Prescribed fire operations continue around Lake Tahoe

Members of the Tahoe Fire & Fuels Team (TFFT) will continue conducting prescribed fire operations this week in the Lake Tahoe Basin. If conditions and weather remain favorable, California State Parks, Nevada Division of Forestry, North Lake Tahoe, and Tahoe Douglas fire protection districts will be burning piles in numerous locations. Smoke will be present.

1. USFS 21-HT - North Lake Tahoe Fire Protection District. Location: Within Second Creek Drainage, North of Saddlehorn Dr. And West of Tyner Way. 63 acres of hand piles. Planned Ignition: 11/13-19/2022. Duration of Ignition and Smoke Production: 3 Days. Estimated Direction of Smoke Travel: Northeast
Communities or Smoke Sensitive Areas: Tahoe Basin, Reno/Sparks, Carson City, Washoe Valley.

2. USFS 20-HT - North Lake Tahoe Fire Protection District. Location: Lat/Long: 39.272332, -119.960172 North of Allison Drive, and West of Jennifer. 8 acres of hand piles. Planned Ignition: 11/13-19/2022
Duration of Ignition and Smoke Production: 3 Days. Estimated Direction of Smoke Travel: Northeast. Communities or Smoke-Sensitive Areas: Tahoe Basin, Reno/Sparks, Carson City, Washoe Valley.

3. Spooner Pile Burn - Nevada Division of Forestry. Location: Lat/Long: 39.109, -119.904364 Tahoe Rim Trail, North of Highway 50, Spooner State Park. 20 acres of Hand Piles. Planned Ignition: 0900, 11/07/2022.
Duration of Ignition and Smoke Production: 0900 - 1300 Ignitions, 0900 - 1700 Smoke Production Estimated Direction of Smoke Travel: East
Communities or Smoke-Sensitive Areas: Clear Creek, Glenbrook.

4. Montreal 21 - USDA Forest Service Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit. Location: Lat/Long: 39.082033, -119.904185 Montreal Canyon, Genoa Peak Road, US Highway 50 near Glenbrook. 10 acres of Hand Piles. Planned Ignition: 0900 Hours, 11/17/2022. Duration of Ignition and Smoke Production: 0900-1700 Hours, Lingering Smoke Accumulations Overnight. Estimated Direction of Smoke Travel: Upslope Day, Downslope Night. Communities or Smoke-Sensitive Areas:
Glenbrook, Spooner Summit.

5. Kingsbury Piles - Tahoe Douglas Fire Protection District. Location: Lat/Long: 38.973106, -119.899585 Stateline, NV. 15 acres of Hand Piles. Planned Ignition: 11/15/2022. Duration of Ignition and Smoke Production: 2 Days. Estimated Direction of Smoke Travel: North, Northeast. Communities or Smoke-Sensitive Areas: Tramway Drive, South Benjamin.

6. Van Sickle Park Piles - Tahoe Douglas Fire Protection District. Location: Lat/Long: 38.94671, -119.934672 Van Sickle Bi-State Park, Stateline, CA. 20 acres of Hand Piles. Duration of Ignition and Smoke Production: 2 Days.
Estimated Direction of Smoke Travel: North, Northeast. Communities or Smoke-Sensitive Areas: Stateline Area and Surrounding Communities.

7. Fallen Leaf 171 - USDA Forest Service Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit.
Location: Lat/Long: 38.8973333, -120.0423889 Angora Ridge near South Lake Tahoe, CA. 50 acres of Hand Piles. Planned Ignition: 0900 Hours, 11/17/2022.
Duration of Ignition and Smoke Production: 0900-1700 Hours with Lingering Smoke Accumulations Overnight.Estimated Direction of Smoke Travel: Upslope Day, Downslope Night. Communities or Smoke Sensitive Areas: Tahoe Mountain, Camp Richardson near South Lake Tahoe.

8. Sugar Pine Point State Park - California State Parks. Location: Lat/Long: 39.047533, -120.132667 South Fire Road in Sugar Pine Point State Park. 16 acres of Hand Piles. Planned Ignition: 11/14/2022. Duration of Ignition and Smoke Production: 1 Week. Estimated Direction of Smoke Travel: Northeast.
Communities or Smoke Sensitive Areas: Tahoma, Glenridge, Hwy 89.

9. Burton Creek State Park - California State Parks. Location: Lat/Long: 39.196324, -120.130568 Half mile west of North Tahoe School. 15 acres of Hand Piles. Planned Ignition: 11/12/2022. Duration of Ignition and Smoke Production: 1 Week. Estimated Direction of Smoke Travel: Northeast.
Communities or Smoke Sensitive Areas: North Tahoe School, Highlands, Lake Forest, Hwy 28, Tahoe City.

10. Dollar Point Piles - Tahoe Douglas Fire Protection District. Location: Lat/Long: 39.205229, -120.117772 Tahoe City, CA. 60 acres of Hand Piles.
Planned Ignition: 11/15/2022. Duration of Ignition and Smoke Production: 5 Days. Estimated Direction of Smoke Travel: North, Northeast. Communities or Smoke Sensitive Areas: North Tahoe School and Community.

11. North Tahoe Regional Park - North Lake Tahoe Fire Protection District.
Location: Lat/Long: 39.248184, -120.053622 Within North Tahoe Regional Park, Kings Beach, CA. 77 acres of Hand Piles. Planned Ignition: 11/13-19/2022
Duration of Ignition and Smoke Production: 3 Days. Estimated Direction of Smoke Travel: Northeast. Communities or Smoke-Sensitive Areas: Tahoe Basin, Reno/Sparks, Carson City, Washoe Valley.

12. Gentry - North Lake Tahoe Fire Protection District. Location: Lat/Long: 39.255561, -120.038843 Along North Shore Blvd at end of Syewart Way and Canterbury Dr, Kings Beach, CA. 54.5 acres of Hand Piles. Planned Ignition: 11/13-19/2022. Duration of Ignition and Smoke Production: 3 Days.
Estimated Direction of Smoke Travel: Northeast. Communities or Smoke Sensitive Areas: Tahoe Basin, Reno/Sparks, Carson City, Washoe Valley

A map with project details is also available for viewing at Tahoe Living With Fire.

Prescribed fires are an important tool used by land managers to help protect communities by removing excess vegetation (fuels) that can feed 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 in forests.

Fall and winter typically bring cooler temperatures and precipitation, which are ideal for conducting prescribed fires. Each operation follows a specialized burn plan, which considers temperature, humidity, wind, vegetation moisture, and smoke dispersal conditions. All this information is used to decide when and where to burn.

Prescribed fire managers use different methods to reintroduce low-intensity fire into forests including 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 across the ground to remove fuels under specific environmental conditions with fire confined to a predetermined area. Prescribed fires are meant to mimic naturally occurring fire, which is an essential part of many different ecosystems, and produces fire behavior and fire characteristics required to attain resource management objectives.

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 unwanted wildfires. “If prescribed fire smoke were equivalent to lighting a match, then wildfire smoke would be like lighting a bonfire,” said Washoe County Air Quality Specialist, Brendan Schneider.

Prior to prescribed fire ignition, there is close coordination with local and state air quality agencies to monitor weather for favorable conditions that can disperse smoke. Crews conduct test burns before igniting larger areas to verify how well the vegetation is consumed along with how the smoke rises and disperses before proceeding. Signs are posted on roadways in areas affected by prescribed fire operations, email notifications are sent to the prescribed fire notification list, and the local fire information line at 530-543-2816 is updated. 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.