With wildfire threatening, Lake Tahoe prepares for emergency

By SAM METZ and BRIAN MELLEY
Associated Press

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. (AP) — A community on the shore of Lake Tahoe issued an emergency declaration and a tourism group discouraged visitors from coming amid smoky skies from a major wildfire nearby. South Lake Tahoe declared an emergency Thursday to be better prepared if evacuations are ordered and the community is threatened by the nearby Caldor Fire. Some residents under evacuation warnings cleared up pine needles and flammable debris from their homes; others fled. Firefighters were trying to stop the fire before winds and temperatures pick up and humidity drops. The fire is one of nearly 90 blazes burning in the West.