fire

The winners of the 13th annual Blue Ribbon Awards were announced Thursday, November 19 during an awards show shown on Lake Tahoe Television. In place of the annual awards dinner the community was invited to tune in virtually with hosts Chris Fiore from the City of South Lake Tahoe and Meg Peart from the Tahoe Resource Conservation District. If missed, everyone can watch the celebration of the 2020 finalists and winners at https://tahoechamber.org/13th-annual-blue-ribbon-awards-show/ (and don't read any further if you want to be surprised).

UPDATE 8:30PM: The Mono County Sheriff’s Office reports it has lifted the evacuation order for residents on the westside of U.S. Hwy 395 N. The evacuation order for east of U.S. Hwy 395 N from Eastside Lane to Cunningham Lane remains in effect. Approximately 400 residents are affected by evacuation orders. The order will be reassessed in 24 hours.

Fire behavior today exhibited minimal smoldering and creeping. No additional fire growth is anticipated. T
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Tuesday's Pinehaven Fire in the Caughlin Ranch area of Reno burned quickly inside a 1,200 acre perimeter, taking with it five structures and damaging another 15. One of the homes lost belonged to the O'Brien family who lost their second home in 19 months.

The family of four, soon to be five, had recently moved back in after losing it the first time to an electrical fire when it was under construction. Mom Marie "Mimi" O'Brien is 37 weeks pregnant, expecting their third son in just three weeks.

UPDATE 7:25PM: Voluntary evacuations have been lifted for residents around the fire. Mottsville remains closed, but should be cleared soon according to Douglas County officials.

DOUGLAS COUNTY, Nev. - A new fire has started in Douglas County in the Foothill area at the base of Kingsbury Grade. Voluntary evacuations have been put in place for the Apple Creek, Foothill, Mottsville and surrounding areas, all who have been asked to remain alert and stay vigilant.

North Lake Tahoe and Tahoe Douglas fire protection districts and California State Parks are scheduled to continue prescribed fire operations this week, weather permitting. Smoke may be visible.

Scheduled operations at five locations this week:

Sugar Pine State Park - California State Parks, West of Hwy 89, along S Fire Rd and Campground Rd, 20.00 acres

Burton Creek State Park - California State Parks, North of Rocky Ridge, West of
North Tahoe High School, 17.00 acres

More ballot counts have been released by the elections departments at both El Dorado and Douglas Counties.

EL DORADO COUNTY

El Dorado County election officials have released another tally of ballots counted. The results remain the same as of the November 10 count. Votes Cast: 116,744 of 135,554, or 86.12 percent of eligible voters.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - A burn ban in the Lake Tahoe Basin was put in place this summer in response to the unprecedented and extreme fire conditions in California. While there were no major fires in the Basin there were record setting acres burned across the state.

A ban of charcoal barbeques, wood fire pits and open burning was but in place along with extra bans during Red Flag Warning conditions.

LAKE TAHOE, Calif./Nev. - The Tahoe Fire and Fuels Team (TFFT) will begin conducting prescribed fire operations in the Lake Tahoe Basin this week, weather and conditions permitting.

North Lake Tahoe Fire Protection District is scheduled to being operations Monday at Diamond Peak Ski Resort (50 acres) and later near War Bonnet Way/Peace Pipe Lane in Incline Village (20 acres).

California State Parks is scheduled to begin operations at Burton Creek (17 acres) and Sugar Pine Point (20 acres) state parks beginning as early as Tuesday.

DOUGLAS COUNTY, Nev. - Election officials have released their first post-election day tabulation of the ballots for Douglas County races. 86.27 percent of the voters have cast their vote: Mail 19,727 50.69%, Early Voting 10,448 26.85%, Election Day 3,399 8.73%. So far, ballots from 33,574 of the 38,918 eligible voters have been counted.

DOUGLAS COUNTY COMMISSIONER, DISTRICT 1

Danny Tarkanian - 25,293 75.34%

DOUGLAS COUNTY COMMISSIONER, DISTRICT 3

Mark Gardner - 21,639 64.45%
Charles Holt - 9,337 27.81%

DOUGLAS COUNTY COMMISSIONER, DISTRICT 5

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - Mark Twain said "the air up there in the clouds is very pure and fine, bracing and delicious," and this week that air will be colder than it has been. There is a little bit of everything in the five day forecast for South Lake Tahoe.

Starting Thursday, November 5, the National Weather Service (NWS) in Reno has issued a Red Flag Warning for the Lake Tahoe Basin. It will be in effect from 10:00 p.m. to 9:00 a.m. on Friday. The forecast gusty winds and critically dry fuels could cause fire to rapidly grow in size and intensity.

4:00 p.m. UPDATE: There will be no more updates to the El Dorado County ballot count on Wednesday. According to election officials, mail in ballots are being counted but nothing will be updated on their website until tabulations occur Thursday afternoon.

There have been no updates since Tuesday night to the Douglas County election results.

The community is invited to attend the Tahoe Chamber’s 13th Annual Blue Ribbon Awards to honor South Shore businesses and individuals that have impacted the community for the better. In place of the annual awards dinner, winners will be announced in an awards show that is pre-filmed and broadcast on Lake Tahoe Television on November 19 from 6:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.

Those wishing to attend the free event can register in advance on TahoeChamber.org to get direct access to the awards ceremony.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - There has been much discussion in the community about the City of South Lake Tahoe's new Shared Rental Ordinance, one that is up for a vote during the November 3 City Council meeting.

A shared rental, also known as a hosted rental, is one where a person rents a portion of their home to a visitor on a short term basis* while they are still living in the home. They are not new in South Lake Tahoe, but the focus has been on creating an ordinance for them as a large number of people started obtaining business licenses for shared rentals in recent months.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - Even though the 70s have been great temperatures for the past few weeks, it was inevitable that the weather patterns would change just as daylight saving time did. A strong cold front will push through the Sierra and western Nevada on Friday bringing gusty winds, much colder temperatures, and chances for rain and snow showers, according to the National Weather Service (NWS).

Due to continued dangerous wildfire conditions, emergency fire restrictions remain in effect across all National Forest lands in California, including both the California and Nevada sides of the Lake Tahoe Basin.

Smoking outdoors and all recreational fires, including campfires, bonfires, warming fires, wood fires, charcoal fires, or any other kind of outdoor fires, involving solid fuels are prohibited.

View the Forest Order at https://go.usa.gov/x7W7M.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - Long after the fire trucks have come and gone, the threat to a community impacted by wildfire remains. It’s a less obvious threat than a towering inferno destroying homes and ripping through forests and hillsides. It is a hidden threat that arrives with winter rains and California Conservation Corps Corpsmembers are helping communities stay safe from it—toxic runoff, including those from the South Lake Tahoe center.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - South Lake Tahoe Fire Rescue responded to a fire alarm at Tahoe Valley Elementary school Tuesday morning. A Lake Tahoe Unified School District (LTUSD) maintenance worker was attempting to repair a heater outside a 4th grade portable classroom. According to Tahoe Valley Principal Christina Grubbs, the heater malfunctioned, causing smoke inside the unit which is outdoors. She said smoke was drawn into the classroom through the air exchange.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - There is a Fire Weather Watch in effect from 5:00 p.m. Sunday through Monday at 5:00 p.m. The National Weather Service (NWS) in Reno is calling for gusty winds and low humidity for the Lake Tahoe Basin through western Lassen County.

* Affected Area...Fire Zone 271 Western Lassen, Eastern Plumas, Eastern Sierra, and Eastern Nevada Counties and Fire Zone 272 Greater Lake Tahoe Area.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - The South Tahoe Chamber of Commerce Board recently asked the nine City Council candidates ten questions they felt were of most importance to its members. The questions focused mainly on topics relating to things that will or may affect both the local small businesses and the community in general.

Their board made the decision to not endorse a specific candidate this election, but instead rank them based on how much they align with the South Tahoe Chamber of Commerce goals based on their answers to the questions below.

Dear Voters: Everyone knows what goes downhill, but the South Tahoe Public Utility District knows how to recycle it into 381,000 kilowatts of electricity per year. A recent feature article by the Association of California Water Agencies pointed out that STPUD is one of only a handful of utility districts in the entire world that can claim 100% reuse of wastewater and bio solids. Here’s how. We use centrifuges instead of the usual pollution causing burners. That allows us to make fertilizer for ranch land.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - Two male employees of South Tahoe Refuse (STR) were transported to Barton Hospital Thursday after the trash truck they were in turned over.

At 10:36 a.m. October 15, the trash truck was heading south on Pioneer Trail when its driver attempted to make a right-hand turn onto Elks Club Drive. The California Highway Patrol (CHP) said the driver was using excessive speed when he tried to make the tight turn, and the fully loaded truck turned over onto its left side on Elks Club.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - There are three open seats on the South Tahoe Public Utility Board of Directors this election season, two for a four-year term and one for a two-year term.

South Tahoe Now reached out to the candidates and below are their answers to a set of questions. For the two four-year terms, incumbent Kelly Sheehan is running for reelection, Duane Wallace is running after being appointed to fill Jim Jones's spot on the board until this election, and they are joined by David Peterson.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - The woman who died in Lake Tahoe on Friday, October 9, 2020, has been positively identified as a 30-year-old El Paso, Texas Resident.

According to the El Dorado County Sheriff's Office (EDSO), Daisy Rogers had been on a boat on Lake Tahoe when she went to back of the boat and accidentally fell off. A male adult who was also on board jumped in to save her but was unable to. He was wearing a life preserver but the victim did not have one on.

DOUGLAS COUNTY, Nev. - During their Thursday, October 15 meeting, the Douglas County commissioners will hear a presentation about the work done by an appointed task force about vacation home rentals (VHRs) in Tahoe Township. The agenda item is listed as having possible action by the commissioners.