Prescribed fires scheduled around Lake Tahoe
Submitted by paula on Tue, 11/09/2021 - 11:13pm
The Tahoe Fire & Fuels Team (TFFT), which includes local, state, and federal partners, begins prescribed fire operations around Lake Tahoe and will continue through much of the winter season, weather and conditions permitting. Prescribed fires help land managers reduce hazardous fuels that can feed unwanted wildfires. Smoke will be present.
Scheduled burns, refer to map above:
1. LT Control Plot - North Lake Tahoe Fire Protection District. Northeast of Lariat Circle, Incline Village, Hand Piles 9 acres. Planned Ignition: 11/01-13/2021. Duration of Ignition and Smoke Production: 1 day of ignition and 1 day of burn downtime. Estimated Direction of Smoke Travel: North/Northeast/East. Communities or Smoke Sensitive Areas: Smoke may be visible throughout the Lake Tahoe Basin and surrounding communities.
2. Diamond Peak SR - North Lake Tahoe Fire Protection District. Southern and eastern edge of Diamond Peak Ski Resort. Hand piles - 25 acres. Planned Ignition: 11/01-13/2021. Duration of Ignition and Smoke Production: 1 day of ignition and 1 day of burn downtime. Estimated Direction of Smoke Travel: North/Northeast/East. Communities or Smoke Sensitive Areas: Smoke may be visible throughout the Lake Tahoe Basin and surrounding communities.
3. Brunswick Line - North Lake Tahoe Fire Protection District. Along Brunswick Transmission Power Line east of Ponderosa Ranch. Hand Piles - 8 acres. Planned Ignition: 11/01-13/2021. Duration of Ignition and Smoke Production: 1 day of ignition and 1 day of burn downtime. Estimated Direction of Smoke Travel: North/Northeast/East. Communities or Smoke Sensitive Areas: Smoke may be visible throughout the Lake Tahoe Basin and surrounding communities.
4. Secret 2 - Tahoe Douglas Fire Protection. Spooner Summit, NV. Hand Piles - 10.00 acres. Planned Ignition: 11/2/2021. Duration of Ignition and Smoke Production: 3 days.Estimated Direction of Smoke Travel: Northeast
Communities or Smoke Sensitive Areas: Glenbrook.
5. Van Sickle Park - Tahoe Douglas Fire Protection District. Stateline, CA.
Hand Piles - 40 acres. Planned Ignition: 11/2/2021. Duration of Ignition and Smoke Production: 3 days. Estimated Direction of Smoke Travel: Northeast.
Communities or Smoke Sensitive Areas: Stateline Casinos and Community.
6. D. L. Bliss State Park - California State Parks. D. L. Bliss main entrance. Hand Piles - 1 acre. Duration of Ignition and Smoke Production: 1 week. Estimated Direction of Smoke Travel: Northeast. Communities or Smoke Sensitive Areas: Hwy 89.
7. Sugar Pine Point State Park - California State Parks. West of Hwy 89, along S Fire Rd and Campground Rd. Hand Piles - 20.00 acres. Planned Ignition: 11/1/2021. Duration of Ignition and Smoke Production: 3 weeks.
Estimated Direction of Smoke Travel: Northeast Communities or Smoke Sensitive Areas: Hwy 89, Tahoma, Glenridge.
8. Burton Creek State Park - California State Parks. North of Rocky Ridge, West of North Tahoe High School. Hand Piles - 15.00 acres. Planned Ignition: 11/1/2021. Duration of Ignition and Smoke Production: 3 weeks. Estimated Direction of Smoke Travel: Northeast. Communities or Smoke Sensitive Areas:
Tahoe City, Highlands, Lake Forest, Hwy 28.
9. Tahoe City - Tahoe Douglas Fire Protection District. Tahoe City, CA. Hand Piles - 40.00 acres. Planned Ignition: TBA. 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
A map with project locations and details is available above and at tahoelivingwithfire.com. To receive prescribed fire notifications by email, send a request to sm.fs.paltbmu@usda.gov to be added to the Prescribed Fire Notification List.
Fall and winter bring 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 the 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 an 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 the 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.
Prescribed fire signs will be posted on roadways in areas affected by prescribed fire operations and email notifications will be sent to the Prescribed Fire Notification List. 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. Learn more about Tahoe Living With Fire.