firefighters

5:00 p.m. update 12/28/16: Homewood Resort at Lake Tahoe will be opening their lifts on Thursday, just one day after a fire destroyed their South Lodge.

"We are expecting to have 'top-to-bottom' skiing and boarding available to our guests," says a message on the Homewood website. "Our team would like to thank the North Tahoe Fire Protection District, Placer County Sheriffs, our community partners and most importantly our amazing employees that are working to get our operations up and running for tomorrow."

10/16/16 update 7:00PM - The Little Valley Fire is holding at 3,400 acres with 55 percent containment. 667 personnel remain on the incident. More rain forecast tonight which will aid in extinguishing the fire which started on Friday.

22 residences and 17-outbuildings were destroyed with 480 homes saved in the direct vicinity of the fire. Multiple structures remain under threat until 100-percent containment has been achieved.

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10:00PM update - Current acreage burned in the Little Valley Fire has been revised at 3,400 acres with 20 percent containment this evening.

Firefighters from the South Shore jumped on an early morning fire behind Meek's Lumber on Lake Tahoe Blvd. Friday.

At 3:02 a.m., people driving by saw the flames and called 911. South Lake Tahoe Fire Rescue responded along with Tahoe Douglas Fire, resulting in two engines, medics, an ambulance and battalion chief at the scene.

This fire was burning at the same time as the Emerald Fire off of Highway 89 in the Spring Creek area.

One acre burned and the crews were released just before 6:00 a.m.

8:00AM update 10/15: Highway 89 remains closed in both directions from Fallen Leaf Lake Road to Emerald Bay due to the Emerald Fire which remains 80 percent contained this morning. Acreage burned is 210 acres.

The cause of the fire is under investigation.

There are 3 engines and 12 firefighters still on the scene.

Opening time for Hwy 89 is still unclear. CHP estimates Saturday afternoon and Caltrans estimates the road will be closed until Monday. This is to allow crews to clean up the fallen trees and other debris on, and near, the roadway.

What is becoming almost a daily occurrence, firefighters in South Lake Tahoe have responded to another fire in the forested area in the outskirts of the city.

On Wednesday, at 2:11 p.m., an El Dorado County Sheriff's deputy spotted smoke and made the first call to 911. The fire started in the area between Lodi Avenue in the Sierra Tract and the Lake Tahoe Airport.

According to the U.S. Forest Service, .18 acre burned. As of 4:00 p.m., there is a full containment line and firefighters remain on the scene.

4:25 p.m. update: The U.S. Forest Service said the fire that burned near Genoa Peak turned out to be an abandoned campfire that wasn't properly doused. The fire burned about a 10 foot x 10 foot patch on private land adjacent to the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest near the Tahoe Rim Trail.

It is currently smoldering after firefighters arrived quickly and were able to gain the upper hand quickly.

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There is a fire reported at Genoa Peak. Multiple agencies are responding and we'll update the story once more is known.

It was 4:00 a.m. on Tuesday, September 28 in the year 1926. Fire had broken out at the Jack Smith Ranch at the base of Clear Creek Canyon above Carson City, Nev.

Flames were high, and the fire traveled up the canyon rapidly, getting ever so close to the source of timber for all of the state's mines at Glenbrook. The fire also burned several ranches. Strong winds fanned those flames, and caused the fire to reverse itself and come down Kings Canyon. Again, it reversed itself and raced up Kings Canyon one more.

I was invited to take part in training with South Lake Tahoe Fire Rescue in the demonstration fire trailer on Tuesday, an experience I won't soon forget, even though the temperatures I experienced were far below that of a real fire.

As I put on my fire pants, jacket, boots and head gear, my respect for firefighters instantly grew (even though it was already high on the scale). The heavy clothing protected my skin and clothing as I was exposed to 500 degrees, something most of us will never feel.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - Locals and visitors are welcome to join the American Legion Post 795 of South Lake Tahoe as they hold a commemorative ceremony honoring the victims and first responders of the tragic events of September 11, 2001.

The 11:00 a.m. ceremony will be held at the Legion Hall located at 2748 Lake Tahoe Blvd. Post members and the Ladies Auxiliary will also be providing refreshments after the ceremony.

Runners and walkers gathered at IHOP in Carson City early Tuesday morning to commemorate the victims of the IHOP mass shooting that happened five years ago today in Carson City.

On Sept. 6, 2011, Nevada Guardsmen Lt. Col. Heath Kelly, 35, Master Sgt. Christian Riege, 38, Sgt. 1st Class Miranda McElhiney, 31, and civilian Florence Donovan-Gunderson, 67, of South Lake Tahoe, were killed in the shooting rampage, in which a mentally ill gunman took his own life. Two other soldiers and seven patrons were injured.

Firefighters continue to fight 13 blazes across the state of California, which have now burned almost 209,000 acres. That is 326.5 square miles of land burned in the state from current fires, not counting those that have since been extinguished.

The burned area is larger than the City of New York.

The largest fire, the Soberanes Fire near Big Sur, has burned 92,314 acres as is now 60 percent contained.

Calaveras County's Willow Fire is the closest to South Lake Tahoe. It started on Saturday and has burned 450 acres and is 30 percent contained.

ZEPHYR COVE, NV - Investigators and vessel inspectors from Coast Guard Sector San Francisco are on the scene of Tuesday's fire on board the 119-foot passenger Lake Tahoe paddle wheel boat, the Tahoe Queen.

"Most of the damage is limited to the boat's pilot house and second deck," Lt. Jake Aulner of the U.S. Coast Guard told South Tahoe Now. "This can be attributed to the great response by the Tahoe Douglas Fire Department."

Aulner and the team from USCG Yerba Buena Island will be at the scene until the cause of the morning blaze is determined.

A wildfire burning west of the town of Coalinga in Fresno County is responsible for the widespread haze through the Lake Tahoe basin, the Sierra Nevada and Western Nevada.

The National Weather Service in Reno said the Mineral Fire is sending smoke north due to a southerly flow in the lower atmosphere.

So far, fire has burned through 5,000 acres of land in steep terrain. It started on Tuesday and the cause is under investigation.

There are 1,000 firefighters on the scene and several evacuations are in place.

South Shore ambulance service has been a hot topic both locally, and across the county with growing concern over the costs and resulting manpower shortage of providing interfacility transfers (IFTs) to facilities outside of El Dorado County.

To understand the recent actions of the El Dorado County Board of Supervisors (BOS), a look at the past year is warranted.

The City of South Lake Tahoe Wants Out of the Ambulance Business

The cause of all the smoke in the Lake Tahoe Basin, the Virginia Mountains Complex Fire, has now consumed 36,091 acres of trees and sagebrush north of Reno.

Five separate wildland fires make up the group, including the Anderson (8,511 acres), Sage (4,238 acres), Seven Lakes (3,063 acres), and Tule (20,279 acres) Fires. All five fires were caused by lightning on July 28 and are burning within about 20 miles of each other in an arc about 35 miles north of Reno.

Firefighters were able to gain ground on the fires, now having 35 percent of the fire contained.

South Lake Tahoe Fire Rescue recently promoted three men to the position of Battalion Chief, a move that Fire Chief Jeff Meston says will improve safety for both citizens and personnel.

Jim Drennan, Tim Spencer and Karl Koeppen are all now Battalion Chiefs for the City of South Lake Tahoe. Between them, they have over 61 years of firefighting experience.

Whittell High graduate Jake O'Malley was one of the two wildland firefighters killed in a single vehicle accident on July 10.

As part of O'Malley's duties while based in Winnemucca, Nevada was to patrol for fires, and it was while doing this when his vehicle crashed, killing both Jake and his roommate, Will Hawkins of Reno. A third occupant was hospitalized and has since been released.

A procession from Carson City to Reno and then to Winnemucca began Saturday morning for two fallen Bureau of Land Management firefighters who died Sunday in a vehicle crash.

Memorial services will be held for Bureau of Land Management wild land firefighters Jacob O’Malley and Will Hawkins, who lost their lives in a single-vehicle accident July 10 on Nevada State Route 140.

Honor guard processions were held Wednesday for two U.S. Bureau of Land Management firefighters who died Sunday in a rollover crash. A procession was held for Will Hawkins, 22 of Reno and Jacob M. O’Malley, 27, of Zephyr Cove which began in Reno and went to Walton's Chapel of the Valley in Carson City.

The firefighters were returning to Winnemucca after looking for lightning-sparked wildfires in Northern Nevada. The vehicle crash happened near the junction of State Highway 140 and U.S. 95. A procession was held Monday for the fallen firefighters, escorted from Winnemucca to Reno.

Firefighting officials expect the Trailhead Fire burning west of Lake Tahoe to be fully contained by Saturday, July 9. So far, the fire has burned 5,595 since it started on June 28. It is now 60 percent contained.

All mandatory evacuations have been lifted over the fire evacuation area.

Some firefighting personnel are being pulled off the fire, and more are expected to leave in the next couple of days, leaving some to continue mop up.

8:30 p.m. update 7/4/16: Firefighters working on the Trailhead Fire in El Dorado County gained a lot of ground Monday, getting a containment line around 50 percent of the fire. So far, 5,444 acres have burned.

5:30 p.m. update 6/27: A call went into South Lake Tahoe Fire Rescue at 6:47 a.m. Monday, June 27 of a home on fire on Kubel Avenue. When personnel arrived, they saw flames from the roof and shed at the rear of the property.

9:30 a.m. update 6/26: Firefighters have gained some control of the Marina Fire burning near Mono Lake and the town of Lee Vining. The 758 acre fire is 30 percent contained.

Highway 395 is closed at the town of Lee Vining on the south at the turnoff for Hawthorne, NV (Highway 167) on the north. However, California Highway Patrol is conducting one-way traffic escorts as conditions allow. Mono County Sheriff and Caltrans District 9 have worked tirelessly with CHP to implement this escort.

A Christmas Valley family is safe after their home suffered substantial damage in an early morning fire on May 16.

A family of three awoke to the sounds of their smoke detectors wailing and called 9-1-1. At that time, they didn't see flames but quickly exited the home.

Firefighters from the Lake Valley Fire Protection District (LVFPD) responded at 4:50 a.m. to the 3300 block of West River Park Drive where they found the second story fully engulfed in flames.