Prescribed burns continue in Lake Tahoe basin

Weather permitting, California State Parks, the Nevada Division of Forestry and the U.S. Forest Service are scheduled to continue prescribed fire operations beginning Monday, April 11, 2016.

On the North Shore - 10 acres at Burton Creek State Park.

On the East Shore - 32 acres at Sand Harbor, 28 acres at Spooner Summit and 200 acres at Camp Galilee.

On the South Shore - 125 acres at Lake Tahoe Boulevard and Sawmill Road, five acres near Panther Lane near South Tahoe High School, 10 acres off Highway 89 near Spring Creek, and 29.25 acres off Santa Claus Drive and 79 acres at West River Parkway near Christmas Valley.

To view a map with project locations and details, visit http://www.tahoefft.org.

Residual smoke may be seen in locations where operations have taken place over the last several weeks. The Tahoe Fire and Fuels Team (TFFT) gives as much advance notice as possible before burning, but some operations may be conducted on short notice in areas not identified on the map.

Each prescribed fire operation follows a prescribed fire burn plan, which considers temperature, humidity, wind, moisture of the vegetation, and conditions for the dispersal of smoke. 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 and environmental conditions. Agencies coordinate with state and local county air pollution control districts and monitor weather conditions closely prior to prescribed fire ignition. They wait for favorable conditions that will carry smoke up and out of the Basin. Crews also conduct test burns before igniting a larger area, to verify how effectively fuels are consumed how smoke will travel.