Tahoe Basin prescribed fire operations to continue next week

Tahoe Douglas Fire Protection District and the U.S. Forest Service are expected to conduct prescribed fire operations around the Tahoe Basin next week, beginning Monday, March 16, 2015, weather permitting.

Operations are scheduled southwest of Meeks Bay, on Gardner Mountain near South Tahoe High School and off Gardner Street, Luther Pass near Grass Lake, Ski Run Boulevard near Heavenly, Edgewood Canyon on lower Kingsbury Grade and near Logan Creek Drive on the East Shore. Operations may last through the next several weeks, as long as conditions allow.

Each 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. 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.

Smoke from prescribed fire operations is normal and may continue for several days after an ignition depending on the project size. Agencies coordinate with state and local county air pollution control districts and monitors 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.