Prescribed fire operations to continue around Lake Tahoe

LAKE TAHOE, Calif./Nev. – The Tahoe Fire and Fuels Team (TFFT) has plans to continue prescribed fire operations around Lake Tahoe over the next several weeks, weather, conditions and staffing permitting.

In the map above, the following operations are scheduled (clockwise starting with Sugar Pine Point State Park):

Sugar Pine Point State Park - California State Parks

Burton Creek State Park - California State Parks
Burton Creek State Park, North of Rocky Ridge
Burn Type: Hand piles
Total Acreage: 10.00
Planned Ignition: 02/18/2020

Machine Pile 38 - USDA Forest Service
Off Forest Road 16N73 (Mt. Watson Rd.)
Burn Type: Machine Pile
Total Acreage: 1.00
Planned Ignition: 02/20/2020

Rose 06, 42, 1042 - North Lake Tahoe Fire Protection District
Northeast side of Incline Village, off of Fairview Drive
Burn Type: Hand Piles
Total Acreage: 25.00
Planned Ignition: 02/18 - 03/05/2020

NV Regional - North Lake Tahoe Fire Protection District
East side of Incline Village, east of Altdorf Terrace and Lucern Way
Burn Type: Hand Piles
Total Acreage: 11.00
Planned Ignition: 02/18 - 03/05/2020

Spooner Pile Burn - Nevada Division of Forestry
Spooner Lake
North one mile and east to the Tahoe Rim Trail
Burn Type: Hand Piles
Total Acreage: 15.00
Planned Ignition: 02/10/2020

Glenbrook - Tahoe Douglas Fire Protection District
Burn Type: Hand Piles
Total Acreage: 20.00
Planned Ignition: Ongoing as of 01/30/2020

Ge Units 22, 24 Genoa Peak - USFS Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit
Genoa Peak Road near intersection of Forest Roads 14N32 and 14N33
Burn Type: Hand Piles
Total Acreage: 7.00
Planned Ignition: 02/10/2020

View the map with project locations and details at https://www.tahoelivingwithfire.com/get-informed/.

Each prescribed fire operation follows a specialized 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/.

To sign-up for prescribed fire notifications, send an email to pa_ltbmu@fs.fed.us.