Strong Winds Return In Lake Tahoe Fire

(AP) – Fire officials working that fire near Lake Tahoe are worried about strong winds Wednesday.

During a briefing, several fire officials said increased winds could present a danger to firefighters themselves.

A weather forecaster at the briefing said winds are expected to gust as strong as 35 miles-per-hour.

The most critical time of the day is expected to be between 1:00 PM and 6:00PMWednesday evening.

Tuesday, fire officials thought they had a handle on the eastern edge of the blaze, but a large gust stoked a flare-up that pushed firefighters off the line they had been holding.

A Forest Service official says the flare-up took place in an area where firefighters had set a backfire to keep the main blaze from reaching more houses.

The gust blew embers across the fireline and started new spot fires.

So far, the wildfire has consumed more than three-thousand acres — or a little more than four-and-a-half miles. Containment is not expected before Tuesday next week.

(Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)