both sides of Highway 50. Fire is burning north towards the 2013 Kyburz fire area.

Highway 50 is still closed east of Sly Park road and west of Meyers, They are setting up a secondary eastbound closure point at Fresh Pond to catch cars who entered roadway after initial closure spot.

CHP is diverting all through traffic to Mormon Immigrant Trail, big rigs included.

3:44 p.m. update:

According the California Highway Patrol, there are now evacuations from Kyburz to Strawberry.

The Super Scooper has been called out from South Lake Tahoe. It carried 1,600 gallons of water from the lake to douse the front end of the fire.

It has burned 20 acres and, according the CHP, it is growing.

2:41 p.m.:

There is a brush and timber fire burning near the intersection of U.S. Highway 50 and Kyburz Drive.

Hwy 50 is now closed in both directions. California Highway Patrol is turning around eastbound traffic at Pollock Pines and westbound traffic at Meyers.

The cause was a car fire east of Icehouse Road which caused surrounding vegetation to catch on fire. South Tahoe Now will be updating this as soon as information is made available.