Caldor Fire Levels Properties In El Dorado County, California

The Caldor Fire raged without containment through rugged forested areas of El Dorado County on Tuesday, destroying an elementary school, a church and numerous other structures and prompting thousands of rural residents to navigate a traffic jam in order to flee.

After burning fairly quietly south of Highway 50 since it began Saturday evening, the fire exploded late Monday.

It tripled in size overnight, to 6,500 acres, and then grew to 22,919 acres during the day Tuesday as strong winds helped the fire spread through areas of steep terrain in the Eldorado National Forest, with zero containment. By early Wednesday, the fire was reported at 53,772 acres.

The fire grew so rapidly Tuesday that Cal Fire officials, appearing at an evening online briefing, apologized for not having a map of the fire zone available.

The fire crossed Mormon Emigrant Trail east of Sly Park, and was moving northeasterly Tuesday evening.