fire protection

South Tahoe Now is offering a new feature this election season, Ask the Candidates. Send your questions of Douglas County (Lake Tahoe side) and South Lake Tahoe candidates candidates, and South Tahoe Now will ask, and get their answers.

Please send your questions to: southtahoenow.com/contact.

The local candidates are:

South Lake Tahoe City Council
Jason Collin, JoAnn Conner, Patrick Jarrett, Brooke Laine, Ted Long, Danny Laughlin, Harold "Trey" Walker III, John Shearer, Robert Topel, Tamara Wallace

A woman driving on a country road on the rims of her car is suspected of starting multiple fires which make up the Willow Fire, a 450-acre fire currently burning in Calaveras County.

An investigation by peace officers with California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE) Tuolumne – Calaveras Unit determined that Renee Hogan drove on a flat tire along Mountain Ranch Road, east of the town of San Andreas, when sparks created from the dragging metal rim started several fires in the surrounding vegetation.

A 74-year-old man from Minden died Sunday after his AMS Carat Model A Power Glider crashed in the Pinenut Mountain Range.

At 2:50 p.m. on August 7, the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office was notified by the Nevada Highway Patrol of an aircraft Emergency Locator Transmitter (ELT) notification. From the air, the Nevada Civil Air Patrol and U.S. Air Force located a crashed glider approximately eight miles east of the Minden Tahoe Airport.

Here is some news to take a little “paws” with...introducing the newest trainee on the Tahoe Douglas Fire Protection District team, Gunner. He is a member of the Tahoe Douglas Explosive Ordinance Disposal team and, once he completes his training, will join six other dogs as canine resources for the Northern Nevada Bomb Technicians Task Force.

The other EOD dogs are from UNR-Police Department, Washoe County Sheriff’s Office, Reno Police Department, and three from Reno Airport TSA.

Retired Tahoe Douglas Fire Chief Ben Sharit can now rest assured that his former fire department is in good hands with the promotion of Scott Baker to Fire Chief. Baker took over the controls in July 1.

He came to the Tahoe Douglas Fire Department in December as Assistant Chief as a nation-wide search, but it turned out they didn't have to look far as Baker was Division Chief of Fleet and Facilities for the Reno Fire Department.

The Friends of the Library are excited to welcome the timely presentation by John Pickett, Forester with the Tahoe Douglas Fire Protection District. His incredibly interesting talk will teach us all about creating defensible spaces. As the temperatures rise, this is a presentation we should all attend. Join us for this free and informative program.

Location

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.

The 3rd annual Wildfire Safety Expo will be held in South Lake Tahoe on Saturday, June 11 from noon to 3:00 p.m. at the TJ Maxx parking lot at the "Y" where Highways 50 and 89 meet.

On September 12, 2001, advertising luminary Allen Kay coined the phrase, “If you see something, say something.”[1] In the wake of horrific events the day before, Kay recognized that no matter how well trained, equipped and staffed, law enforcement can’t do it alone. Within a relatively short period of time, the slogan was plastered on New York City transit vehicles. Over time, the Law Enforcement and Homeland Security slogan has become so well known it has been described as the equivalent of Nike’s “Just do it” advertisement.[2]

United Blood Services is holding a blood drive Wednesday, May 18 at Tahoe Douglas Fire Protection District Station 23 in Round Hill. Donations have declined since mid-March and the demand has escalated, dropping the available supply of Type O-Negative and Type O-positive to extremely low levels. Blood center officials have concluded that an increase in Zika deferrals after Spring Break travels has caused a decline in public responsiveness to donate blood.

Join other South Lake Tahoe residents on Thursday, May 12, 2016 at 6:00 p.m. at the South Lake Tahoe Community College and learn how to keep your home and neighborhood safer in the event of a wildfire.

Firefighters and community safety personnel need the public to help protect their neighborhoods from catastrophic wildfire. They are holding the two-hour long seminar as a new effort to help those living in Lake Tahoe in protecting their homes.

Weather permitting, Tahoe Douglas Fire Protection District and the U.S. Forest Service have scheduled prescribed fire operations again this week, starting April 25.

East Shore: Near Spooner Summit, Camp Galilee and on Kingsbury Grade near Edgewood Drive.

South Shore: Near Lake Tahoe Boulevard and Sawmill Road, Panther Lane near South Tahoe High School, off Highway 89 near Spring Creek, and off Santa Claus Drive and West River Parkway near Christmas Valley.

South Lake Tahoe Fire Chief Jeff Meston and the City's representatives on the Cal Tahoe JPA have repeated several times publicly that the City will not leave the area stranded without adequate ambulance service when they pull out of the Cal Tahoe JPA. Both Meston and City Councilmember Tom Davis, who sits on the JPA board, said the City will continue to supply ambulance personnel for at least 90 days after their original termination date of April 15 to ease the transition of EMS services to Lake Valley Fire Department.

In the mix you have El Dorado County, the City of South Lake Tahoe, Lake Valley Fire Protection and the Cal Tahoe JPA. More importantly, and most likely the reason for the passionate responses from all involved, the mix also contains the safety of the public.

On March 15, 2016, the City of South Lake Tahoe sent a letter to the JPA, stating their intent to pull out of the agency that was created in 2001 to supply ambulance service to the City and the County and a portion of Alpine County.

The South Lake Tahoe Fire Code has changed, much to the appreciation of both homeowners and contractors who had to deal with different codes, depending on the location of the home, City or in the County.

The council voted to remove restrictions on the fire sprinkler code (Chapter 5.20) to be more in line with Lake Valley Fire District. The City's stricter code confused contractors who build houses in the city, and in the county, and it was also found to be cost prohibitive for homeowners wishing to remodel.

Students at Whittell High School are looking to beat their previous record of 50 donors/units at their next blood drive on Tuesday, March 22, 2016.

Student coordinators, Ellie Krolicki and Anna White, are inviting the public to attend their first blood drive in the school's new gym from 8:30 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.

Please help them beat the WHS record of over 50 donors/units.

Whittell High School is located at 240 Warrior Way in Zephyr Cove, Nevada.

The Lake Valley Fire Protection District (LVFPD) is proud to announce Dusty LaChapelle as the District’s Firefighter of the Year and one of the Tahoe-Douglas Rotary Club’s Community Hero Award recipients. The Community Hero Award recognizes local police, fire professionals, and others in the community who embody the Rotarian motto, “Service Above Self.” The award will be given March 11, 2016 at the Tahoe-Douglas Rotary St. Patrick’s Celebration at Harrah’s Tahoe.

The Lake Valley Fire Protection District (LVFPD) has received the Automotive Service Excellence (ASE) Blue Seal of Excellence Certification. This makes their maintenance shop one of only two facilities in the Tahoe Basin to receive this distinguished honor. ASE promotes excellence in automotive repair in every part of the automotive service industry.

With over 1,000 fire hydrants within the borders of the Lake Valley Fire Protection District, they have unveiled the "Adopt a Hydrant" program.

It is impossible for fire crews to shovel and maintain all of them in a timely manner and since the California Fire Code requires fire hydrants to be free of obstructions and immediately identifiable, LVFPD is asking for the public's help.

The Lake Tahoe Restoration Act of 2015, a bipartisan bill sponsored by Nevada Sen. Dean Heller, passed the U.S. Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works on Wednesday.

The legislation, created alongside senators Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., Harry Reid, D-Nevada and Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., provides federal, state, and local partners important tools to reduce wildfire threats, improve water clarity, jumpstart innovative infrastructure projects, and combat invasive species.

It's been almost two-and-a-half years since South Lake Tahoe native Mitch Underhill died unexpectedly at the age of 34. The firefighter/paramedic with Lake Valley Fire Protection District was passionate not only about his family and career, but for the mountains and community he left behind.

In his memory, the Mitch Underhill Mountain Fund has been created at Lake Tahoe Community College.

"He was so loved in the community," said his widow Sarah. "He was an inspiration."

Tahoe Douglas Fire Protection District, California State Parks and the U.S. Forest Service are planning to resume prescribed fire operations during the week of January 10-15, 2016.

They will be concentrating on six areas (matching with letters on the attached map):

A. Emerald Bay State Park - 38 acres. Ignite 1/11/16. Expected duration of ignition and smoke, one month.

B. Sugar Pine Point State Park - 26 acres. Ignite 1/11/16. Expected duration of ignition and smoke, one month.

It has been and will remain the mission of the Lake Valley Fire Protection District to provide the highest level of public safety services for our community, its people, and the environment. As our motto states, it is “Because We Care “. Driven by these guiding principles, in 2001 the LVFPD entered into a partnership with the City of South Lake Tahoe to provide fire based ambulance transportation and advanced life support paramedic services throughout the South Shore of Lake Tahoe.

Todd Moss has been promoted to Tahoe Douglas Fire Protection District Battalion Chief. The South Tahoe High graduate has been with the department since 1998 when he started at a firefighter/paramedic.

In his new capacity, Moss will be responsible for the day to day operations for A Shift. Moss will also serve as the Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Chief and Custodian of Records. Chief Moss will be the NV PERS Chief Officer Representative, a member of the Employee Benefits Committee and he will oversee the GASB 45 and 68 compliance requirements.