progression at times. the caldorfire is by no means the biggest fire that california has seen this year. but what makes it so dangerous is its proximity to residential areas. south lake tahoe is a beloved alpine town on the nevada california border, high up in the mountains. californians spend summer holidays here, you can ski in the winter. it has a special place in people s hearts, a place of fun and adventure. yet the ski slopes have been transformed into an inferno, and the clear air of tahoe has turned to dense smog. much of what happens now depends on wind direction and fire intensity. firefighters say they are now embroiled in a tense fight which will likely take days to save the town. a state of emergency has been announced here, and if the area were to be engulfed, it would represent some of the most large scale destruction from us forest fires in modern times. the australian state of victoria will stay in lockdown until 70% of the population has had at least
Operator
Good morning everyone and welcome to Portland General Electric Company s Second Quarter 2021 Earnings Results Conference Call. Today is Friday, July 30, 2021. [Operator Instructions] For opening remarks I will turn the conference call over to Portland General Electric s Senior Director of Investor Relations. Treasury and Risk Management Jardon Jaramillo. Please go ahead, sir.
Jardon Jaramillo
Senior Director of Investor Relations. Treasury and Risk Management
Thank you. Chelsea. Good morning, everyone. I m pleased that you re able to join us today. Before we begin this morning, I d like to remind you that we have prepared a presentation to supplement our discussion which we ll be referencing throughout the call. The slides are available on our website at investors.portlandgeneral.com.
reporter: this has been a very stubborn fire, this tamarack fire that is burning near the nevada-california border. it broke out on the 4th of july with a lightning strike and it remained very small until this past weekend when it absolutely exploded. it went from about 500 acres to now about 40,000 acres. and since then we re seeing little to no containment. fortunately, the property losses have been limited but you do have a number of communities that have been forced to evacuate. cnn s dan simon reporting there. i spoke earlier with craig clements, professor of meteorology at san jose state university. i asked him what can be done to prevent these devastating fires. well, one thing is forest management. we need to really look at how we manage the fuels, like the trees, the shrubs, and we need to get more prescribed fire, this is purposely set fires, back into the ecosystems because that reduces the amount of stuff that can burn and it reduces it
reporter: well, good morning, poppy, jim. this fire burning near the nevada/california border has really been a stubborn one. it broke out on the 4th of july with a lightning strike and it remained very small until this past weekend when it went from about 500 acres to now about 40,000 acres. and they are having a difficult time with this fire. it s 0% contained. we saw helicopters trying to make some water drops yesterday and they were barely making a dent. fortunately the property damage has been limited, but you have a number of communities that have been forced to evacuate. we caught up with some residents yesterday as they were allowed to go back in and check on their homes and grab some essentials. take a look. just hoping to see our house still standing. i know, you know, they say it s okay, but i really want to see it for myself. it s scary. deputy just told us that our house is still standing. we just want to check it all out. reporter: we have about a