Group of teen hikers found as firefighters continue to battle Royal Fire in Tahoe National Forest
A wildfire that ignited Sunday evening within the Tahoe National Forest, prompting evacuation warnings for a handful of homes in the Soda Springs area, has grown to 169 acres.
Crews have been battling the Royal Fire since it broke out just before 5:30 p.m. and grew with a “rapid” rate of spread near Royal Gorge, south of Interstate 80, according to the U.S. Forest Service and Cal Fire.
According to Cal Fire’s Nevada-Yuba-Placer unit, the blaze was “reportedly caused by an escaped camp fire found by (a) hiker.” Forest officials said restrictions only allow for such fires to be made in developed recreation areas.
The Placer County Sheriff’s Office said in an update Monday that deputies were searching for 13 missing hikers in the “fire zone,” all from the ages of 16 to 20 years old. The group was found about an hour later, with search and rescue volunteers set to hike back to safety with them, the Sheriff’s Office said on social media.
Family members told deputies the hikers planned to traverse along the Palisades Creek trail, filled with steep and difficult terrain, which starts at the southeastern end of the Royal Fire’s burn area and continues north. Deputies found their vehicles on Sunday night as the search began to find the missing group.
A Placer County Sheriff’s Office helicopter began canvassing the area, and found the hikers after dawn. The group had camped overnight, two miles away from the blaze, deputies said.
No one was injured, deputies said.
The Forest Service said the blaze is burning in “difficult and remote terrain,” with both ground and air resources deployed. In Monday morning’s update, Cal Fire said “active fire behavior overnight” led flames to char 169 acres with 0% containment.
The Placer County Sheriff’s Office said an evacuation warning was in place for five homes on Soda Springs Road. The roadway was also closed, from about a mile south of the intersection with Serene Road through to the intersection of Soda Springs Road and Forest Service Road 6001-35.
