Wildfire

Carson City Fire Department, East Fork Fire and Tahoe Douglas Fire responded to a brush fire on the valley side of Highway 50 on Spooner.

The fire was reported at around 12:20 p.m. and said to be around 1-2 miles up Highway 50 on the north side. Smoke and flames are visible at the time.

By 1:07 p.m., firefighters at the wildfire reported the blaze was contained with responding units on scene building a hose line around the fire and mopping up. The cause is under investigation.

Highway 50 at the area of the fire has been closed but is reported open at this time.

Lake Valley Fire Protection District (LVFDO) is hosting community gathering on Sunday, June 25 from 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m to mark the 10th anniversary of the devastating Angora Fire. This event will focus on the community’s healing and resiliency.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE - On June 24, 2007, the Angora Fire started at an illegal campfire at about 2:15 p.m. near North Upper Truckee Road in Meyers. The wind driven wildfire consumed 3,100 acres, destroyed 242 homes and 67 commercial structures, and damaged 35 other homes. As many as 2,180 firefighters battled the blaze with was 100% contained by July 2. There will be several community events to mark this tragic anniversary.

Thursday, June 22

Two local firefighters will be joining almost 600 California-based U.S. Forest Service wildland firefighters and support personnel as they head to Arizona and New Mexico to fight massive fires.

In Arizona, almost 40,000 acres have burned in over ten fires; In New Mexico 13,000 acres have burned this week, over 30,000 acres last week.

The personnel that are part of this mobilization come from all 18 national forests in California (Pacific Southwest Region).

Igniting on June 24, 2007, the Angora Fire rapidly spread to over 3,100 acres, destroying 254 homes, 75 commercial structures and resulting in more than $141 million in damages. In response to this disaster, an Emergency California-Nevada Tahoe Basin Fire Commission was formed to conduct a comprehensive review of the laws, policies and practices that affect the vulnerability of the Tahoe Basin to wildfires.

The Tahoe Regional Planning Agency (TRPA) has published the summer 2017 edition of Tahoe In Depth, a special issue on “Remembering Angora” to mark the 10-year anniversary of the wildfire this June.

The Angora Fire is the most destructive wildfire in memory at Lake Tahoe. Sparked on June 24, 2007 by an illegal and abandoned campfire, the fire quickly burned 3,100 acres and destroyed 254 homes and structures.

The snow is melting, water is flowing, and wildfire fuels are growing. Despite all the moisture, the wildfire threat remains a concern. Preparing your home and community now is more important than ever. June is “Wildfire Awareness Month” in the Lake Tahoe Basin, and members of the Tahoe Fire and Fuels Team are continuing last year’s campaign by asking all Tahoe residents and visitors to “Think First to Keep Tahoe Fire Safe”.

This June is wildfire awareness month at Lake Tahoe. It also marks the 10th anniversary of the Angora Fire, the most destructive wildland fire in memory at Tahoe.

An illegal and abandoned campfire started the Angora Fire on June 24, 2007. The fire quickly spread toward Meyers, stoked by strong winds and forests overgrown with hazardous fuels. In a few days, the fire burned 3,100 acres and destroyed 254 homes.

As fire season heats up across the country, a group of over 1,000 partners of wildland firefighters have joined together to raise money for those who are injured on the job with a Virtual 5k run/walk. Run or walk five kilometers wherever you wish. 100 percent of the proceeds from this event will go to the Wildland Firefighter Foundation's Fallen and Injured Grant Fund.

The Tahoe Regional Planning Agency (TRPA) honored four people with Lake Spirit Awards Wednesday who have shown exceptional commitment to protecting Lake Tahoe and fostering a spirit of collaboration in their work and volunteer time.

This year’s award winners do everything from helping protect Lake Tahoe communities from wildfire and aquatic invasive species to promoting alternative transportation and sustainable lifestyles.

Even have a stellar winter with snow still packing the Sierra Nevada, fire officials are getting ready for what they think will be an active fire season in California.

Twenty-five years ago, I finished my graduate work in Oregon and moved to Northern Nevada for a planning position at TRPA. Having spent a large part of my youth hiking and camping at Tahoe and in the Sierra, the move felt like coming home.

Four years ago this month, TRPA approved the 2012 Regional Plan. The landmark plan charts a course to restore Lake Tahoe’s environment and revitalize our communities and it was forged through Herculean work by California, Nevada, local governments, the public, and dozens of other partners.

Many Tahoe Basin stakeholders once questioned if we could work together, but the Regional Plan ushered in an era of collaboration. Today, the answer is how can we work together more efficiently. By building and strengthening partnerships we have made remarkable progress. This year was no different.

Funds in the amount of $6.8 million are headed to the California side of Lake Tahoe after the California Tahoe Conservancy Board accepted a federal grant on Thursday that will reduce wildfire risk. Fuel treatments on up to 1,800 acres of high fire risk areas of land owned by state and local jurisdictions as well as private property will occur over the next six years

Vail Resorts has called on the United States Congress to approve the Lake Tahoe Restoration Act of 2015. This Act provides $415 million in funding and reauthorizes important Lake Tahoe restoration activities that began in 1997 and refocuses federal, state and local efforts toward reducing wildfire threats, improving water quality and clarity, and combating invasive species. All of these are important to the local economy at one of the most visited lakes in the world.

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.

Since 1999, Sierra at Tahoe has rewarded South Shore school children with a free pass to the resort if they complete two consecutive semesters with straight A's.

With an average of 346 passes given out annually (with a high of 377 and 361 this year), Sierra at Tahoe has shown they are committed to supporting local school children.

If you see smoke around Amador, Georgetown and Placerville it will most likely be from 12,671 acres of National Forest land being burned this fall by the U.S. Forest Service.

USFS will begin its fall prescribed burn program in the Eldorado National Forest as soon as weather conditions are favorable. Fire managers plan to burn approximately, 12,671 acres of National Forest land this fall, winter and spring using a combination of understory and pile burning techniques.

2016 is the 26th year that the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency has handed out its "Best in the Basin" award for projects in the Lake Tahoe basin that demonstrate exceptional planning and implementation and compatibility with Lake Tahoe’s environment and communities.

During Wednesday's TRPA board meeting in Kings Beach, the nine winners for the year were honored.

The City of South Lake Tahoe was one of those recipients for the Bijou Bike Park project, a collaborative effort between the City and Tahoe Area Mountain Biking Association.

At the Lake Tahoe Summit last month, we saw the power of what we can accomplish when we work together. Progress over the last two decades was showcased when President Obama made his first-ever visit to Tahoe and said conservation and restoration efforts like ours are more important than ever as the nation works to adapt to a changing climate and create a more resilient environment.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE - To reduce fuels in the forest, as well as to promote forest health, the thinning of trees will resume between Fallen Leaf Lake and Camp Richardson Corral this week. Crews will also be working in the Spring Creek Homeowners Tract.

Whole tree and mechanical cut-to-length (CTL) tree removal will take place in these areas over the next several months, weather permitting and some areas will be closed for public safety as they do the cutting.

Protecting Lake Tahoe and the Sierra Nevada is the job of many stakeholders. Its not just a local job, not just a California job, not just a Nevada job, not just a national job, and as witnessed through President Obama's visit to the Lake Tahoe Summit Wednesday, it can only be successful through partnerships of all of those entities along with agencies, local and private investment.

On Tuesday, August 29, the day before the Summit, California Senator Diane Feinstein hosted a lunch for local officials, agencies and federal counterparts, described as the "Lake Tahoe Stakeholders Luncheon".

Lake Tahoe was at a crossroads in 1997. The lake’s famous water clarity, once measuring 100 feet, was declining year after year because of stormwater pollution from roads and developed areas and erosion from streams damaged by logging and cattle grazing.

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.