Prescribed fires resume around Lake Tahoe Saturday, weather permitting

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. – California State Parks, Lake Valley, North Lake Tahoe and Tahoe Douglas fire protection districts and the U.S. Forest Service are scheduled to conduct prescribed fire operations beginning tomorrow, November 4, 2017.

Weather permitting, operations are scheduled to take place:

D.L. Bliss State Park - 25 acres

West side of Incline Village - 17 acres
West of the First Creek drainage - 25 acres
Upper Kingsbury Grade - 3 acres
Lower Kingsbury Grade - 6 acres
Off Pioneer Trail near Marshall Trail and Powerline Road - 20 acres
North of Lake Tahoe Airport - 6 acres
South of Christmas Valley - 27 acres

View the map with project locations and details at http://www.tahoefft.org. Smoke may be visible and is expected to last through the week. To receive prescribed fire notifications, send an email to pa_ltbmu@fs.fed.us.

Fall and winter bring cooler temperatures and precipitation, which favor prescribed burning. Each prescribed fire operation follows a specialized 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.

Agencies coordinate closely with local county and state air pollution control districts and monitor weather conditions carefully prior to prescribed fire ignitions. They wait for favorable conditions that will carry smoke up and out of the basin. Crews also conduct test burns before igniting larger areas, to verify how effectively fuels are consumed and how smoke will travel. When conditions meet the prescription, state and local air pollution control districts issue a burn permit allowing operations to proceed.

Smoke from prescribed fire operations is normal and may continue for several days after an ignition depending on the project size and environmental conditions. Prescribed fire smoke is generally less intense and of much shorter duration than smoke produced by a wildland fire. Smoke sensitive individuals are encouraged to reduce their exposure by staying indoors if they are in a smoke affected area.
Before prescribed fire operations are conducted, agencies post road signs around areas affected by prescribed fire, send email notifications and update the local fire information line at 530-543-2816. The TFFT gives as much advance notice as possible before burning, but some operations may be conducted on short notice.
For more information about prescribed fire and smoke management tips, visit http://www.fs.usda.gov/goto/ltbmu/RxFireOps.