burn

North Lake Tahoe and Tahoe Douglas fire protection districts, California State Parks, and the U.S. Forest Service are planning to continue prescribed fire operations next week beginning May 1. If conditions are favorable operations will take place in the following areas:

A) Glenbrook Area - 30 acres
B) Lower Kingsbury Area - 5 acres
C) Upper Jennifer/Tyner Area - 32 acres
D) Sugar Pine - 5 acres
E) Highway 50 and Logan Creek - 50 acres
F) SR89 and Grass Lake/ Luther Pass - 30 acres
G) SR89 and Fallen Leaf Lake Road - 40 acres
H) SR267/Brockway Summit - 40 acres

If conditions are favorable next week, North Lake Tahoe and Tahoe Douglas fire protection districts, California State Parks, California Tahoe Conservancy, and the U.S. Forest Service may continue prescribed fire operations on April 24, 2017.

Scheduled operations would be near Meeks Bay, Tahoe City, Kings Beach, Incline Village, Glenbrook, Round Hill, Lower Kingsbury Grade, South Lake Tahoe, and Meyers. Weather permitting, operations may continue over the next several weeks.

The following locations match the map above:
A) 30 acres near Glenbrook
B) 5 acres on Lower Kingsbury

Tahoe Douglas Fire Protection District (TDFPD), California State Parks (Parks) and the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) have scheduled more prescribed burns in the Lake Tahoe area, as long as weather permits the operations.

Starting Monday, April 10, burning may take place near Tahoe City, Glenbrook, Round Hill, Lower Kingsbury Grade, South Lake Tahoe, and Meyers.

Areas on the map above:
A) 30 acres in the Glenbrook area (TDFPD)
B) 40 acres in Edgewood Creek area (TDFPD)
C) 15 acres in Lower Kingsbury area (TDFPD)
D) 30 acres at Burton Creek State Park (Parks)

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 are incidents the South Lake Tahoe Fire Rescue department responded to from December 7, 2016 to January , 2017.

12/7: 11 calls - 5 EMS, 1 interfacility psych transfer, 1 building fire, 1 cooking fire, 1 water or steam leak, 1 no incident found, 1 carbon monoxide false alarm

12/8: 6 calls - 4 EMS, 1 interfacility transfer, 1 interfacility psych transfer

12/9: 6 calls - 4 EMS, 1 interfacility transfer, 1 unauthorized burning

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

It doesn’t take a wildland fire professional to see how fuel reduction can protect forests and communities.

It just takes a field trip to the site of the Emerald fire near the southwestern shores of Lake Tahoe.

Despite burning at the same time and under similar conditions to the disastrous Little Valley fire, the Emerald fire was much less destructive.

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.

Prescribed burning on urban lots around the South Shore resumed Tuesday, and will continue through the Fall as conditions remain favorable.

Urban lots near Heavenly Mountain Resort and off of South Upper Truckee Road near Highway 89 in Christmas Valley are on the list for fire operations.

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

It's that time of year again when the U.S. Forest Service resumes their prescribed burns in the Lake Tahoe basin to reduce fuels in sensitive areas.

Fire restrictions have not been lifted in the basin yet, but it is not uncommon for the Forest Service to conduct operations while those restrictions are still in effect according to Lisa Heron of the USFS Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit.

The Emerald Fire is 100 percent contained after burning 176 acres along Highway 89 near South Lake Tahoe.

Debris from the weekend's high winds and torrential rains near the burn area continue to impact the roadway and Highway 89 remains closed until Caltrans completes cleanup. It is closed from Fallen Leaf Lake to Emerald Bay North Gate.

According to Liberty Utilities, all customers have had power restored.

The following areas will be open to residents only:

10:00PM update - The Emerald Fire is now 90 percent contained after burning 176 acres in the Spring Creek area between Fallen Leaf and Cascade lakes and Lake Tahoe on Friday, October 14.

Heavy rains have helped put out the fire as firefighters complete the containment line above Cascade Lake.

The cause of the fire is under investigation.

Power remains off in the area as a precaution, and homeowners are still evacuated until conditions improved as flash flooding in the burn area may occur.

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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.

The following are incidents the South Lake Tahoe Fire Rescue department responded to from October 1 - 11, 2016.

10/1/16: 10 calls - 5 EMS, 1 interfacility psych transfer, 1 person in distress, 2 illegal attempts to burn, 1 alarm sounded - no fire

10/2/16: 7 calls - 3 EMS, 1 building fire, 1 vehicle accident with injuries, 1 interfacility psych transfer, 1 chimney or flue fire

10/3/16: 8 calls - 4 EMS, 2 interfacility transfers, 1 gas leak, 1 good intent call

10/4/16: 7 calls - 5 EMS, 1 no incidents found upon arrival

If conditions are favorable, prescribed fire operations will return to the region on Tuesday, October 11 near Big Meadow off Highway 89 on Luther Pass.

There are 300 acres full of hand piles ready to burn. Christmas Valley residents may get some smoke as the flow will be in a north/northeast flow.

If you see smoke around Amador, Georgetown and Placerville it will most likely be from 12,671 acres of National Forest land being burned this fall by the U.S. Forest Service.

USFS will begin its fall prescribed burn program in the Eldorado National Forest as soon as weather conditions are favorable. Fire managers plan to burn approximately, 12,671 acres of National Forest land this fall, winter and spring using a combination of understory and pile burning techniques.

It was 4:00 a.m. on Tuesday, September 28 in the year 1926. Fire had broken out at the Jack Smith Ranch at the base of Clear Creek Canyon above Carson City, Nev.

Flames were high, and the fire traveled up the canyon rapidly, getting ever so close to the source of timber for all of the state's mines at Glenbrook. The fire also burned several ranches. Strong winds fanned those flames, and caused the fire to reverse itself and come down Kings Canyon. Again, it reversed itself and raced up Kings Canyon one more.

I was invited to take part in training with South Lake Tahoe Fire Rescue in the demonstration fire trailer on Tuesday, an experience I won't soon forget, even though the temperatures I experienced were far below that of a real fire.

As I put on my fire pants, jacket, boots and head gear, my respect for firefighters instantly grew (even though it was already high on the scale). The heavy clothing protected my skin and clothing as I was exposed to 500 degrees, something most of us will never feel.

10:30 a.m. update: The Ralph Fire, burning in the Heavenly Creek/Powerline Trail area above Ralph Drive in South Lake Tahoe, is now 60 percent contained.

Firefighters are now in mop-up mode and full containment is expected shortly according to the U.S. Forest Service.

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The fourth fire to burn around South Lake Tahoe this week burned almost three acres early Friday morning in heavy brush on a steep slope above Pioneer Trail.

Dear Henry,
I am a business owner can you please explain the situation with “Service Dogs,” what is considered a service dog and what do I have to allow in my place of business which is a restaurant. I don’t want to get in trouble with ADA or the Health Department.

Thank you, Bob

Great question Bob!
This is an issue we get calls on all the time. I am going to be answering this question with information directly from the U.S. Department of Justice, Civil Rights Division, and Disability Rights Section.

The Evans Family Garden received a makeover on July 1 when members of the California Conservation Corps/Tahoe Center joined representatives of the South Tahoe Public District, Tahoe Resources Conservation District, and members of the Evans family at the site on Mt. Olympia Circle.

The groups weeded, did path rehabilitation, sheet mulching and re-planting.

Depending on where you live on the South Shore, you may be able to have a wood fire in your outdoor fire pit, or, maybe not.

Restrictions differ between Tahoe Douglas Fire Department and the City of South Lake Tahoe and Lake Valley Fire Departments.

Cal Fire and the U.S Forest Service also have fire regulations to be aware of.

June is wildfire awareness month at Lake Tahoe. And nine years later, the 2007 Angora Fire remains a vivid remember that wildfire is one of the greatest threats facing our environment, our homes, and our businesses. We must prepare accordingly.

Our region continues to take important steps to manage that wildfire threat, improve the health of our forests, and create fire adapted communities that are prepared for the next wildfire at Tahoe. But there is more work to do.