Prescribed burns to continue around Lake Tahoe

Weather permitting, California State Parks, California Tahoe Conservancy, North Lake Tahoe and Tahoe Douglas Fire Protection Districts and the U.S. Forest Service may continue prescribed fire operations over the next several weeks in multiple locations around Lake Tahoe.

Area 1 - No planned burning.
Area 2 - a) D. L. Bliss State Park along Lester Beach Road, between Group Camp and Beach Camp. California State Parks to burn 65 acres of understory through the month of December. b) Sugar Pine Point State Park along lakeside of Hwy 89, north of General Creek. California State Parks to burn 54 acres of understory through month of December.

Area 3 - Burton Creek State Park north of Rocky Ridge, West of North Tahoe High School. California State Parks to burn 19 acres of understory through month of December.
Area 4 - a) The old Sunset Ranch stables, south of the CSLT Airport. California Tahoe Conservancy to burn 2 acres of machine pile. Planned ignitiaon - 12/03/18 and continuing as conditions permit. b) Cowboy Hat, Hwy 50 and 89. USFS Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit to burn 30 acres of hand piles. Planned iginitions through the month of December.
Area 5 - Heavenly/Pioneer near Heavenly Ski Area. USFS Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit to burn 1 acre of hand piles. Planned Ignition: Through month of December.
Area 6 - a) Summit Units in Glenbrook. USFS Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit to burn 100 acres of hand piles through month of December. b) Slaughter House Rx
Lands End Rd, Glenbrook. Tahoe Douglas Fire District to burn 6 acres of hand piles through month of December.
Area 7 - a) First Creek/First Creek Drainage in Incline Village. North Lake Tahoe Fire Protection District to burn 30 acres of hand piles. Planned Ignition: 12/03/2018 and continuing as conditions permit. b) Lakeview Lookout - Lakeview Ave. and Teresa Way Crystal Bay. North Lake Tahoe Fire Protection District to burn 9 acres of hand piles. Planned Ignition: 12/03/2018 and continuing as conditions permit.

For a direct link to a map with project locations and details, visit http://tahoe.livingwithfire.info/get-informed/. Keep in mind that operations only take place when weather, conditions and staffing allow.

Prescribed fire operations are conducted whenever conditions allow to reduce excess vegetation that can feed unwanted wildland fires. Planned fires now reduce the threat of unplanned fires later, which helps provide increased community protection. Low intensity fire is a natural process in the Sierra Nevada and helps keep our forests healthy by minimizing the spread of insects and disease, recycling nutrients back into the soil and promoting improved habitat for diverse vegetation and wildlife.

Prescribed fire managers use different methods to reintroduce fire back into our forests that include pile burning and understory burning. Pile burning is intended to remove excess fuels (branches, limbs and stumps) that can feed unwanted wildfires and involves burning slash piles that are constructed by hand and mechanical equipment. Understory burning is low intensity prescribed fire that takes place on the ground (the understory) rather than pile burning. Understory burning uses a controlled application of fire to remove excess vegetation under specific environmental conditions that allow fire to be confined to a predetermined area. Understory burning produces fire behavior and fire characteristics required to attain planned fire and resource management objectives.

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. 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 and environmental conditions. Prescribed fire smoke is generally less intense and of much shorter duration than smoke produced by unwanted wildland fires.

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 disperse it away from smoke sensitive areas. Crews also conduct test burns before igniting a larger area, to verify how effectively materials are consumed and how smoke will travel.

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 maintained by the Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit at 530-543-2816. The Tahoe Fire and Fuels Team 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 conducting these operations.