Angora Fire, Fire Academy and Leona Allen featured in Lake Tahoe tree-planting campaign

LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - California has just experienced the deadliest and most destructive wildfire seasons with more than 8,500 fires burning an area of more than 1.8 million acres in 2018 alone.

Fire is no stranger to Lake Tahoe.

Back in 2007, Leona Allen, second-generation firefighter and current Academy Coordinator at Lake Tahoe Basin Fire Academy, was among the first responders for the Angora Fire in Meyers. The fire would go on to cause more than $141 million in damages, becoming one of the costliest fires in U.S. history. While the surrounding forests continue to recover from the damage, the community remains as resilient as ever.

It was that resiliency that brought Quilted Northern® to the south end of the lake to meet with Leona. They had researched the Angora Fire and heard of the Evans Family Garden started where Leona's parents' home on Mt. Olympia Circle once stood. Lost in the fire, her dad, Owen Evans, decided to create a garden on his property after the Angora Fire. Quilted Northern® asked her if she'd be willing to represent the community in their resulting video (see below).

The company's new EcoComfort™ product line is paying tribute to those affected by California wildfires and the first responders who have and continue to work tirelessly to protect their communities, with an original video featuring Leona Allen, filmed in South Lake Tahoe and on Kingsbury Grade this past spring.

She was surprised to see the final video as she thought it would focus more on the academy as the production company spent one day in the classroom and one day as students were doing wildland training.

But the message is a positive one. The video is part of the Quilted Northern® “Trees of Comfort” initiative in partnership with the Arbor Day Foundation, which is providing relief to California’s National Forests by planting 20,000 new trees across Tahoe and Stanislaus National Forests as part of a large-scale wildfire rehabilitation and prevention effort. This is on top of its 3-for-1 pledge -- for every tree used to manufacture Quilted Northern® EcoComfort™, three are planted – two in partnership with the Arbor Day Foundation and one by Georgia-Pacific’s suppliers.

When initially contacted Leona made sure they were planting trees that were meant to be grown in Lake Tahoe with the right percentage of each variety. With the USFS and Arbor Day Foundation involved she knew it was being done correctly and their efforts will be tracked and monitored.

They happened to film on a day it snowed, but after the winter we had that was no surprise. A drone and camera crew spent the day with the academy students on the backside of Kingsbury Grade.

Leona said the growth seen at the Angora burn area is a great sight to see. Hundreds of trees just below the summit line are six feet tall now and filling in to look like a forest.

See the video below or visit