Prescribed fires to resume Monday throughout the Lake Tahoe Basin
Submitted by Jeff Munson on Fri, 03/14/2014 - 11:16am
Smoke may be visible west of Carson City beginning Monday as the U.S. Forest Service continues prescribed fire operations in numerous locations around the Lake Tahoe Basin.
Prescribed burning may continue through the week and possibly the weekend if weather, staffing and conditions allow, according to the Forest Service. Fire operations are scheduled to take place at Spooner Summit and in the Luther Pass Campground off of Highway 89 near South Lake Tahoe.
On the West Shore, operations will take place off of Tahoe Park Heights Drive in Ward Canyon, the west side of Highway 89 N near Tahoma, and near D. L. Bliss State Park. Locations may vary due to changing conditions.
Meanwhile, the Nevada Division of Forestry is also scheduling prescribed fires throughout spring at Tunnel Creek in the Lake Tahoe Nevada State Park backcountry. Fifty acres will be burned in eight separate treatments near Tunnel Creek road, from State Route 28 to Tunnel Creek Station.
According to a U.S. Forest Service news release, all prescribed fire projects are conducted in accordance with an approved prescribed fire burn plan. Burn plans describe specific conditions under which operations are conducted including the weather, number of personnel, opportunities to minimize smoke impacts, and available burn days. This information is used to decide when and where to burn.
Smoke from prescribed fire may continue for several days after the initial ignition. Smoke that settles in low lying areas in the morning usually lifts out of the area during normal daytime heating. All prescribed fires are monitored regularly for burning and smoke dispersal and action is taken to mitigate concerns as they arise. The Forest Service makes every effort to conduct prescribed fire operations during weather patterns that carry smoke away from communities.
Last summer’s wildfires serve as a reminder of the importance of fuels reduction and that smoke produced during a prescribed fire is less intense and of shorter duration than that of a wildfire, the Forest Service states. For more information on prescribed fire and smoke management tips, go here.
Forest Service staff will post road signs around the areas affected by the prescribed fire, send email notifications, and update the local fire information line at 530-543-2600, #6. To receive prescribed fire notifications, send an email to pa_ltbmu@fs.fed.us.
To learn more about the efforts to reduce wildfire risks in the Tahoe Basin read the Lake Tahoe Basin Multi-jurisdictional Fuel Reduction Plan found here. To learn more about prescribed fire and wildfires go here.
