fires

March 16 2:20PM update: Crews have fixed the downed power line and Highway 50 is reopened in the area. Traffic will be held at times at Twin Bridges and Meyers for avalanche control.

Take it easy out there!

* * *
It is a mess along Highway 50 through the Sierra today due to spinouts and downed power lines. The road has been closed in both directions near Silver Fork as crews work on getting a power line off the roadway. Caltrans estimates reopening at 3:01 p.m. at this time.

Mountaintop cameras from the University of Nevada, Reno spotted or tracked 240 fires in Nevada and California in 2017. This helped to keep firefighters more situationally aware and able to mount appropriate responses more rapidly over tens of thousands of square miles of forests and rangelands, including rural communities.

This is a new and expanding tool for fire managers who oversee the wildland and wildland/urban interface.

A hearing at the Capitol in Sacramento Tuesday will feature fire experts from across the state, and South Lake Tahoe Fire Rescue Chief Jeff Meston will be part of the panel discussion.

Seven delegates from the Republic of the Union of Myanmar stopped by Lake Tahoe last week to learn about the Forest Service’s role in natural resource management in the Tahoe Basin.

The U.S. Forest Service Lake Tahoe Basin Management (LTBMU) hosted the group and took them on a field trip to see recent forest thinning operations near Pope Beach and Emerald Bay.

The Tahoe Fire and Fuels Team (TFFT), which includes local, state and federal agencies, may continue prescribed fire operations this week in some locations around Lake Tahoe, weather and conditions permitting. Smoke may be present.

A) Kingsbury/ Edgewood Creek - 60 acres
B) Big Meadow - 100 acres
C) Brockway, Kings Beach - 70 acres
D) Logan Shoals to Spooner Summit - 15 acres

A map with project locations and details is available for viewing at http://www.tahoefft.org.

Update 6:45 p.m.: The driver of one of the vehicles, a 29-year-old woman from Stateline, Nevada has been arrested on charges of a Felony DUI and is in the El Dorado County Jail on $125,000 bail.

She was driving a Range Rover eastbound when, for reasons unknown at this time, she traveled into the westbound lane, striking a BMW with five occupants, ages 19-31, all from the Bay Area. The Range Rover was traveling about 40 mph at the time of impact according to the CHP. This is the speed limit at that area of Pioneer Trail.

An overflowing crowd of family, friends and community members filled the City Council chambers Monday as South Lake Tahoe Fire Rescue held their 5th annual awards ceremony.

The staff was honored for their service doing a job that protects the lives, homes and environment of the South Lake Tahoe community and its visitors.

"Your recognition is well deserved, and well earned," said Mayor Wendy David.

SLTFR Fire Chief Jeff Meston led the ceremony which honored the following:

Firefighter/Medic of the Year: Dustin Winter
Dispatcher of the Year: Jillian Gard

Visible smoke at several areas around Lake Tahoe Wednesday are from scheduled prescribed burns.

On the South Shore, smoke can be seen for miles from Oneidas Street where the U.S. Forest Service is burning 100 acres, a project they began on January 17. They do not burn all 100 acres at the same and do small amounts each day, then put the fires out before moving to the next area.

Besides Oneidas, other burn areas drawing a lot of smoke are 70 acres being burned near Thunderbird Lodge near Incline Village and 70 acres near Brockway.

January is National Radon Action Month, and University of Nevada Cooperative Extension’s Radon Education Program is offering educational presentations and free radon test kits across the State of Nevada.

One presentation is scheduled for 6:00 p.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 23 at the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency (TRPA) offices in Stateline, 128 Market St. University of Nevada Cooperative Extension has partnered with the California Radon Program, so free radon test kits will be available at the event for residents of both states.

The Tahoe Fire and Fuels Team (TFFT), which includes local, state and federal agencies, may continue prescribed fire operations this week in multiple locations around Lake Tahoe, weather permitting. Smoke may be present.

A) West 1st Creek - 25 acres
B) Diamond Peak Ski Resort/Tirol Drive - 21 acres
C) Champagne Rd. - 9 acres
D) Dale Drive - 1 acres
E) South Lake Tahoe Airport - 1 acre
F) D. L. Bliss State Park - 1 acre
G) Burton Creek State Park - 30 acres
H) Sugar Pine Point State Park - 7 acres
I) Big Meadow - 100 acres
J) Brockway, Kings Beach - 50 acres

$3.03 million was paid in settlements from a logging company and a railway company for their part in Northern California fires, U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert announced today.

LRY, LLC dba Lake Railway, has paid $1.08 million to settle allegations by the United States relating to a pair of wildfires that burned 840 acres of national forest land. Lake Railway is a rail line that operates in Northern California.

The settlement represents a 100 percent recovery of the United States’ suppression costs, plus interest and penalties.

For nearly 30 years, the Washoe County Sheriff’s Office could rely on volunteer Richard Swartzendruber to deliver equipment necessary to support our Search and Rescue teams. From floods and fires to avalanches, water rescues, injured hikers, and stranded motorists, Richard would overcome conditions that were often extreme to haul boats, command centers or other equipment needed to help the mission succeed.

Richard, described by his family as an “adored husband, father, grandfather and great grandfather,” passed away on December 11, 2017.

Over 60 fire-fighting personnel from the Tahoe Basin Operational Area have been deployed to the Thomas Fire which is burning out of control in Ventura County, Calif. 15 engines, making up three strike crews, will be joining one thousand others fighting the fire which started at approximately 6:28 p.m. Monday evening.

The Heavenly Wine Walk in South Lake Tahoe Thursday sold out and ended up raising over $4,000 for victims and first responders of the recent Santa Rosa fires.

Dreu Murin Productions and Heavenly Village produced the wine walk which will become a quarterly event.

"Thank you to Liz at Pacific Crest Galley and Mike Owen and all the other Carson Road Wineries," said producer Dreu Murin. "It was a great night!"

New wineries and a new charity will be focused next time.

After taking a break during the Thanksgiving holiday, the Tahoe Fire and Fuels Team (TFFT) resume prescribed fire operations next week, beginning Monday, November 27, 2017, weather permitting.

North Lake Tahoe Fire Protection District, California State Parks and the California Tahoe Conservancy will conduct prescribed fire operations above Incline Village, D.L. Bliss and Burton Creek state parks and near the airport in South Lake Tahoe. Smoke may be visible.

North of the CSLT Airport, Southwest of the Sierra Tract Subdivision - 8 acres
Hwy 89 / Lester Beach Road - 8 acres

Lake Valley, North Lake Tahoe and Tahoe Douglas fire protection districts, California State Parks, California Tahoe Conservancy and the U.S. Forest Service will continue Lake Tahoe Basin prescribed fire operations over the next several weeks, weather permitting. Operations are scheduled to take place at or near D.L. Bliss State Park, Carnelian Bay, Kings Beach, Incline Village, Diamond Peak Ski Resort area, Glenbrook, upper and lower Kingsbury Grade and south and east of the Lake Tahoe Airport.

South Shore

Daylight Saving Time (DST) ends at exactly at 2:00 a.m. this Sunday, November 5. Turn the clocks back one hour if you live in most of the United States (most of Arizona and Hawaii don't observe DST).

This time of year serves as a good reminder to change their smoke detector batteries. The batteries should be replaced twice a year, so an easy way to remember to change them is to do it as DST begins and ends.

Almost 3,000 people die each year from structure fires, and many of these deaths can be prevented with working smoke detectors.

So remember: change the time, change your battery!

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - The long awaited 11 foot tall bronze sculpture "Spirit of Competition" perched on top of a 4.5 ton boulder was unveiled during a ceremony at Champions Plaza Friday.

Sculptor Gareth Curtiss transported his creation from his studio in Fortine, Montana just two days ago in the back of his van, early Thursday morning the bronze sculpture was picked up with a crane and placed on top of the boulder, bolted in and wrapped up for the ceremony.

Cooler nights are prompting residents to start burning wood in the fireplaces and stoves, and proper disposal of the remaining ashes are important in preventing fires in trash cans and yards.

The Tahoe Douglas Fire Protection District has partnered with Kingsbury Hardware again to provide ash cans to the homeowners of the Fire District for the safe disposal of hot ashes. This program is available free of charge to those residents who are part of the district who use a wood burning appliance to heat their homes.

Before that question can be answered, we need to understand what a mega fire is. To be a mega fire it needs to meet these five points:

1. Starts near or in a high fire danger area during approaching or actual red flag conditions,
2. Escapes the initial attack,
3. Develops into a campaign fire covering a large area,
4. Requires thousand of firefighters and extensive additional resources to bring final containment,
5. Often cause huge property and other cultural losses in addition to vegetation destroyed.

Overnight fire conditions were very active on several fronts forcing additional
evacuations across Northern California. Firefighters are battling 22 large
wildfires that have burned nearly 170,000 acres. Firefighters are bracing for
the winds to shift this evening and increase in speed. 17 people are confirmed
to have died in the wildfires this week. 11 people alone died in the Tubbs Fire,
making it the 6th deadliest fire in our state’s history.
While damage assessment continues on all the fires, it is estimated that at

9:30AM Update 10/11 - Fire was active last night as it slowly backed down the mountain towards the indirect check lines. The fire is in remote country and not threatening any structures.

So far, 50 acres have burned and it is 10 percent contained.

The smoke from the Table fire is visible from Highway 50 and the Tahoe Basin. This is a lightning start from a previous storm that Sunday's high wind event activated.

Note: the smoke blanketing the Placerville and Pollock Pines areas is not from the local fires.

The fall prescribed fire program in the Lake Tahoe Basin will return in early October, weather permitting, according to the Tahoe Fire and Fuels Team (TFFT). The first areas to be burned have not been announced.

TFFT is made up of local, state and federal fire and land management agencies in the Lake Tahoe Basin.

The National Weather Service has issued a Red Flag Warning for the Lake Tahoe area from 2:00 p.m. Wednesday to 8:00 p.m. Thursday.

Thunderstorms with potentially dangerous lightening strikes are forecast along with heavy rain and possible flash flooding.

A negatively tilted trough is setting the stage for a widespread outbreak of thunderstorms this afternoon through Thursday from the northern Sierra and far western Nevada to the Oregon border.