Prescribed fires to continue around Lake Tahoe

Members of the Tahoe Fire and Fuels Team (TFFT), which includes local, state and federal land management agencies, will continue prescribed fire operations over the next several weeks in the Tahoe Basin as conditions, staffing and weather allow. Smoke may be visible.

The following 12 areas are on the schedule:

Aspen Lily Lake 1011 - USDA Forest Service Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit.

Location: Powerline Road (Forest Road 12N08), off Pioneer Trail near South Lake Tahoe. Burn Type: Hand Piles - Total Acreage: 14.00 - Planned ignition: 1/25/20

Upper Truckee 210 - USFS Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit. Location: Hwy 50 and North Upper Truckee Road. Burn Type: Hand Piles Total Acreage: 10.00
Planned Ignition: 1/14/20

Panther 161 - USFS Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit. Location: Fallen Leaf Road, near South Lake Tahoe. Burn Type: Hand Piles - Total Acreage: 50.00. Planned Ignition: 1/13/20

Taylor Creek - Responsible Agency: USFS Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit. Location: Taylor Creek, west of the Visitor Center. Burn Type: Log Deck - Total Acreage: 1.00. Planned Ignition: 1/22/20.

Sugar Pine Point State Park - California State Parks. Location: Sugar Pine Point: Rod Beaudry Trail northwest of Ehrman Manion. Burn Type: Hand Pile - Total Acreage: 2.00 - Planned Ignition: 02/12/20.

Griff 2002 - USFS Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit. Location: Kings Beach, Placer County - Burn Type: Hand Piles. Total Acreage: 30.00 - Planned Ignition: 1/12/20.

East Second Creek - North Lake Tahoe Fire Protection District. Location: East side of Second Creek Drainage, below Dorothy Court. Burn Type: Hand Piles -Total Acreage: 8.00. Planned Ignition: 02/03-14/20.

Rose 06, 42, 1042 - North Lake Tahoe Fire Protection District. Location: Northeast side of Incline Village, off of Fairview Drive - Burn Type: Hand Piles. Total Acreage: 25.00 - Planned Ignition: 02/03-14/20.

NV Regional - North Lake Tahoe Fire Protection District. Location: East side of Incline Village, east of Altdorf Terrace and Lucern Way - Burn Type: Hand Piles
Total Acreage: 11.00. Planned Ignition: 02/03-14/20.

Spooner FA-43 - USFS Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit. Location: Chimney Beach, Hwy 28, Washoe County - Burn Type: Hand Piles. Total Acreage: 15.00 - Planned Ignition: 1/12/20.

Spooner Pile Burn - Nevada Division of Forestry. Location: From Spooner Lake
North one mile and east to the Tahoe Rim Trail - Burn Type: Hand Piles. Total Acreage: 15.00 - Planned Ignition: 02/10/20.

Glenbrook - Tahoe Douglas Fire Protection District. Location: Glenbrook, Nevada -
Burn Type: Hand Piles. Total Acreage: 20.00 - Planned Ignition: Ongoing as of 11/28/2019.

View a map with project locations and details at www.tahoelivingwithfire.com/get-informed/. To receive prescribed fire notifications, send an email to pa_ltbmu@fs.fed.us.

Fall and winter bring cooler temperatures and precipitation, which are ideal for conducting prescribed fire operations. Each operation follows a specialized prescribed fire burn plan, which considers temperature, humidity, wind, moisture of the vegetation, and conditions for the dispersal of smoke. All of this information is used to decide when and where to burn.

Prescribed fire operations are conducted whenever weather, conditions and staffing allow to reduce excess vegetation that can feed unwanted wildland fires. Planned fires now reduce the threat of unplanned fires later, which helps provide increased community protection. Fire is a natural process in the Sierra Nevada and helps keep our forests healthy by minimizing the spread of insects and disease, recycling nutrients back into the soil and promoting improved habitat for diverse vegetation and wildlife.

Smoke from prescribed fire operations is normal and may continue for several days after an ignition depending on the project size and environmental conditions. Prescribed fire smoke is generally less intense and of much shorter duration than smoke produced by unwanted wildland fires.

Agencies coordinate closely with local county and state air pollution control districts and monitor weather conditions carefully prior to prescribed fire ignitions. They wait for favorable conditions that will carry smoke up and disperse it away from smoke sensitive areas. Crews also conduct test burns before igniting a larger area, to verify how effectively materials are consumed and how smoke will travel.

Before prescribed fire operations are conducted, agencies post road signs around areas affected by prescribed fire, send email notifications and update the local fire information line maintained by the Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit at 530-543-2816. The TFFT gives as much advance notice as possible before burning, but some operations may be conducted on short notice due to the small window of opportunity for conducting these operations.

To learn more about the benefits prescribed fire, visit www.tahoelivingwithfire.com/get-informed/understanding-fire/.