Tamarack Fire continues to threaten Northern California town after blaze exploded Friday

A nearly two-week-old wildfire erupted in size and ferocity Friday evening in Alpine County, zooming to the outskirts of Markleeville, the county seat, and has prompted the evacuation of several hundred residents and vacationers.

The Tamarack Fire grew quickly Friday from 500 acres to 6,600 acres overnight, according to the U.S. Forest Service’s Humboldt-Toiyabe unit. The fire is still highly active and uncontained at 18,299 acres wide as of Sunday afternoon.

“Forced by gusty winds, critically dry fuels and low relative humidity the Tamarack Fire exhibited rapid rates of spread and an increase in fire behavior throughout the day,” the Forest Service said in its latest incident update. “The fire continues to impact the community of Markleeville and the surrounding areas.”

Some structure loss in Markleeville — which was near the epicenter of this month’s magnitude-6 earthquake — has been confirmed by authorities. The Alpine County Sheriff’s Office said on social media Saturday morning that three structures were destroyed, but did not have information on where the properties were.

By Saturday afternoon, the fire had burned past Markleeville and jumped Highway 89, prompting officials to evacuate Alpine Village and Woodfords. Forest Service officials said that winds developing in the afternoon were “contributing to high rates of spread of the fire to the northwest, west of Highway 89.”

About 120 firefighters have been assigned to the blaze, according to the latest Forest Service updates.

The fire was sparked by lightning July 4, but remained small and relatively inactive until Friday, when it exploded. Forest Service officials previously said they were monitoring the fire but would not be sending crews to put out the blaze.

“The tactical management decision is not to insert fire crews due to safety concerns, however, this is not an unresponsive approach,” the Forest Service said July 10, when the fire was just a quarter-acre wide. “(The Tamarack Fire) is surrounded by granite rocks, a small lake and sparse fuels. Fire poses no threat to the public, infrastructure or resource values.”

Mandatory evacuations have been ordered for for Markleeville, MarkleeVillage, Grover Hot Springs, Shay Creek, Carson River Resort, the Poor Boy Road area, Wolf Creek Campground, Silver Creek Campground, Sierra Pines, Upper and Lower Manzanita, Crystal Springs, Alpine Village, Diamond Valley Road and Hung A Lel Ti. Highways 4, 88 and 89 are closed in the area of the fire.

“The Tamarack fire is moving fast and aggressively. ... This is a serious situation. Please get out when advised to,” the Sheriff’s Office said in a social-media post.

The Alpine County evacuation center at the Alpine Early Learning Center was moved to the Douglas County Senior Center in Gardnerville.

Towers of smoke from the blaze were seen Friday evening across Alpine County, California’s least-populous county with about 1,200 residents, as well as the south shore of Lake Tahoe.

Because of the fire, the annual Tour of the California Alps – Death Ride endurance race, in which 2,500 cyclists were to complete, has been canceled.