Wildfire forces thousands from popular Lake Tahoe resort

The Caldor Fire burns as a chairlift sits motionless at the Sierra-at-Tahoe ski resort (Noah Berger/AP)

Thousands of people rushed to get out of South Lake Tahoe as the entire tourist resort city came under evacuation orders and wildfire raced towards the large freshwater lake of Lake Tahoe, which straddles California and Nevada.

Evacuation warnings issued for the resort city of 22,000 on Sunday turned into orders on Monday. Vehicles loaded with bikes and camping gear and hauling boats snaked through thick, brown air that smelled of campfire.