Wildfire Starts Near Sugar Bowl Resort, CA

A forest fire broke out at four p.m. on July 7 near Sugar Bowl ski resort in California. The fire was dubbed “the Royal Fire” and it is located west of Soda Springs near Truckee, California.

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The fire spans just over 200 acres and is burning in the Tahoe National Forest. When the fire first ignited, 15 people were suspected to be in the area after four cars were found at the trailhead of the Palisades Creek trail. 13 of these hiking together were located by helicopter, the other two by a K9 unit. All of them were hiked out to safety by search and rescue personnel.

The fire is burning in an extremely remote area scattered with exposed cliffs. Still, CalFire and the Placer County Police Department reported that they were relatively successful in containing the fire. Ground crews and bulldozers which helped fight the fire were deployed via Forest Service Roads. However, the fire is still zero percent contained. An evacuation warning was issued for the cedar area near the fire.

The cause of the fire is unknown but is being investigated. There were no reported injuries.

The fire is just six miles from Sugar Bowl Resort in Placer County, north of Lake Tahoe. The fire is visible from the top of the resort. The ski area has over 43 miles of slopes and 1,500 vertical feet of skiing and sees the most annual snowfall in Tahoe. 

For further information, you can visit CalFire.gov or the Placer Countries Sheriff’s Office Instagram.