Lake Tahoe agencies continue widespread prescribed fire operations

The Tahoe Fire & Fuels Team (TFFT) is scheduled to continue widespread prescribed fire operations this week in the Lake Tahoe Basin, conditions and weather permitting. Operations are expected to continue throughout the winter season to help land managers reduce hazardous fuels that can feed unwanted wildfires. Smoke will be present.

1. Burton Creek State Park ULM - Responsible Agency: USDA Forest Service Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit. Location: Tahoe City, Burton Creek State Park. Burn Type: Hand Piles. Total Acreage: 31.00. Planned Ignition: 01/31/2022. Duration of Ignition and Smoke Production: 01/31-2/3/2022. Estimated Direction of Smoke Travel: Settling overnight in Tahoe City. Communities or Smoke Sensitive Areas: North Tahoe High School, Middle School, and Tahoe City community

2. Tahoe City - Tahoe Douglas Fire Protection District. Location: Tahoe City, CA. Burn Type: Hand Piles. Total Acreage: 40.00. Planned Ignition: 01/31/2022. Duration of Ignition and Smoke Production: 3 days. Estimated Direction of Smoke Travel: North, Northeast. Communities or Smoke Sensitive Areas: North Tahoe School and Community

3. Rose 20 (USFS) - North Lake Tahoe Fire Protection District. Location: North of Allison Drive and Bridge Court. Burn Type: Hand Piles. Total Acreage: 64.00. Planned Ignition: 01/25/2022 - 02/11/2022. Duration of Ignition and Smoke Production: 10 days of ignition and 2 days of burn downtime. Estimated Direction of Smoke Travel: North/Northeast/East.
Communities or Smoke Sensitive Areas: Smoke may be visible throughout the Tahoe Basin and surrounding communities.

4. South Mill - North Lake Tahoe Fire Protection District. Location: In Mill Creek drainage, near water treatment plant. Burn Type: Hand Piles. Total Acreage: 6.50. Planned Ignition: 01/25/2022 - 02/11/2022. Duration of Ignition and Smoke Production: 2 days of ignition and 2 days of burn downtime. Estimated Direction of Smoke Travel: North/Northeast/East.
Communities or Smoke Sensitive Areas: Smoke may be visible throughout the Tahoe Basin and surrounding communities.

5. Bliss 2010 - USDA Forest Service Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit. Location: Skunk Harbor, Bliss Creek drainage. Burn Type: Hand Piles. Total Acreage: 10.00. Planned Ignition: 01/31/2022. Duration of Ignition and Smoke Production: 01/31-2/3/2022. Estimated Direction of Smoke Travel: Overnight settling at Skunk Harbor. Communities or Smoke Sensitive Areas: Skunk Harbor and east shore communities.

6. Spooner Pile Burn - Nevada Division of Forestry. Location: Tahoe Rim Trail, North of Highway 50, Spooner State Park. Burn Type: Hand Piles. Total Acreage: 20.00. Planned Ignition: 2/1- 2/4/2022. Duration of Ignition and Smoke Production: 0900 - 1300 hours ignitions; 0900 - 1700 hours smoke production. Estimated Direction of Smoke Travel: Monday: west in the morning, east in the afternoon. Tuesday: west smoke travel with east winds.
Communities or Smoke Sensitive Areas: Clear Creek, Glenbrook.

7. Stateline - Tahoe Douglas Fire Protection District. Location: Stateline. Burn Type: Hand Piles. Total Acreage: 10.00. Planned Ignition: 01/31/2022, Duration of Ignition and Smoke Production: 3 days. Estimated Direction of Smoke Travel: North, Northeast. Communities or Smoke Sensitive Areas: Stateline Corridor.

A map with project locations and details is available above and at tahoelivingwithfire.com. To be added to the Prescribed Fire Notification list, send a request to sm.fs.paltbmu@usda.gov.

Winter brings cooler temperatures and precipitation, which are ideal for conducting prescribed fire operations. Each operation follows a specialized burn plan, which considers temperature, humidity, wind, moisture of vegetation, and conditions for the dispersal of smoke. All this information is used to decide when and where to burn.

Smoke from prescribed fire operations is normal and may continue for several days after an ignition depending on the project size, conditions, and weather. Prescribed fire smoke is generally less intense and of much shorter duration than smoke produced by wildland fires.

Prescribed fire managers use different methods to reintroduce low-intensity fire in forests including pile and understory burning. Pile burning involves burning slash piles that are constructed by hand and mechanical equipment and are intended to remove excess fuels (branches, limbs, and stumps) that can feed unwanted wildfire. Understory burning uses low-intensity fire on the ground (the understory) to remove excess vegetation (fuels) under specific environmental conditions with fire confined to a predetermined area. Understory burning produces fire behavior and fire characteristics required to attain planned fire and resource management objectives.

Prior to prescribed fire ignition, there is close coordination with local and state air quality agencies to monitor weather for favorable conditions that can disperse smoke. Crews conduct test burns before igniting a larger area to verify how well the vegetation is consumed along with how the smoke rises and disperses before proceeding.

Before burning, TFFT agencies post prescribed fire signs on roadways in areas affected by prescribed fire operations, email notifications to the Prescribed Fire Notification List, and update the local fire information line maintained by the USDA Forest Service at 530-543-2816. The TFFT gives as much advance notice as possible before burning, but some operations may be conducted on short notice due to the small window of opportunity.

To learn more about living with fire, visit tahoe.livingwithfire.info/get-informed/understanding-fire/.