Fire Awareness Week at Lake Tahoe kicks off with activities, film series

With the theme "your home, your responsibility" the third Lake Tahoe Basin Wildfire Awareness Week begins Saturday, May 26 and will continue through June 3. The focus of the week is to promote homeowner and resident actions that reduce the risk from wildfire to homes and communities.
Fire agencies and local organizations will collaborate to hold community clean up days including offering free chipping and pine needle pick-ups and hosting neighborhood meetings and educational activities including a webinar series on reducing wildfire risk so those living remotely can participate in the week’s events.
Residents will be encouraged to upgrade vulnerable home components, practice defensible space and put a family evacuation plan in place. Go here to find out about events and the webinar series.

The goal of the Lake Tahoe Basin Wildfire Awareness Week is to encourage individual action to reduce the threat of wildfire to homes and communities, said Susie Kocher of the University of California Cooperative Extension. Activities will teach and provide information and resources to upgrade homes and create defensible space around them.
Fire resistant homes have fire-rated roofs, covered vents to reduce the risk of ember intrusion, fire resistant construction materials and are in good repair, Kocher said. Creating defensible space involves selecting and maintaining vegetation near the home, thereby reducing the risk homes will be ignited and destroyed during a wildfire.
Meanwhile, Explore Tahoe will host a fire awareness film series beginning May 29. The film presentations, held at the Explore Tahoe Visitors Center at Heavenly Village, are free.
Films scheduled for the week include:

A U.S. Forest Service Centennial film "The Greatest Good" will be shown on Tuesday, May 29, from 2 to 3 p.m. With a guest appearance by Smokey Bear at 1:30 p.m., the film event will feature stories and music that highlight the several public service announcements done by the Forest Service throughout the decades.
On Wednesday, May 30, from 2 to 2:30 p.m. the film "Forests with a Future" will presented. This is a Forest Service film that features efforts of protecting old growth trees and wildlife throughout Lake Tahoe and the Sierra Nevada.
The film "Living with Fire in the Lake Tahoe Basin" will be shown on Thursday, May 31, from 2 to 2:30 p.m. Presented by the University of Nevada Cooperative Extension, the film offers a practical guide to preparing homeowners to protect their property against forest fires.
During a wildfire, thousands of embers can rain down on homes, and is a primary reason for why homes are destroyed by wildfire. The Nevada Division of Forestry will present "Be Embered Prepared" in cooperation with the Forest Service on Friday, June 1, from 2 to 2:30 p.m.
For information on these films and other programs call (530) 542-4637, stop by Explore Tahoe at 4114 Lake Tahoe Blvd in the Heavenly Village next to Cecil’s Plaza or visit www.cityofslt.us.

Tahoe Regional Planning Agency activities
TRPA is encouraging local residents and part-time homeowners to become “wildfire aware” by taking advantage of public education activities during Lake Tahoe Wildfire Awareness Week happening May 26 to June 3.
“With the fifth anniversary of the Angora fire coming up, this is a good opportunity for our community to discuss the importance of wildfire awareness,” said Joanne Marchetta, Executive Director of TRPA.
The theme of this year’s Lake Tahoe Wildfire Awareness Week is “Your Home - Your Responsibility.” The goal is to encourage homeowners and residents to gain the knowledge and skills to prepare their homes and property to survive wildfires and know how to evacuate safely.
To that end, Tahoe Basin fire agencies and partners, including TRPA and the University of California and Nevada Cooperative Extensions, are sponsoring a series of free webinars to help individuals and communities learn how to become more fire adaptive. Each webinar will be held from noon to 1 p.m. and will be recorded and archived for later viewing. The schedule of webinars is:

Session One: Friday, May 25th, 2012 - Defensible space in the Tahoe Basin
Why and how to create defensible space - Ed Smith, Univ. of Nevada Cooperative Ext.
How to integrate with erosion control practices – Mike Vollmer, Tahoe Regional Planning Agency

Session Two: Tuesday, May 29th, 2012 - Improving home survivability during wildfire
Home vulnerability - Steve Quarles, Insurance Inst. for Business & Home Safety
Implementing wildland urban interface building codes in the Tahoe Basin – Gareth Harris, Lake Valley Tahoe Fire Protection District

Session Three: Wednesday, May 30th, 2012 - Conservation landscaping in Tahoe
Defensible space landscaping – Susie Kocher, Univ. of California Coop. Extension
Backyard Native plants – Lesley Higgins, Nevada Tahoe Conservation District
Learning how to garden at Lake Tahoe - Wendy West, Tahoe Basin Master Gardener program

Session Four: Thursday, May 31st, 2012 - What to do during a wildfire/ evacuation/ emergency preparedness
Evacuation during a wildfire/ PRIDE – Mark Regan, North Lake Tahoe FPD
Information needs and methods during a wildfire – Dave Zaski, North Tahoe FPD

Session Five: Friday June 1st, 2012 - Fire risk reduction and the US Forest Service
Fire prevention in Lake Tahoe – Beth Brady, USFS Fire Prevention Specialist
South Shore fuels treatments project, stewardship permit system – Kyle Jacobsen, USFS Forest Fuels Specialist

Session Six: Tuesday, June 5th, 2012 - Working with your fire agencies/ neighborhood /community
Working with your fire agency (services, permits, calls from insurance companies, etc) – Eric Guevin, Tahoe Douglas FPD, Martin Goldberg, Lake Valley FPD
Motivating neighbors to organize for defensible space – Ann Grant, Nevada Fire Save Council volunteer

“With 2012 shaping up to be a high risk year for wildfires, the more people can prepare to survive the threat the better we all will be,” said Kocher.

Other activities taking place during Wildfire Awareness Week include a film series, classes on landscaping for fire safety and wildlife, wildfire evacuation drills and walking tours as well as a presentation and community forum entitled, “Five Years Post Angora Fire – lessons For Incline Village and Crystal Bay.”

To learn more about the webinar series and other Lake Tahoe Wildfire Awareness Week events visit www.livingwithfire.info/tahoe or www.trpa.org.