valley fire

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - On Tuesday, April 2, 325 6th graders from South Tahoe Middle School, Zephyr Cove Elementary School and home-schooled youth, will spend the day at Lake Tahoe Community College going through the 16th annual Drug Store Project.

Since 2004, middle school students in the Lake Tahoe Unified School District (LTUSD) have gone through the Drug Store Project (DSP), a day-long comprehensive drug prevention program designed to educate youth about the dangers of substance use and abuse.

EL DORADO COUNTY, Calif. - A public meeting to discuss vegetation management options in an effort to reduce fire danger in area communities will be held on Monday, March 18 from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. in the upstairs meeting room at Lake Valley Fire Protection District Headquarters.

Fire is a big concern in Lake Tahoe and El Dorado County and protecting the community and its residents will take management of surrounding vegetation. The meeting will discuss threats and remedies.

3/2/19 UPDATE: Due to the projected weather conditions in South Lake Tahoe, the Monday, March 4th Vegetation Management meeting has been cancelled. The meeting well be rescheduled at a later date.

EL DORADO COUNTY, Calif. - A public meeting to discuss vegetation management options in an effort to reduce fire danger in area communities will be held on Monday, March 4 from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. in the upstairs room at Lake Valley Fire Protection District Headquarters.

MEYERS, Calif. - Traffic through neighborhoods in the Meyers area has become unbearable to many residents as vehicles leaving South Lake Tahoe to take to side streets in an effort to circumvent Highway 50 traffic over Echo Summit.

In an effort to find solutions to a problem that keeps Meyers residents from their homes for hours at a time, a townhall-style meeting was held on Friday night.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - The 2019 Amgen Tour of California will be the longest and most challenging in its 14-year history, including a Men’s Stage 2 race from Rancho Cordova to South Lake Tahoe on May 13. This marks the fifth straight year South Lake Tahoe has hosted an Amgen Tour of California event.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - It's almost a perfect storm for traffic in Lake Tahoe: extra visitors in town for the holiday weekend and epic ski conditions with snow and chain requirements over US50 and Echo Summit.

On Monday, locals and visitors alike were part of that storm, leaving motorists stranded along US 50, Lake Tahoe Blvd., and all surface streets in Meyers that have a link to the highway over Echo Summit.

MEYERS, Calif - A quick response by Lake Valley Fire Protection District (LVFPD) kept a Tuesday afternoon fire from spreading in Meyers, just outside of South Lake Tahoe.

The calls into 911 first alerted first responders that a car had collided with a residence on Tomahawk Lane and Apache Avenue. Upon arrival they found a structure and vehicle fire.

At 3:18 p.m., LVFPD responded with engines, medic and battalion chiefs while South Lake Tahoe Fire Rescue also sent an engine and crew.

UPDATE at 9:00 a.m. 1/12/19: One man has been arrested in connection with this fire. To see more: http://southtahoenow.com/story/01/12/2019/one-arrested-south-lake-tahoe-honey-oil-explosion

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UPDATE at 8:45 p.m. 1/11/19: The South Lake Tahoe Fire Rescue is still on the scene of an earlier fire on Kyburz Avenue. The cause of the fire is under investigation by both the fire and police departments.

New Detective Sgt. Travis Cabral said he did not expect any further updates tonight.

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Dear Community, With a very heavy heart, I feel it is my responsibility to share the statement I gave yesterday at the Public Comment portion of the special School Board meeting that focused on the events of Sierra House’s 11/11 fire and clean-up. We are all deeply grateful for the success of Lake Valley Fire and all the specialists and District staff that have bent heaven and earth to help remediate all aspects of this situation. I write with deep respect and gratitude for all that LTUSD leadership has done for our family and community as well.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - A fire that destroyed a hallway, reading room and teacher's room on Sunday, November 11 was just seconds away from engulfing all of Sierra House Elementary. Had it not been for the quick response by Lake Valley Fire Protection District the discussion would be about replacing the 44-year-old South Lake Tahoe school rather than the processes involved to get it cleaned up and opened in just two days.

The longstanding tradition of a decorated fire truck in South Lake Tahoe and Meyers continues again in 2018. Here is the Lake Valley Fire Protection District's holiday engine neighborhood schedule. The truck runs December 11-23, 2018.

December 11 – Echo View Estates, Tahoe Mountain Road, Mule Deer Circle
December 12 – Lake Tahoe Blvd from Boulder Mountain Drive to Grizzly Mountain Drive
December 13 – West side of North Upper Truckee from Zuni Street Highway 50, Chiapa Drive
December 14 – East side of North Upper Truckee from Grizzly Mountain to West San Bernardino Ave.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - A fire at Sierra House Elementary School on November 11, 2018 was caused by an electrical overload due to “daisy chain wiring” of two power cords in a classroom.

When firefighters from Lake Valley Fire Protection District (LVFPD) arrived at the school at 9:35 p.m. they found smoke once the front doors were opened and flames observed as they turned the corner near the "upper pod" wing.

The Golden Bear neighborhood of South Lake Tahoe will be holding an evacuation planning meeting with the Lake Valley Fire Protection District (LVFPD) on Wednesday, November 14 at 5:30 p.m. at Station 6.

Residents in the area have created a spread sheet of every home, information on the residents, how many pets and other specific issues with each home. The approached LVFPD in helping them to prepare evacuation information since there is only one entrance/exit to their area off Pioneer Trail.

The names of the two South Lake Tahoe police detectives involved in last Monday's officer involved shooting have been released.

10.3.18 update: The South Lake Tahoe Fire Department has released their final report on the September 22 fire at a Sonora Avenue home.

According to their report, the exact cause of the fire could not be determined except that it started on the couch on the first floor.

Property loss is estimated at $200,000 with an additional $50,000 in contents loss. Smoke detectors were installed at the home and all went off when the fire started.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - Emergency crews responded to two South Lake Tahoe fires on Saturday, one a house fire and another a brush fire.

Fire Fest 2018 will be held on Saturday, September 29, 2018, from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. outside the Hard Rock Casino Lake Tahoe. Admission is free and it's a great opportunity for families to have fun while learning about fire safety and conservation.

Helicopters will star again this year as they land just outside the venue at the Hard Rock Casino Lake Tahoe. What an incredible opportunity to get a close-up look at these amazing machines. Crews will be on hand to answer questions and explain how they help us when we need them most.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - Had it not been for the quick response by first responders, a fire at a South Lake Tahoe home Wednesday could have been much worse due to the dry conditions and high winds.

Lake Valley Fire Protections District (LVFPD) crews responded to a structure fire off of Lodgepole Trail. Upon arrival crews found the home in flames and additional resources were called to the scene to prevent further spread of fire to neighboring homes and vegetation.

"The cause of the fire is under investigation but appears to be accidental," said Kileigh Labrado of LVFPD.

South Lake Tahoe Fire Rescue (SLTFR) held a mass casualty/active shooter drive Thursday at their training center on Rufus Allen Blvd.

Since first responders don't want to use a real event to test their skills, drills of these types are crucial to their being prepared.

Tahoe Douglas Fire, Lake Valley Fire, California Highway Patrol, Care Flight/Remsa, Cal-Star, Cal-Tahoe JPA, South Tahoe Action Team, the FBI and South Lake Tahoe Police Department all joined SLTFR and 22 volunteers in the drills.

This story has been updated to include Lake Tahoe Community College Board of Trustees candidates.

Nine South Lake Tahoe residents have qualified to run in November and thrown in their hats for three open seats on City Council.

The three incumbents, Mayor Wendy David, Mayor Pro Tem Tom Davis and Councilman Austin Sass will all be running for reelection. They will be joined by some veterans of local politics as well as newcomers.

There are still a few days left for those interested in running for public office this November, but several candidates have completed the process to qualify for the ballot. The following number of seats will be open: El Dorado County Board of Supervisors (1), LTUSD School Board (2) , City Council (3), City Clerk (1), City Treasurer (1), South Tahoe Public Utility District (3), Tahoe Paradise Recreation and Park District, and Lake Tahoe Community College Board of Trustees (3).

The deadline to complete the candidate process is August 10, 2018.

During the July 24 El Dorado County Board of Supervisor's meeting, the next phase of additions to the Vacation Home Rental (VHR) ordinance will be discussed.

The ad hoc committee of Supervisors Sue Novasel and Michael Ranalli will be making the following recommendations:

Cap at a maximum of 12 overnight occupants, even if a home has enough bedrooms to accommodate more. The calculation of 2 people per bedroom plus 2. If someone wishes to have more than 12 the homeowner may apply for a conditional use permit.

A fire destroyed a vehicle parked outside a Meyers residence early Tuesday morning. The call came in at 3:26 a.m. July 17, and Lake Valley Fire Protection District, CalFire and the El Dorado County Sheriff's Office (EDSO) reponded.

The fire was contained to the vehicle which was parked on Zuni Street.

The incident is an active investigation on a suspicious fire, according to EDSO Sergeant Anthony Prencipe.

No other details at this point.

9:14 p.m. update: The James Loop Fire was reported at 12:45 p.m. at the James Canyon Development near Carson City, Nevada. Tonight, the fire was mapped at 260 acres and is currently 30 percent contained. The fire was caused by heavy equipment working on a new home under construction The fire burned 163 acres of private and 107 acres of Bureau of Indian Affairs lands, but threatened lands
managed by the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest. The East Fork Fire Protection District was in unified command with the U.S. Forest Service.

There are important regulations to be aware of when visiting and living in Lake Tahoe, and not all jurisdictions have the same rules.

City of South Lake Tahoe

No outside fires are allowed in the City unless it is a cooking fire with charcoal in a barbecue or in a fire pit with gas piped in, or one that uses liquid petroleum. Anything that creates embers is banned, including wood burning fire pits and backyard bonfires.

Even if wood fire pit has mesh lid, it is banned. No open burning is allowed at this time, including the burning of pine needles are yard debris.