fire protection

The Tahoe Regional Planning Agency (TRPA) honored four people with Lake Spirit Awards Wednesday who have shown exceptional commitment to protecting Lake Tahoe and fostering a spirit of collaboration in their work and volunteer time.

This year’s award winners do everything from helping protect Lake Tahoe communities from wildfire and aquatic invasive species to promoting alternative transportation and sustainable lifestyles.

Children from the Meyers and South Lake Tahoe communities took part in the Lake Valley Fire Protection District's (LVFPD) second annual Easter Egg Hunt on Sunday at Tahoe Paradise Park.

10,000 plastic eggs were hidden in the park, each filled with candy, Lake Valley tattoos and some special golden eggs with prizes.

Jamie Sessions, and her husband LVFPD Fleet Manager Andrew Session, took two of their chickens to the event for the kids and their families to enjoy.

If conditions are favorable next week, the Tahoe Douglas Fire Protection District, California State Parks and the U.S. Forest Service are scheduled to continue prescribed fire operations starting Monday, April 17. If favorable, operations are scheduled near Meeks Bay, Tahoe City, Glenbrook, Round Hill, Lower Kingsbury Grade, South Lake Tahoe, and Meyers. Weather permitting, operations may continue over the next several weeks.

The following areas are scheduled:

A) 30 acres in the Glenbrook Area - Tahoe Douglas Fire District

Holiday fun starts on Friday and goes through the weekend with Easter Egg Hunts and brunches.

Tot Egg Hunt at Kahle Community Park- Friday, April 14 - Sponsored by the Tahoe Douglas Firefighter's Association. Tot Egg Hunt is an Extra special day for Family Fun! The Easter Bunny will be hiding eggs outside and you can climb on fire trucks. Come inside and enjoy the bounce house, indoor playground, and refreshments. Bring a basket to collect eggs and a camera for an EGGciting day! Hunt begins at 11:00 AM.

The Douglas County Board of Commissioners have declared a State of Emergency in preparation for the potential of flooding associated with spring runoff and for stormy conditions such as this weekend. . The declaration has been submitted to the State of Nevada and will allow regional partners to expedite mitigation efforts as well as speed up the delivery of resources required to more effectively respond to an emergency.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. – The Tahoe Douglas Fire Protection District, California State Parks and the U.S. Forest Service plan on continuing prescribed fire operations April 3, weather and conditions permitting.

Scheduled operations are near Tahoe City, Glenbrook, Round Hill, Kingsbury Grade, and Meyers.

A) 30 acres in Glenbrook
B) 40 acres at Edgewood Creek
C) 15 acres on Lower Kingsbury
D) 30 acres at Burton Creek State Park
E) 50 acres at Logan Creek and Highway 50 near Cave Rock
F) 20 acres on Grass Lake Road and SR89
G) 30 acres on SR89 and Luther Pass

The California Tahoe Conservancy, Tahoe Douglas Fire Protection District, California State Parks and the U.S. Forest Service are planning on continuing prescribed fire operations March 27, depending on conditions.

If fire crews get the okay, operations will be near Tahoe City, Glenbrook, Round Hill, Kingsbury Grade, and South Lake Tahoe.

South Lake Tahoe - 15 acres at Sunset Stables Property. North of Elks Club neighborhood, East of Upper Truckee River.

South Shore Nevada - Lower Kingsbury Area - 15 acres, Edgewood Creek Area - 40 acres.

The following 62 businesses took out business licenses with the City of South Lake Tahoe during the month of January:

1/3/17
3686 APARTMENTS
CUCHNA CAPITAL LLC 3
GLAZED & CONFUZED TAHOE DONUT LLC
JEAN DUPLEXES
THE HOLMAN FAMILY TRUST

1/4/17
APARTMENTS - 3820 PENTAGON
APARTMENTS - 3824 PENTAGON
CLARITY AND BLISS BODYWORK
FARR RENTALS
FLOOR TECH INC
HEAGY CONSTRUCTION IMPROVEMENTS
MARK WOODLEY FIRE PROTECTION
VILLA RUSSO

1/5/17
CORAL PROPERTY MANAGER
TRI WEST HOMES INC

1/6/17
1032 4TH ST APARTMENTS
FIRESIDE LODGE BED & BREAKFAST
MARK & LORI BURWELL

The west shore of Lake Tahoe now has access to advanced medical services with the announcement that the Meeks Bay Fire Protection District's Station 61 is now designated as an Advanced Life Support (ALS) Station.

As of January 16 2017, the station is now staffed with a minimum of one captain and one paramedic. Primary response from the station will continue to be E-61, with additional response from the closest medic unit. The ALS units at Meeks Bay Fire Protection District work as part of comprehensive plan to provide the advanced services to the west and north shore of Lake Tahoe.

The Douglas County Board of Commissioners have declared a State of Emergency in preparation for the significant flooding event forecast for this weekend. The declaration has been submitted to the State of Nevada and will allow regional partners to speed up the delivery of resources required to more effectively respond to an emergency and meet the needs of the community during a time of crisis and well as take the first steps toward a State declaration.

1/1/17 update 3:20 p.m. - A local restaurant manager has been identified as one of the victims in the South Lake Tahoe New Year's fire that destroyed both sides of Round Hill duplex.

Joanna Janowicz, manager of Casey's, an American Cantina at the Round Hill mall, her five-year-old son and boyfriend were out to dinner when fire broke out in their home, destroying all of their belongings and killing their three pets.

A 13-year-old boy is lucky to be alive this afternoon after falling through the ice at Lake Baron on the South Shore.

The teen was riding his bike on top of the ice December 28 when his front tire fell through the thinning ice, then he and the rest of his bike followed.

A visitor, Ian Whitmarsh of Oakland, Calif., heard the young man's shouts for help and crawled out onto the ice to help rescue the unidentified boy.

The North Lake Tahoe and Tahoe Douglas fire protection districts may continue prescribed fire operations next week if conditions are favorable. Areas scheduled to be burned are in the Glenbrook, Round Hill, Lower Kingsbury Grade and Tahoe City area.

To view a map with project locations and details, visit the Tahoe Fire and Fuels Team (TFFT) website at http://www.tahoefft.org.

Burns in areas A-D (see map):

(A) North Lake Tahoe Fire District will be burning 5 acres in the Bunker Drive area.

Prescribed fire operations by the Tahoe Douglas Fire Protection District, California Tahoe Conservancy and the U.S. Forest Service will continue next week at several locations around Lake Tahoe.

Fall and winter bring cooler temperatures and precipitation, which favor prescribed burning. The joint efforts to remove excess vegetation are scheduled to take place at nine different locations including Glenbrook, Cave Rock, Round Hill, lower Kingsbury Grade, South Lake Tahoe, Tahoe Paradise and Meyers.

South Upper Truckee - 50 acres
North Upper Truckee, Homer - 20 acres

The following 47 businesses took out business licenses with the City of South Lake Tahoe during the month of September:

09/01/2016
ASHLIE CURTIN RIDESHARE
DANIEL JONES RIDESHARE
DONNAS RIDESHARE
N. CEBALLOS INC

09/02/2016
CLAY RUSSELL RIDESHARE
IVANA RIDESHARE
JACQUELINE PALMER RIDESHARE
MIGUEL R RIDESHARE
RANDY CARLSON RIDESHARE

09/06/2016
KDC CONSTRUCTION
SHANNON SMITH RIDESHARE

09/07/2016
EFREN ROSALES RIDESHARE
HEALING JOURNEYS

09/08/2016
SIERRA VIEW HONEY

09/09/2016
RANDYS QUALITY ROOFING
RITCHIE ELECTRIC
RYAN SELF RIDESHARE

09/13/2016

The election was seven days ago, but the final ballots cast in El Dorado County have yet to be tabulated, and it might not be until Friday for the results of over 20,000 ballots are released. Another 3,000 provisional ballots should be counted by Monday.

As of 5:00 p.m. November 15, the 20,000 ballots were about to be scanned.

Continuing prescribed fire operations by the North Lake Tahoe and Tahoe Douglas fire protection districts and the U.S. Forest Service are scheduled to resume on Tuesday, November 15 in several areas around Lake Tahoe.

If conditions are favorable, buring is scheduled at Stillwater Cover near Crystal Bay, off Logan Creek Drive, near Cave Rock, Zephyr Heights and Round Hill, and on urban lots near Heavenly Mountain Resort, off North Upper Truckee Road and near Big Meadow off Highway 89 South. Operations will continue as conditions allow.

Jim Antti started off working as a firefighter/paramedic for Tahoe Doulgas Fire Protection District 24 years ago, and today he is their new assistant chief.

Antti was hired in June of 1992, promoted to captain in February, 2003, and to battalion chief in June, 2013.

6:00 a.m. 11/9 Update: It took awhile for ballots to be counted, but 100 percent of the precincts have now been counted for El Dorado County and South Lake Tahoe. The results are unofficial as some mail-in ballots will still be tallied.

Former councilwoman Brooke Laine and hospital executive Jason Collin will be headed to the South Lake Tahoe City Council in what turned out to be a close race with local politics newcomer, Tamara Wallace. Current Councilwoman JoAnn Conner will not be returning for a second term.

SLT City Council results, the top two vote-getters win:

Many are ready for this election to be over the national level with the negativity surrounding the campaigns. On a local level there are several choices before voters.

If you have not already submitted your ballots, find your polling place here:

California
Nevada

If you live in the South Lake Tahoe City limits, you are able to vote for two of ten candidates for City Council (in alphabetical order):

Brooke Laine
Dan McLaughlin
Jason Collin
JoAnn Conner

Daylight Saving Time (DST) ends at exactly at 2:00 a.m. this Sunday, November 6. Turn the clocks back one hour if you live in most of the United States (most of Arizona and Hawaii don't observe DST).

The Lake Valley Fire Department is using this change in time to remind residents to also change their smoke detector batteries. The batteries should be replaced twice a year, so an easy way to remember to change them is to do it as DST begins and ends.

I've never met anyone that likes taxes, but we pay them to fund the things we need in our lives: fire protection, law enforcement, education, roads, and services, just to name a few.

In November, Measure U is before the voters of South Lake Tahoe. A "yes" vote will add an extra 1/2 percent to the sales tax on non-food items purchased in the city limits. Currently, the tax is eight percent so the increase works out to be an extra five cents on every ten dollars purchased. It is estimated the tax increase would bring in an extra $2.5 million to the City.

UPDATE 1:00PM 10/15/16: The Little Valley Fire in Washoe Valley has now burned 3,460 acres with 5 percent containment. Four injuries due to smoke inhalation have been reported.

The Sierra Front Type III Incident Management Team reports that 22 residences and 17-outbuildings have been destroyed. 500 structures are still under threat.

Interstate 580 is open in both directions, as is old U.S. Highway 395. Franktown Road, the area where most of the home damage is, remains closed.

Homeowners in the Lake Valley Fire Protection District (LVFPD) area are encouraged to take advantage of their free curbside chipping service through the month of October.

The chipping crew is still actively responding to requests and will be available through the month as long as conditions permit.