Prescribed burns to continue in Lake Tahoe basin

Tahoe Douglas Fire Protection District, California State Parks and the California Tahoe Conservancy are planning to continue prescribed fire operations next week beginning Tuesday, January 19, 2016 in the following areas:

Tranquility - Between Round Hill and Zephyr Cove, 3 acres of hand piles will be burned. The ignition date is planned for 1/20/16. Fire and smoke will be present during five days of burn down time with smoke expected to travel to the north/northeast. Smoke may be visible from Zephyr Cove to Round Hill.

Shakespeare Rock - South of Glenbrook along Highway 50, 40 acres of hand pile will be burned. The ignition date is planned for 1/20/16. Fire and smoke will be present for ten days of burn down time with smoke expected to travel to the north/northeast and east. Smoke may be visible from Spooner Summit to Cave Rock along the highway.

Sunset Interface - West of Onnontioga Street, east of the South Lake Tahoe Airport, five acres will be burned with an ignition date of 1/16/16. Fire and smoke will be present for three days of burn down time with smoke expected to travel to the north/northeast and east. Smoke may be visible from Pioneer Trail, Meyers and surrounding communities.

To view these locations on a map with project locations and details, visit http://www.tahoefft.org.

Residual smoke may be seen in locations where operations have taken place over the last several weeks. The Tahoe Fire and Fuels Team (TFFT) gives as much advance notice as possible before burning, but some operations may be conducted on short notice in areas not identified on the map.

Fall and winter bring cooler temperatures and precipitation, which favor prescribed burning. Each prescribed fire operation follows a prescribed fire burn plan, which considers temperature, humidity, wind, moisture of the vegetation, and conditions for the dispersal of smoke. This information is used to decide when and where to burn.

Smoke from prescribed fire operations is normal and may continue for several days after an ignition depending on the project size and environmental conditions. Agencies coordinate with state and local county air pollution control districts and monitor weather conditions closely prior to prescribed fire ignition. They wait for favorable conditions that will carry smoke up and out of the Basin. Crews also conduct test burns before igniting a larger area, to verify how effectively fuels are consumed how smoke will travel.

Before conducting prescribed fire operations, agencies post road signs around areas affected by prescribed fire, send email notifications and update the local fire information line at 530-543-2816. To receive prescribed fire notifications, send an email to pa_ltbmu@fs.fed.us. For more information on prescribed fire operations and smoke management tips, visit http://www.fs.usda.gov/goto/ltbmu/RxFireOps.