Prescribed fire operations scheduled to continue this week around Lake Tahoe

LAKE TAHOE, Calif./Nev. – The Tahoe Fire & Fuels Team (TFFT) is scheduled to continue prescribed fire operations over the next several weeks at Lake Tahoe, conditions and weather permitting. Recent precipitation and low temperatures have provided ideal conditions and opportunities for firefighters to burn in multiple locations. Smoke from these operations may be present throughout the Lake Tahoe Basin.

View smoke management tips and current air quality index at AirNow and the U.S. EPA/Forest Service Fire and Smoke Map. To be added to the prescribed fire notification list, send them an email at sm.fs.paltbmu@usda.gov. California Tahoe Conservancy, North Lake Tahoe and Tahoe Douglas fire protection districts, and the USDA Forest Service Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit are scheduled to continue burning this week in numerous locations.

1. Echo 33, USDA Forest Service Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit, Fallen Leaf Lake/ Angora Ridge. Burn Type: Hand Piles. Total Acreage: 20. Ignitions are complete for this unit and it is in patrol status.

2. Fallen Leaf Units 172/116, USDA Forest Service Lake Tahoe Basin. East of Fallen Leaf Lake Road and West of Angora Ridge Road. Burn Type: Hand Piles.
Total Acreage: 130. Planned Ignition: 11/13/2023 - 11/17/2023.
3. Lilly Lake 1001, USDA Forest Service Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit,
East of Fallen Leaf Lake Road near South Lake Tahoe. Burn Type: Hand Piles
Total Acreage: 34. Ignitions are complete for this unit and it is in patrol status.
4. Dollar Point, California Tahoe Conservancy-Tahoe Douglas Fire Protection District. Dollar Point on the North Shore of Lake Tahoe, CA, Burn Type: Hand Piles. Total Acreage: 20. Planned Ignition: 11/13/2023.
5. Sherlock Rx Units 29HT, USDA Forest Service Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit. Tahoe City, Old County, Carnelian Bay. Burn Type: Hand Piles. Total Acreage: 28. Planned Ignition: Ignitions are complete for this unit and it is in patrol status.
6. Sherlock Rx Units 17HT, USDA Forest Service Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit. Tahoe City, Old County, Carnelian Bay. Burn Type: Hand Piles. Total Acreage: 71. Planned Ignition: Ignitions are complete for this unit and it is in patrol status.
7. NDSL Washoe County Lots Pile, North Lake Tahoe Fire Protection District,
Crystal Bay on the North Shore of Lake Tahoe, NV, Burn Type: Hand Piles.
Total Acreage: 15. Planned Ignition: 11/06/2023 - 12/2023.
8. Incline Village/Crystal Bay Piles (WW4 Island/WW5 wedge), North Lake Tahoe Fire Protection District. Near the intersection of Dorcey Drive and Douglas Court in Incline Village. Burn Type: Hand Piles. Total Acreage: 3.00. Planned Ignition: 11/06/2023 - 12/2023.
9. South Mill Creek, North Lake Tahoe Fire Protection District, Mill Creek Drainage, behind old Ponderosa Ranch. Burn Type: Understory. Total Acreage: 17, Planned Ignition: 11/06/2023 - 12/2023.
10. Montreal 21/22, USDA Forest Service Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit, East of Glenbrook and South of Spooner Guard Station.Burn Type: Hand Piles
Total Acreage: 45. Planned Ignition: 11/13/2023 - 11/17/2023.
11. Summit, Tahoe Douglas Fire Protection District. Glenbrook, NV. Burn Type: Hand Piles. Total Acreage: 13. Planned Ignition: 11/13/2023.

View the prescribed fire map with project details and locations above or at Tahoe Living With Fire.

Forest Service firefighters completed burning piles on 160 acres near Watson Creek on the North Shore that will help prevent future severe wildfires near those communities. No further ignitions will take place in those areas, and we anticipate significant air quality improvement over the next several days due to a predicted trend of winds moving back into the area.

Historically, low-intensity wildfires ignited by lightning or native peoples routinely burned through fire-adapted ecosystems of the Sierra Nevada. These low-intensity fires burned at low temperatures and moved slowly across the ground removing forest debris such as pinecones, needles, limbs, dead and downed trees, and ladder fuels. Watch the Forest Service video for an in-depth explanation of low-intensity fire. Prescribed fires are meant to mimic these naturally occurring low-intensity fires that are essential to fire-adapted ecosystems.

Prescribed fire managers use different methods to remove excess vegetation (fuels) and reintroduce low-intensity fire into forests through pile, broadcast, and understory burning. Pile burning involves burning slash piles that are constructed by hand or mechanical equipment. Broadcast and understory burning use low-intensity fire to remove fuels under specific environmental conditions with fire confined to a predetermined area.

Prescribed fires are a vital forest management tool used by land managers to help protect communities by removing fuels that can feed unwanted wildland fires. Burning excess vegetation also benefits forest health by making room for new growth which provides forage for wildlife, recycles nutrients back into the soil and helps reduce the spread of insects and disease.

Prescribed fires may take place any time of year when conditions are favorable. Fall and winter typically bring cooler temperatures and precipitation, which are ideal for conducting prescribed fire operations. Each operation follows a specialized burn plan, which considers smoke dispersal conditions, temperature, humidity, wind, and vegetation moisture. All this information is used to decide when and where to burn.

The TFFT strongly supports the use of prescribed fire under appropriate conditions and works closely with air quality districts to avert smoke impacts on the public. Smoke from prescribed fires 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 unwanted wildfires. Smoke from prescribed burns, wildfire or wood burning stoves may hang low to the ground at night and in the early morning due to a phenomenon known as a temperature inversion. A temperature inversion is when warm air “caps” cooler air, causing smoke to become trapped in valley bottoms at night and in the early morning.

Prior to prescribed fire ignitions, agencies coordinate closely with local and state air quality agencies to monitor weather for favorable conditions that can disperse smoke, conduct test burns before igniting larger areas to verify how well vegetation is consumed and how smoke rises and disperses before proceeding, post signs on roadways in areas affected by prescribed fire operations, email notifications to the prescribed fire notification list, 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 due to the small window of opportunity for implementing these projects.

Learn more about living in fire-adapted ecosystems at Tahoe Living With Fire and get prepared, get informed, and get involved!