King Fire Shuts Down Part of Highway 50 As Flames Threaten To Jump Road, Head For Homes

POLLOCK PINES (CBS13) — The King Fire in El Dorado County spent most of Tuesday evening threatening to jump across Highway 50, closing a stretch of the road.

Hundreds in the path of the 12,780-acre blaze are under mandatory evacuation orders, as Highway 50 closed in both directions between Sly Park Road to Riverton Sand Shed.

Cal Fire said on Monday that the fire jumping Highway 50 and heading toward Pollock Pines and Sly Park is the worst-case scenario. Crews spent Tuesday night trying to keep that from happening.

Trees torched in seconds as the King Fire burned right to the edge of Highway 50, sending embers drifting dangerously into the sky toward the other side of the freeway where homes are at risk.

At a packed community meeting down the road, anxious families heard firefighters describe the No. 1 priority as the southern edge of the fire moving toward Highway 50.

But officials say the fire is growing to the northeast and the west as well, forcing a fresh round of evacuations on Tuesday.

Georgi Colvin, her husband, and their young ones were forced to flee. They nervously passed the time playing cards.

"The fire might be coming really close to our house, and now it might've backed away, but it might be coming back, so we're still on edge," she said.