Cabin west of Lake Tahoe suffers total loss in fire

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - A home at the intersection of Highway 50 and Sierra-at-Tahoe Road in the historic community of Phillips is a total loss after a fire ripped through it Friday night.

At 11:15 p.m. on April 12, Lake Valley Fire Protection District (LVFPD) crews were called out to the scene along with several other agencies. Upon arrival, they found the home fully engulfed. Inside the home had been two women, one male, two dogs and two cats.

The male was transported to Barton Hospital with smoke inhalation and one cat was lost to the fire.

A person who was the first to arrive at the fire said he put the two women into his truck for warmth as fire crews arrived.

According to LVFPD Battalion Chief Steve Pevenage, the cause of the fire is still under investigation. He said when they arrived the home was fully engulfed and that it is a total loss. It is unknown at this time when the home was built.

Crews were on the scene for hours.

Pevenage said crews from Alpine County, North Tahoe and South Lake Tahoe fire departments also responded either to assist with the fire or cover the South Shore.

"The house is old construction which allowed the fire to happen quickly," said Pevenage.

The area behind the home has been the scene of monthly snow measurements since the 1920s. Each month the residents allowed media and the Department of Water Resources to come through their yard to take measurements of the water content and snow depth.

Phillips was where Joseph Wells Davis Phillips began cattle ranching in 1859 and opened a hotel in 1863. The Vade post office operated at Phillips from 1912 to 1961. Sierra Nevada "Vade" Phillips was born in Nevada City but grew up in Phillips when Joseph bought the ranch. His hotel was a 2 1/2 story structure with five barns which served stagecoaches, freighters, and cattlemen moving their herds to summer pastures along the heavily traveled “Bonanza Road” from Placerville to the Comstock in Virginia City (now Highway 50).

The station burned down in 1873.

Sierra Nevada "Vade" Phillips went on to create and run the Rubicon Mineral Springs Hotel and Resort in 1901.

In 1909 she inherited the decrepit Phillips Station. She renovated the station by adding more cabins, a general store, a cocktail lounge and a campground to take advantage of the state highway that now went right past Phillips.

That too burned, this time in 1911. She rebuilt in 1912, calling it the Phillips Resort, along the highway, became known coast to coast for its fine food, hospitality and beautiful view. Notables such as U.S. Secretary of State Frank Jordan and Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara spent time there.

The cabins she built collapsed due to snow in the 1950s. The family that bought that property turned it into the Pow Wow Restaurant which is now gone.