fire season

As ashes fell delicately from a blazing orange sky earlier this week, Lake Tahoe got a jarring glimpse of just one of the threats of the climate crisis. The frequency and intensity of wildfires in the West are breaking records and destroying communities. Scientists are also measuring wilder weather patterns, more severe droughts, and changing ecosystems as the planet’s temperature rises. More drought means more dead trees, and hotter summers mean a longer and more
severe fire season.

If the 4th of July weekend is any indication, Tahoe is under pressure. As coronavirus cases grow nearly everywhere, people naturally look to the mountains, fresh air, and clear water of Tahoe as a respite. Now residents and visitors alike are struggling to adjust to the confusion around re-opening, and visitation that is normally our lifeblood is suddenly a health risk.

LAKE TAHOE, Calif./Nev. - The USDA Forest Service Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit (LTBMU) is enacting campfire restrictions to protect the health and safety of employees and communities, effective immediately and until further notice. Outside of developed campgrounds and certain permitted facilities, igniting, building, maintaining or using a fire on national forest land in Lake Tahoe will be prohibited.

ROUND HILL, Nev. - Every Labor Day, the Tahoe Douglas Fire Protection District (TDFPD) holds a pancake breakfast to support local students in their quest for higher education, and in particular in the field of public service.

They serve Douglas County at Lake Tahoe from the top of Kingsbury Grade to the top of Spooner Summit. This year they chose to invest in the Douglas High School graduating class of 2019 and awarded Alexa Moss with their annual scholarship.

Many of their employees and retirees reside in the valley and have raised their families there.

NV Energy is holding a meeting on Wednesday in Incline Village to inform customers about their Public Safety Outage Management (PSOM) this fire season.

The open house will explain how they will shut off power in extreme fire-risk areas, including Lake Tahoe, during a PSOM event. When certain environmental conditions are met, power will be shut down in order to protect their customers, equipment and environment from wildfires.

Welcome to summer! The solstice officially arrived Friday at 8:54 a.m., welcoming in the longest day of the year. As the snowpack melts away, and the lake fills above rim, we enter the warm and dry months that we relish after winter. As Lake Tahoe’s landscape begins to dry out, wildfire danger will grow.

Our respite from the seasonal dangers of wildfire here in the basin is coming to an end. With temperatures climbing, relative humidity lowering, and afternoon winds blowing across the lake, the basin will become susceptible to wildfire.

El Dorado County has created a new website as part of its efforts to keep residents informed, safe and prepared for wildfires. Part of this new informative site is an explanation of defensible space and the County's new vegetation ordinance that takes effect May 30, 2019.

The County will use the next nine months to educate the public as to what the ordinance is and how to comply.

Over the last several months there has been a great deal of wildland fire activity around the region. Sadly, most fires are human-caused and completely preventable if the public would take the time to better understand conditions that are favorable for fire starts. Fire prevention is the key to keeping our communities and forests safe from wildfire.

Although fire season is now considered a year-round event, wildfires mostly occur in the late summer and early fall when temperatures are still high, humidity is low and vegetation that can feed a wildfire is extremely dry.

LAKE TAHOE, Calif./Nev. – As we’ve learned from the recent Fire Season Outlook, year-round fire season is the new normal in the Lake Tahoe Basin and throughout the country. Now is the perfect time to learn what to do to prepare your home and family to survive wildfire, and to take action. To help you with this, the collaborative members of the Tahoe Fire and Fuels Team are once again conducting Lake Tahoe Wildfire Awareness Month throughout the month of June. We encourage you to “Prepare Now! Wildfire Knows No Season.”

Mountaintop cameras from the University of Nevada, Reno spotted or tracked 240 fires in Nevada and California in 2017. This helped to keep firefighters more situationally aware and able to mount appropriate responses more rapidly over tens of thousands of square miles of forests and rangelands, including rural communities.

This is a new and expanding tool for fire managers who oversee the wildland and wildland/urban interface.

The heartbreaking fires in Northern California’s wine country this month have upended hundreds of thousands of people’s lives. In just over one week, the fires across Northern California burned more than 220,000 acres, destroyed 6,000 buildings, and killed more than 40 people. Our hearts go out to our neighbors in Napa, Sonoma, and Mendocino counties.

The following is from the office of Senator Ted Gaines (R-El Dorado):

Senator Gaines this week recognized the 10th anniversary of the devastating Angora Fire and pledged his continued efforts to increase fire safety in the Lake Tahoe Basin.

This June is wildfire awareness month at Lake Tahoe. It also marks the 10th anniversary of the Angora Fire, the most destructive wildland fire in memory at Tahoe.

An illegal and abandoned campfire started the Angora Fire on June 24, 2007. The fire quickly spread toward Meyers, stoked by strong winds and forests overgrown with hazardous fuels. In a few days, the fire burned 3,100 acres and destroyed 254 homes.

As fire season heats up across the country, a group of over 1,000 partners of wildland firefighters have joined together to raise money for those who are injured on the job with a Virtual 5k run/walk. Run or walk five kilometers wherever you wish. 100 percent of the proceeds from this event will go to the Wildland Firefighter Foundation's Fallen and Injured Grant Fund.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. – The Tahoe Fire and Fuels Team is reminding the public that fire danger in the Lake Tahoe Basin remains high due to the ongoing drought and lack of precipitation. Illegal campfires and warming fires continue to be a concern for fire officials and are the major cause of wildfires in the basin. Fire restrictions are still in effect on National Forest land and will remain in effect until the official end of fire season.

Nine years after the devastating Angora Fire in South Lake Tahoe, the AlertTahoe system of cameras around the Lake Tahoe basin is helping to prevent another such disaster.

June 6, 2016: The Sagehen Fire, north of Truckee, broke out and was quickly extinguished by the USFS, Northstar and Truckee Fire Departments.

June 9, 2016: The Truckee Meadows Fire Department quickly put out the Patrick Fire off Interstate 80, near Reno.

Personal use fireworks are illegal to use or possess in the Lake Tahoe Basin, including sparklers and so-called “safe and sane” fireworks. As you enjoy your holiday, leave fireworks to the professionals by attending one of the many public displays around Lake Tahoe.

With illegal and unattended campfires the cause of over 90% of wildfires in the Lake Tahoe Basin, new fire restrictions go into place on July 1, 2015. Campfires and charcoal barbecues will be restricted to designated recreation sites, and other fire-related activities are prohibited until the end of fire season.

“Increased fire danger due to the ongoing drought combined with warmer and dryer weather is a big concern for the basin," said U.S. Forest Service fire management officer, Kit Bailey. "Fire restrictions help reduce the possibility of human caused fires.”

Markleville residents are faced with the possibility of having to evacuate if the Washington Fire comes towards their town.

Skyland residents recently took part in a neighborhood fire drill, being told they had to evacuate their homes in 10 minutes.

What would yo take?

That plan should start now, before you are faced with that time of fear and panic.

Prepare a 'Disaster Preparedness Kit.' Items in this kit should last you and your family for three days:

With fires already burning out of control in Alaska and Southern California, there is no time like the present to learn how to prevent fires.

The Wildfire Safety Expo was held Saturday in South Lake Tahoe, and kids and adults alike learned not only fire safety tips, but were able to interact with the multiple agencies in the area that fight and prevent fires.

Also on hand at the Expo were law enforcement, TRPA, the City of South Lake Tahoe and the Lake Tahoe Humane Society.

Douglas County homeowners have an opportunity to compost their residential yard waste early this fire season when TDFPD hosts a kickoff event for Compost Your Combustibles with coffee and donuts on Saturday, May 23 at 9am. The free annual recycling program which historically has started on Memorial Day Weekend is now open at Heavenly Mountain Resort’s Boulder Lodge Parking Lot.

A wildland fire off of Highway 395 was quickly contained by the Douglas County East Fire District Friday afternoon.

At approximately 4 p.m., the report of a fire burning just north of Stephanie Lane in Minden, NV came into dispatch. The quick moving fire spread to the dry sagebrush along the highway, closing the northbound land between Minden and Carson City for awhile.

By 6:30 p.m. Friday the fire was 95% contained and the road has reopened. It is estimated at this time that 3-4 acres burned.

Fire restrictions have gone into effect in the Lake Tahoe Basin. Campfires and charcoal barbecues will be restricted to designated recreation sites, and other fire-related activities will be prohibited until the end of fire season. “With record drought conditions in the West, agencies in both California and Nevada are anticipating increased fire activity,” said Fire Management Officer, Kit Bailey. “Fire restrictions help reduce the possibility of accidental human caused fires.”

On National Forest System land fire restrictions mean:

Can you survive the next wildfire in Lake Tahoe? Yes, if your community is prepared.

The Lake Tahoe Basin's firefighting agencies and UNR Cooperative Education have come together to promote the "Fire Adapted Community Concept." This type of community has five elements:

1. Community Protection - Well-designed fuelbreaks and safe areas protect the community.
2. Defensible Space - Proper management of vegetation surrounding the home reduces the wildfire threat.
3. Access - Good access helps emergency responders arrive in a timely manner.