wildfires

The Tahoe Network of Fire Adapted Communities (Tahoe Network), with generous support from the Tahoe Fund, is hosting a free virtual screening of the award-winning documentary Wilder than Wild: Fire, Forests, and the Future through the Tahoe Art Haus & Cinema from June 5 - June 11, 2020.

Wilder than Wild is a one-hour documentary that reveals how fire suppressioand climate change have exposed Western landscapes to large, high-intensity wildfires. The film goes on to explore strategies that are being developed to help mitigate the impact of these fires.

Friday evening brought thunderclaps and patchy showers to Lake Tahoe, adding to the flow of streams and rivers the following day as 40 participants collected water quality samples across Tahoe’s South Shore as part of Snapshot Day. This citizen science water quality monitoring event takes place every May and provides a moment-in-time look at the water quality and environmental health of the Tahoe-Truckee watershed.

LAKE TAHOE, Calif./Nev. - The Tahoe Network of Fire Adapted Communities is presenting their ninth "Tip of the Week," an ongoing series for the public since they are unable to perform their normal community outreach services. All tips are ways people can prepare for wildfire while staying at home. They will be providing a total of ten tips.

This Week's Tip: Up Your Preparedness Game With Online Tools

At the request of Alpine County in California, all Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest lands within the boundaries of the county will be temporarily closed to overnight camping starting on Saturday, April 25, 2020.

“We recognize that this overnight camping restriction comes at a time when many are seeking respite in natural areas,” said Forest Supervisor Bill Dunkelberger. “However, this temporary closure is to support state, county, and local authorities in controlling COVID-19 pandemic.”

LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - At its last meeting, the California Tahoe Conservancy (CTC) authorized $912,000 for grants to advance climate change adaptation and improve community sustainability in the Lake Tahoe Basin.

The Conservancy Board approved three climate adaptation grants, all funded by Proposition 68:

STATELINE, Nev. - The public is invited to take part in one of several meetings over the next two weeks that will go over NV Energy's Natural Disaster Protection Plan (NDPP).

The public is invited to take part as the utility shares key elements of their draft NDPP and solicit feedback before it is filed with the Public Utilities Commission of Nevada by March 1, 2020.

Senate Bill 329 addresses how the utilities will mitigate and respond to wildfires, severe storms and other natural disaster risks in service territories.

The Tahoe National Forest will be hosting several public information meetings this month to discuss a proposed amendment to the Tahoe National Forest Land and Resource Management Plan.

Presentations and discussions at the public meeting will cover:

- The historic and present role of natural fire within the Tahoe National Forest

- Details of the proposed amendment that would expand opportunities to use naturally ignited, lightning-caused wildfires (natural fire) to achieve multiple resource benefits

On Thursday, Dec. 12, a federal jury returned indictments against six defendants who made false claims for benefits in connection with the 2018 Camp Fire and received funds from FEMA to compensate for their losses, U.S. Attorney McGregor W. Scott announced.

The Parasol Tahoe Community Foundation has announced a donation of $18,057 to the Tahoe Resource Conservation District (Tahoe RCD) to enhance wildfire suppression capabilities on the Nevada side of Lake Tahoe. This donation will result in the expansion of strategic and tactical Wildfire Pre Attack plans covering the entire Lake Tahoe Basin. Pre Attack Plans help first responders by identifying critical infrastructure, vulnerable population groups, evacuation routes, water sources, Temporary Refuge Areas, and locations where forests have been thinned before a wildfire strikes.

A burned area assessment of the area burned by last month's Caples Fire is now underway. The Incident Commander Kevin Breitwieser has declared that the Caples Fire is now 100 percent contained and in patrol status at 3,435 acres.

There has been almost no change in fire size since October 18. The extreme wind event on October 26 that prompted a public safety power shutoff was a good test of the containment lines and resulted in three small spots that were extinguished. Traces of smoke from interior burning will continue to be visible, but no additional fire growth is expected.

The 2019 legislative year for California has come to an end and Gov. Gavin Newsom wrapped u the session with signing several bills. His first year of office saw 870 new laws and 172 vetoed proposals.

CAL FIRE firefighters are staffing up and preparing for the forecasted extreme fire weather across California. The National Weather Service has issued red flag warnings and fire weather watches for areas of northern, central and southern California. This will likely be the strongest offshore wind event so far this season.

The Lake Tahoe Basin Fall Prescribed Fire Program may begin as early as September 24, 2019, under the management of the Tahoe Fire & Fuels Team (TFFT), which includes local, state and federal fire and land management agencies.

Weather and conditions permitting, California State Park crews may begin prescribed fire operations in Burton Creek State Park near Tahoe City and in a couple of weeks move to D.L. Bliss State Park near Tahoma.

Smoke will likely be present.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - What would happen if fire-fighting agencies could stop a wildfire before it gains momentum and wipes out homes, communities and/or forests? That is being answered with well over 100 fire cameras now in place across the west, all because of foresight of Dr. Graham Kent, the Director of the Nevada Seismological Laboratory at the University of Nevada Reno (UNR).

LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - California has just experienced the deadliest and most destructive wildfire seasons with more than 8,500 fires burning an area of more than 1.8 million acres in 2018 alone.

Fire is no stranger to Lake Tahoe.

LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - June 26, 2019 was the first day of the year categorized as "High Fire Danger" in the Lake Tahoe Basin, prompting two area fire districts to impose fire restrictions by suspending all recreational campfires and open burning.

On June 17 CAL FIRE suspended residential burn permits in the Tahoe Basin, followed by today's new restrictions by North Tahoe Fire Protection District (NTFPD) and Meeks Bay Fire Protection District (MBFPD).

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.

The following is the second in a series of stories on being a community that is prepared for wildfire.
SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - Vegetation fires are natural and were normal before policies were created to suppress them for fear of uncontrollable and destructive wildfires as seen in the late 1800s. When some of the first residents arrived in Lake Tahoe between the Gold Rush and Silver Strike, it was common to see just six-seven Jeffrey Pines per acre. Trees in the Tahoe Basin were clear cut to provide the lumber for building mines under Virginia City.

At its Board meeting in Sacramento on Thursday, the California Tahoe Conservancy accepted a $1.95 million grant from the Sierra Nevada Conservancy to co-manage the Tahoe-Central Sierra Initiative (TCSI), a pioneering landscape-level effort to restore forest and watershed resilience to more than 2.4 million acres.

At a price tag of $150 million, the California legislature is considering a bill that, if approved, would change the way the Sierra snowpack is measured each year.

For 90 years the snowpack has been measured at several locations including Phillips, just west of Lake Tahoe. Normally performed in front of media, staff from the California Department of Water Resources (DWR) snowshoe into a spot where they stick a pole into the snow to measure the depth and water content of the snow.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - The threat of wildland fires grows in California and the Lake Tahoe Basin every year. They are becoming larger, more destructive and deadly than ever before. Do you know what to do in case of fire?

The public needs to be prepared when wildfire strikes. The Camp Fire in November 2018 was the deadliest and most destructive wildfire in California history to date. It burned 153,336 acres, destroyed 18,804 buildings and killed 85 people. The center of that fire was Paradise, California, They had held city-wide fire drills and appeared to be prepared.

While the rate at which trees died in California has slowed, an additional 18 million trees (mostly conifers) have died in the state, bringing a commitment from both the USDA Forest Service and CALFIRE to make forest health their top priority.

The USDA Forest Service announced today over 147 million trees have died across 9.7 million acres of federal, state, local and private lands in California since the drought began in 2010. Since 2016, federal, state, and local partners have felled 1.5 million dead trees, primarily those posing the highest hazards to life and property.

DOUGLAS COUNTY, Nev. - It has been announced by the Douglas County Board of County Commissioners that Tom Stone is the new county manager.

Stone, who beat out 42 potential candidates for the position, has lived in Douglas County since 2011.

“I’m looking forward to working with all five commissioners and the great staff at Douglas County”, said Stone. “Seldom in a person's lifetime do they have the opportunity to serve two exceptional counties in two great States. I am truly honored.”