lake valley

Are you prepared for an emergency? The City of South Lake Tahoe has developed a 12 month emergency preparedness tool to help you prepare.

As part of the City's continued initiative to increase communications, we will be offering a 12 part monthly series throughout the year highlighting emergency preparedness. Use these tools to prepare yourself for an emergency. More information is available in the City’s website at www.cityofslt.us/emergency

Emergency Preparedness—Month 1 - CREATE A FAMILY DISASTER PLAN

In a move that will save the city money as well as increase staffing, South Lake Tahoe Fire Rescue added 12 new Emergency Medical Services (EMS) specialists to their staff on December 14.

South Lake Tahoe Fire Rescue is now the only fire department in the Tahoe basin to have three firefighters on each engine at all times and two EMS specialists in the ambulance.

The South Tahoe High Sober Grad Night Task Force would like to thank the following businesses and individuals who helped make our annual event for the graduating seniors such a success! The kids loved the evening and it couldn't have been made possible if you weren't a part of it.

Some have jobs. Some have families. Some are recent high school graduates. Some are retired military. Some are college graduates. They are all future firefighters.

One month into the new school year, 33 men and women are part of the tenth class of firefighters being trained at the Lake Tahoe Community College's program, the Lake Tahoe Basin Fire Academy. This year's class started with 36 students, but some find out early on how physically demanding the program is and they find it isn't for them.

The Lake Valley Fire Protection District announced the swearing in of new Apprentice
Firefighter-Paramedic, Dylan Yuzbick, was given the oath of office by Board President Dave Huber and was welcomed to the District during their October 8 board meeting.

A South Lake Tahoe motel is being rebuilt after an early morning fire swept through it, displacing the 35 tourists who were staying there and forcing the business to close because of the damage. Its been 14 months since fire destroyed much of the Deerfield Lodge on Ski Run Blvd, the cause of which is still undetermined according to Chief Gareth Harris of Lake Valley Fire Department who was the investigator on the fire.

In what many locals was hoping wouldn't be the case, the Barton Ranch in South Lake Tahoe is set for demolition.

Family members who own the land and the buildings have spent years trying to get to this point in order to remove what they say is a dangerous set of buildings that have caused problems with vandals and vagrants.

On Tuesday, employees of Allied Environmental, Inc of Shingle springs were on site to remove asbestos in preparation for demolition.

6:00 p.m. update 6/29/15

Firefighters made a lot of progress on the fire lines at the Washington Fire south of Markleeville on Monday, gaining containment of 56% of the perimeter. So far, 17,787 acres have burned.

The lightning caused fire grew quickly a week ago, from 30 acres on June 19 to 6,500 acres by June 21.

At one time, over 1,100 fire personnel were working on suppression of the fire. Those numbers were reduced today to 860 as containment grew.

Every year, South Lake Tahoe fire agencies prepare to fight fires around the basin but they rarely get to practice evacuations of residents.

That opportunity came on Monday when the Tahoe Douglas Fire District and Skyland Fire Adapted Community executed an inter-agency wildfire evacuation drill in the Skyland neighborhood.

The drill simulated a real evacuation event to give residents the opportunity to practice evacuating from their homes and getting to the designated safe zone.

It took South Lake Tahoe firefighters just 15 minutes to put out an early morning fire in the Sierra Tract neighborhood that caused one minor injury and claimed the lives of two dogs that lived in the house.

The emergency call came into dispatch at 1:32 a.m. Thursday, April 30. Nine units responded from the South Lake Tahoe, Cal Fire, Lake Valley Fire and Tahoe Douglas Fire departments with a total of 16 personnel. Once the fire was under control, Tahoe Douglas units were released to cover the city while others stayed on scene for over two hours to clean up the scene.

While the Tahoe Douglas Rotary's annual St. Patrick's Day fundraiser has always been a local's favorite, this year's event created such a buzz around town that it actually sold out a month ago.

On Friday, March 13, 650 people filled Harrah's Convention Center for an evening of first responder honorees, an inaugural digital silent auction, a wine and beer bar with televisions to watch the bidding from as well as a red carpet with "paparazzi" to record the evening.

Tahoe Douglas Rotary has been a part of the South Shore community since 1962, and, as are the other 1.2 million Rotarians in the world, are bound by a commong purpose, Service Above Self. The club felt it was an ideal fit to recognize police and fire professionals in the community who make sacrifies every day to serve and protect.

This week, South Tahoe Now has been highlighting each of this year's winners of the inagural First Responder Community Hero Award.

Tahoe Douglas Rotary has been a part of the South Shore community since 1962, and, as are the other 1.2 million Rotarians in the world, are bound by a commong purpose, Service Above Self. The club felt it was an ideal fit to recognize police and fire professionals in the community who make sacrifies every day to serve and protect.
During the week, South Tahoe Now will highlight each of this year's winners of the inagural First Responder Community Hero Award.

The 3rd annual Dancing With the Tahoe Stars is quickly becoming a community favorite. A capacity crowd filled MontBleu Casino Resort to watch ten local celebrities paired with professional dancers vie for the mirror ball trophy.

South Lake Tahoe teacher Lisa McDaniel and Lake Tahoe Unified School Board Member Ginger Nicolay-Davis each ended up with the top honors in the first ever tie. The tiebreaker combined judge's scores, ticket donations and crowd noise.

Tahoe Douglas Rotary has been a part of the South Shore community since 1962, and, as are the other 1.2 million Rotarians in the world, are bound by a commong purpose, Service Above Self. The club felt it was an ideal fit to recognize police and fire professionals in the community who make sacrifies every day to serve and protect.

For the next six days, South Tahoe Now will highlight each of this year's winners of the inagural First Responder Community Hero Award.

Five, six, seven, eight. Dancers will always have numbers in their head as they count out the beat, and those participating in the annual Dancing With the Tahoe Stars are no doubt experiencing just that as they wrap up their final two weeks of rehearsals.

There's an old saying: "Writing about art is like dancing about architecture." After watching rehearsals this week I starting searching for the words to start as I found that translating the movement of the human body into something written down to be a frustrating process.

So instead, I'll focus on those who are participating.

The Lake Valley Fire Protection District is one of two members of the California Tahoe Emergency Services Operations Authority (JPA). The JPA has a contract with the County of El Dorado to provide Advanced Life Support Ambulance Services to the California side of the Lake Tahoe South Shore as well as a portion of Alpine County. The JPA has been providing this since 2001.

The 47th Annual Tahoe Douglas Rotary's St. Patrick's Day Celebration has some added extras this year to make this time honored tradition even more fun than usual.

On March 13, 2015, the Rotarians will open the doors at Harrah's Tahoe to the public who will be treated to the first ever First Responders Recognition evening tied into the traditional St. Patrick's Day event.

The Lake Valley Fire Protection District, California State Parks, Nevada Division of Forestry and the U.S. Forest Service will continue prescribed fire operations near Sugar Pine Point State Park, Pioneer Trail and Washoan Boulevard, Ski Run Boulevard near Heavenly, Luther Pass, Spooner Summit, and Lake Tahoe Nevada State Park in Slaughterhouse Canyon. Operations will last through the next several weeks as conditions allow.

The following is a list of burn areas and how many acres are being burned.

Project Sunset at Washoan and Pioneer Trail - 12 acres

An electrical fire at a Nottaway Drive home in South Lake Tahoe caused extensive damage to the home's kitchen as well as smoke damage to the rest of the house.

The Sunday afternoon house fire brought out a large response from Lake Valley Fire, South Lake Tahoe Police and El Dorado County Sheriffs officers.

According to Leona Allen, Lake Valley Fire Department's Press Information Officer, the exact cause of the fire is unknown at this time. She told South Tahoe Now, "we won't have a value for quite some time."

100% of the ballots from polling locations have now been counted in the El Dorado County and City of South Lake Tahoe elections. The following is the result pending some absentee ballots that still need to be counted.

County Supervisor Area 5

Sue Novasel - 59.92% 3529 votes
Kenny Curtzwiler - 39.58% 2331 votes

City of South Lake Tahoe City Council
Top 3 win a seat

Wendy David 18.00% 1205 votes
Tom Davis 15.56% 1042 votes

The 2014 Fall Aging & Caregiver Series will be given for the next six weeks in South Lake Tahoe. This six week series of classes are designed to provide instruction and support for caregivers who are, or are planning to, care for a family member or friend age 60 or older.

All classes are held at the Lake Tahoe Resort Hotel (formerly Embassy Suites) from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. Participants must register by calling 530-621-6369 or 800-510-2020. Free in-Home respite is available to qualified caregivers. Pre-authorization is required for respite services.

There are an estimated 500 unpermitted, illegal marijuana grow houses on the South Shore according to local law enforcement. In the city limits, South Lake Tahoe Police Chief Brian Uhler estimates there are 300 houses where marijuana is growing illegally with another 200 in the El Dorado County portion of the South Shore according to SLEDNET’s Matt Underhill. (SLEDNET stands for South Lake El Dorado Narcotics Enforcement Team, a joint drug enforcement task force)

10:45 a.m. Update: What remains of the back of the Deerfield Lodge was evident this morning with smoke still coming from the ruined two story section. Six rooms were damaged with the three on the top floor totally destroyed by fire, and the three on the bottom with extensive water damage. Five vehicles were also damaged.