A young bear walks up the middle of Highway 50 late Sunday, Aug. 29, 2021, as the Caldor Fire continues its spread toward the Tahoe basin.
A young bear walks up the middle of Highway 50 late Sunday, Aug. 29, 2021, as the Caldor Fire continues its spread toward the Tahoe basin.
Michael Macor/Getty Images
  • The Caldor fire caused thousands of residents of South Lake Tahoe, California, to evacuate their homes.
  • Bears roamed the empty streets, rummaged through garbage cans and broke into homes.
  • Authorities said bears had broken into about 70 homes and vehicles, usually in search of food.
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As residents of South Lake Tahoe, California, evacuated to escape the advancing Caldor fire, bears roamed the empty streets and broke into homes, reports say.

Videos and images posted on social media show bears entering empty homes and gardens.

One video captured by a doorbell camera showed a mother bear and three cubs sniffing around on a porch.

The homeowner, Azadeh Nolan, told Storyful, "We noticed the camera detected motion on the north end of the cabin. So we immediately tuned into the rest of our footage and found mama bear at our front door."

"We know better than to encourage them, so locals know to scare them off and leave no food around," Nolan said.

Nolan told the outlet that she and her family screamed into the doorbell camera in an attempt to scare the bears away.

Although bear break-ins are common in the region at this time of year, the numbers rose significantly after the area's nearly 22,000 residents fled.

Since the evacuation, bear break-ins have been reported at about 70 homes and vehicles, according to the South Lake Tahoe Police Department, The San Francisco Chronicle said.

This is compared with just a few bear break-ins per week normally.

Sgt. Simon Brown of the El Dorado County Sheriff's Office told The San Francisco Chronicle that police officers had been leaving courtesy notes at homes where bears had broken in, so owners would be aware when they returned.

Brown added that bears usually entered homes in search of food.

"It's pretty obvious when you get inside and you see the target: a refrigerator," Brown told the paper.

Hungry bears were also seen ransacking garbage cans left on the street curbs and feasting on trash.

"Bears are just having a heyday of it. It's just a nightmare," John Tillman, owner of South Tahoe Refuse, told The San Francisco Chronicle.

"There's so much garbage on the street because of the bears. Oh my God, they are making a mess," he said.

Police have found front doors broken, garage doors with holes in them, and trash cans and dumpsters emptied by bears.

"If it smells and they think there's food in it, they will go for it," Tillman told the paper.

Authorities warn residents not to feed animals human food, as it can create bad habits, or even cause malnourishment and death, according to the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.

The Caldor Fire, which caused unprecedented evacuations, destroyed 776 homes in the area, according to The Guardian.

The fire is now roughly 50% contained, the paper said, and residents have now been allowed to start returning to their homes.

Read the original article on Insider