As fire nears, some Lake Tahoe residents buck order to flee

By TERENCE CHEA and MICHELLE L. PRICE
Associated Press

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. (AP) — While more than 20,000 people packed roads leading out of Lake Tahoe on Monday to flee the Caldor Fire closing in on the resort community, a handful of people decided to buck the mandatory evacuation orders and stay behind. In the West, where bigger and hotter wildfires rage through the forests each year, more communities find themselves staring down evacuation orders. There are invariably some who decided to stay put, against all advice from government and emergency officials. The decision to stay behind can complicate firefighters’ efforts and leave them scrambling to save lives instead of just property.