Prescribed burns continue in Lake Tahoe basin again this week

North Lake Tahoe and Tahoe Douglas fire protection districts will continue prescribed fire operations around Incline Village, Kingsbury Grade and Van Sickle Bi-State Park through next week as weather and conditions allow.

On the west side on Incline Village, crews will be burning 77 acres of hand piles starting Monday, November 23.

35 acres on Park Cattle property near Van Sickle Bi-State Park were ignited Wednesday and will continue as conditions allow.

There are also 30 acres of hand piles on Edgewood Canyon Drive off of Palisades Drive that are being burned, some of which were ignited on Thursday.

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. The Tahoe Fire and Fuels Team (TFFT) will give 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 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 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 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.