A baker’s dozen of young hikers missing near a Lake Tahoe-area wildfire were spotted from a police helicopter Monday morning soon after first light.
As the Royal Fire spread just west of Soda Springs early Monday morning, 13 people, believed to be 16 to 20 years old and in a group, were described by the Placer County Sheriff’s Office as “missing hikers within the fire zone.”
The Sheriff’s search-and-rescue team and helicopter were looking for the hikers, the office tweeted at 6:30 a.m.
Less than an hour later, the Sheriff’s office said the helicopter had located a group believed to be hikers. “Search and rescue crews will be inserted to hike out with them,” the office said.
The Royal Fire started Sunday afternoon south of I-80, according to Cal Fire, with the cause under investigation. By just before 9 a.m. Monday, it had burned about 170 acres, with some homes under evacuation warning. “The fire remains relatively far away from populated areas,” the Sheriff’s Office said.
Cal Fire said at 8 a.m. Monday that it was fighting the fire by air and ground, and it was zero-percent contained.
