Wildfire

The Caples Fire burning southwest of Lake Tahoe is now at 2,400 acres and is 25 percent contained. The fire started as a prescribed burn but was changed to a wildland fire Thursday afternoon which allowed more resources to be sent to the scene. It is still within the planned prescribed burn project area.

Smoke is still in the Lake Tahoe Basin and Carson Valley. Smoke sensitive individuals are encouraged to reduce their exposure by avoiding smoky areas, closing windows, or staying indoors.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Cali. - To reduce wildfire risk during the forecasted severe wind event in California west of Lake Tahoe, Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E) will implement a Public Safety Power Shutoff in parts of northern, central and coastal counties of the state, but not in the Lake Tahoe Basin.

PG&E expects to begin turning off power later Tuesday night, just after midnight.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - The proposed 2019/20 budget for the City of South Lake Tahoe was presented to the Council Tuesday by City Manager Frank Rush who showed where $119M will go should they agree and approve at their September 17 meeting.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - For 23 years political leaders from the White House to state capitols have professed their commitment to protecting Lake Tahoe.

At the first Lake Tahoe Summit on July 27, 1997, then-President Bill Clinton and Vice-President Al Gore told of their commitment to keeping Tahoe blue after decades of erosion from roads, increased emissions from automobiles and boats, removal of wetlands and overgrown and dying forests were threatening its clarity.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - What would happen if fire-fighting agencies could stop a wildfire before it gains momentum and wipes out homes, communities and/or forests? That is being answered with well over 100 fire cameras now in place across the west, all because of foresight of Dr. Graham Kent, the Director of the Nevada Seismological Laboratory at the University of Nevada Reno (UNR).

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. – When risk of catastrophic wildfire becomes too great, local electric utilities may turn off the power for extended periods of time. While your first thought might be eating all the ice cream in your freezer, don’t forget to think about your water use. South Tahoe Public Utility District (District) urges customers to conserve water during power outages to make sure there is enough water to fight a fire.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - There will be another fire in California, but when and where cannot be predicted and is unknown - but what is known is there will be another community that is devastated by wildland fire.

Residents around Lake Tahoe and the Sierra know this all too well and have been talking about concerns of wildfire threats in and around the Tahoe Basin. Those conversations have turned into plans and the City of South Lake Tahoe has just released an interactive website to help both residents and visitors map out an evacuation plan based on their neighborhood.

During a wildfire, small hot embers can be carried miles ahead of a wildfire. When these embers land on something easily combustible on or near your home, it is in jeopardy of burning, even if it is not in the path of the flame front. Your home can survive when the embers arrive.

The Tahoe Network of Fire Adapted Communities is sharing a list of places homes are vulnerable to embers and how to prepare your homes along with an "Ember Awareness Checklist". The numbers match those in the photo:

1. Wood Roof

NV Energy is holding a meeting on Wednesday in Incline Village to inform customers about their Public Safety Outage Management (PSOM) this fire season.

The open house will explain how they will shut off power in extreme fire-risk areas, including Lake Tahoe, during a PSOM event. When certain environmental conditions are met, power will be shut down in order to protect their customers, equipment and environment from wildfires.

LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - June 26, 2019 was the first day of the year categorized as "High Fire Danger" in the Lake Tahoe Basin, prompting two area fire districts to impose fire restrictions by suspending all recreational campfires and open burning.

On June 17 CAL FIRE suspended residential burn permits in the Tahoe Basin, followed by today's new restrictions by North Tahoe Fire Protection District (NTFPD) and Meeks Bay Fire Protection District (MBFPD).

Cigarette butts are the most commonly gathered items at beach and other clean-ups around Lake Tahoe. At the League to Save Tahoe's most recent cleanups this month (the Tahoe City Cleanup and the South Lake Tahoe Bike Path Cleanup) over 4,500 cigarette butts were collected. Last year more than 27,600 cigarette butts were collected in and around Lake Tahoe by the League alone.

The public is invited to attend the 6th annual Wildfire Safety Expo on Saturday, June 15 from noon to 3:00 p.m. at the TJ Maxx parking lot located at the “Y” in South Lake Tahoe where Highways 50 and 89 intersect.

South Lake Tahoe Fire Rescue, along with multiple local agencies, are coming together to help everyone know how to create defensible space around their home, how to make a home escape plan and other ways to be prepared in the case of fire. Smokey the Bear will make an appearance.

There will be refreshments, a raffle, fun and education for the whole family.

The following is the third in a series of stories on being a community that is prepared for wildfire.
SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - Fire knows no boundaries, no city, county, or state lines, so why should those fighting the fires be limited by an unseen line? Fire chiefs across the country manage their fire departments based on need and available staff, but what happens when their resources aren't enough to fight a fire in their own backyard?

LAKE TAHOE, CA/NV - The award-winning documentary "Wilder than Wild: Fire, Forests, and the Future" will be shown at three locations around Lake Tahoe in the coming weeks, starting on Thursday, May 30 in Incline Village.

Wilder Than Wild is a one-hour documentary that reveals how fire suppression and climate change have exposed Western landscapes to large, high-intensity wildfires. The film goes on to explore strategies that are being developed to help mitigate the impact of these fires.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - Over 200 members of the community gathered last week for a Community Wildfire Preparedness and Evacuation Planning meeting that featured ten panelists for an important discussion on what is on the minds of many.

The goal is to be a community that is wildfire ready, and the speakers went through the ways both they and the citizens of the South Shore can be prepared for wildfire, establish evacuation routes and what the emergency response will be.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - The threat of wildland fires grows in California and the Lake Tahoe Basin every year. They are becoming larger, more destructive and deadly than ever before. Do you know what to do in case of fire?

The public needs to be prepared when wildfire strikes. The Camp Fire in November 2018 was the deadliest and most destructive wildfire in California history to date. It burned 153,336 acres, destroyed 18,804 buildings and killed 85 people. The center of that fire was Paradise, California, They had held city-wide fire drills and appeared to be prepared.

EL DORADO COUNTY, Calif. - A public meeting to discuss vegetation management options in an effort to reduce fire danger in area communities will be held on Monday, March 18 from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. in the upstairs meeting room at Lake Valley Fire Protection District Headquarters.

Fire is a big concern in Lake Tahoe and El Dorado County and protecting the community and its residents will take management of surrounding vegetation. The meeting will discuss threats and remedies.

While the rate at which trees died in California has slowed, an additional 18 million trees (mostly conifers) have died in the state, bringing a commitment from both the USDA Forest Service and CALFIRE to make forest health their top priority.

The USDA Forest Service announced today over 147 million trees have died across 9.7 million acres of federal, state, local and private lands in California since the drought began in 2010. Since 2016, federal, state, and local partners have felled 1.5 million dead trees, primarily those posing the highest hazards to life and property.

Donations have been transported by the car and truck load from South Lake Tahoe to Paradise, full of help for the victims of the Camp Fire which, to date, has destroyed 9,700 homes, businesses and other structures and burned 149,500 acres.

One of those loads was delivered by 13-year-old Jaymee Levin.

STATELINE, Nev. - Nine projects were honored as "Best in the Basin" Wednesday during the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency (TRPA) board meeting.

For 28 years TRPA's program has showcased projects around the lake that demonstrate exceptional planning, implementation, and compatibility with Tahoe’s natural environment and communities.

The Best in Basin award winners:

LAKE TAHOE, Nev. - Six different areas around Lake Tahoe have been slated to receive fuels treatment over the next week with some of the prescribed fires starting today, October 10.

This September and October, the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency (TRPA) Governing Board will move forward with hearings and final milestone decisions on two significant initiatives: A new Shoreline Plan and an overhaul of the agency’s transferable development rights system.

TRPA will hold hearings for both these initiatives at the Governing Board meeting on Wednesday, Sept. 26, and could hold final votes on them as early as Wednesday, Oct. 24.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - Money is on its way to South Lake Tahoe to restore the Upper Truckee Marsh, the largest remaining wetland in the Sierra Nevada, and reverse damage created by decades of development.

The California Tahoe Conservancy (CTC) announced Thursday they received $1,700,066 from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife towards their project to redirect the Upper Truckee River to its historic network of channels through the Marsh. Water flowing through the Marsh will slow down, allowing sediment to settle instead of reaching Lake Tahoe.

Over the last several months there has been a great deal of wildland fire activity around the region. Sadly, most fires are human-caused and completely preventable if the public would take the time to better understand conditions that are favorable for fire starts. Fire prevention is the key to keeping our communities and forests safe from wildfire.

Although fire season is now considered a year-round event, wildfires mostly occur in the late summer and early fall when temperatures are still high, humidity is low and vegetation that can feed a wildfire is extremely dry.