Caldor Fire evacuation a year later: What has changed and is South Shore Tahoe safer?
Submitted by Jeff Munson on Thu, 09/01/2022 - 1:00pm
SOUTH LAKE TAHOE — It was the late-night knock on the door nobody wants. An officer standing there telling you to be prepared to evacuate your home due to fire.
Everyone living in the southern portion of the Lake Tahoe Basin had been watching the red and yellow maps showing which areas were under mandatory evacuation orders as well as those in the warning phase since the Caldor Fire exploded and headed east after starting in Grizzly Flats on August 14, 2021.
On Sunday, August 29, 2021, around 10 p.m., I had that knock. By 9 a.m. on Monday, August 30, I was driving out of South Lake Tahoe with two dogs, one cat, their supplies, a couple of boxes, my laptop, and a suitcase. I took pictures as I pulled away under the red and smoky sky. Having no clue where I was going I just started driving east, stopped at a friend's on lower Kingsbury Grade to write a story, then headed east and stopped in the Carson Valley to regroup.
It was scary as the wall of fire headed over the summit and into the Basin as residents evacuated. Firefighters had the fight of their lives to protect Christmas Valley and Meyers, benefitting from prior forest thinning projects to keep the fire away from homes.
The community survived.
Since there is no desire to experience a fire-related disaster, are we ready in case of another fire? What has changed since the Caldor Fire and are we safer?
Firewise communities and defensible space
One of the biggest signs of positive change has been an increase in residents doing their own defensible space work as well as an increase in the number of neighborhoods coming on board with the Firewise program.
Prior to the Caldor Fire, there were five Firewise USA-recognized communities on the South Shore. Since then, seven neighborhoods are working on Firewise USA recognition, bringing the total to 12. Additionally, there are 26 neighborhood leaders throughout the South Shore (over 60 throughout the Basin).
Although not all of them live in recognized Firewise USA communities, they have all been working closely with the Tahoe Network of Fire Adapted Communities to prepare their neighborhoods for wildfire, many of whom are applying for Firewise, according to Amanda Milici, the Fire Adapted Communities Coordinator with the Tahoe Resource Conservation District (TRCD).
Lake Valley Fire Protection District
There were 75 fire engines from throughout the state at the Lake Valley Fire Protection District (LVFPD) headquarters in Meyers when the Caldor Fire came over the ridge and into the Lake Tahoe Basin. It was ground zero for the defense of Lake Tahoe.
Since then, they have brought in one new engine built to accommodate growing needs, with two more apparatuses on order.
The El Dorado County Sheriff's Office has updated its emergency plan and the county changed the emergency notification system from CodeRED to Smart 911. LVFPD Interim Chief Chad Stephen said his department will always coordinate with the El Dorado Sheriff's Office (EDSO) at any incident and unified emergency messages will come from EDSO.
Everyone who previously signed up with CodeRED was transferred over automatically but being signed up for alerts is a very important tool. Find out more here.
LVFPD has ongoing projects to help protect the community with year-round chipping, community workdays, clean-up days, and finding new leaders to become Firewise recognized and to achieve the District's goal of 100 percent Firewise neighborhoods.
Stephen said North Upper Truckee and Golden Bear neighborhoods held clean-up days this year to maintain their Firewise recognition while Cold Creek, Marshall Trail, and Black Bart neighborhoods all had community workdays with the agency's assistance. Christmas Valley east, Meadow Lakes, and Spring Creek will all be holding work days before winter, giving LVFPD a big jump on its goal of 100 percent Firewise-compliant neighborhoods.
Community work days are a collaborative effort with LVFPD, the Tahoe Douglas Fire Zephyr crew, Calfire Tahoe crew, TRCD, and Fire Adapted Communities assist neighborhoods with the more extensive cleanup that is required and needed (and South Lake Tahoe Fire Rescue when in the City limits). Clean-up days are days where agencies aren't assisting but are where a neighborhood is working together to maintain its Firewise certification.
South Lake Tahoe Emergency Operations
Just prior to the Caldor Fire the City of South Lake Tahoe had completed a city-wide evacuation plan. During the fire, that plan was fine-tuned through a coordinated effort between the City, the County, and surrounding agencies.
"Immediately following the Caldor fire we evaluated the document for its effectiveness and our wins and losses," said South Lake Tahoe Fire Rescue (SLTFR) Chief Jim Drennan.
That evaluation led to Drennan coordinating an 'After Action Review' with City staff that were assigned to the EOC (Emergency Operations Center).
They found prior EOC training had proven very timely.
The projects SLTFR is working on specifically, are much more geared to ramping up fuel management within the city and building some relationships with California Tahoe Conservancy, LTBMU, Tahoe Reginal Planning Agency (TRPA), and others. Drennan said they are also building a Fire Prevention Bureau within the department to better manage our fire inspectors and defensible space inspectors.
A new fire marshal will be added to that bureau when hired.
The South Lake Tahoe Chief of Police David Stevenson said after the fire they looked at things done from an emergency management standpoint. They evaluated their procedures and if anything could be done differently should there be a 'next time.' Safety plans have been refreshed, as any entity should do, and Stevenson said it's important to not be complacent.
"We know next time it won't be exactly, the same," said Stevenson.
His department benefitted in an unexpected way after the Caldor Fire. Two police officers from other jurisdictions came to South Lake Tahoe to help during the evacuation. They went back home and started the process to transfer and move to South Lake Tahoe.
Forest Thinning Projects
Since the Caldor Fire, the U.S. Forest Service, Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit (LTBMU) has been currently engaged in bringing the following projects to completion, according to LTBMY Fuels Battalion Chief, Tod Flowers:
- Signed Planning Decision for the Caldor Hazard Tree and Fuel Reduction Project
- Signed Planning Decision for Urban Forestry project
- Signed Planning Decision for NV Energy Resilience Corridors project
Prepping and Implementing: Incline Hazardous Fuel Reduction and Healthy Forest Restoration, West Shore Wildland Urban Interface Fuels Reduction,
South Shore Forest Health and Fuels Reduction, South Tahoe Fuels Treatment
Liberty Utilities Resilience Corridors, NV Energy Resilience Corridors, Urban Forestry, Meeks Meadow
- Starting the Caldor Fire Restoration project
- Planning the Lake Tahoe West project
A trip down Pioneer Trail west of Sierra House Elementary shows the extensive thinking project underway with Liberty Utilities to remove trees where power lines run through the forest. That, combined with the other projects better prepares the Lake Tahoe Basin. A healthier, fire-resistant forest has characteristics that make crown fires unlikely and allow the forest to survive a surface fire.
Key takeaways from the evacuation from the Caldor Fire: There are many resources people can use to be prepared in case of fire or emergency. Preparing a go-bag for yourself, family members, and pets is necessary to be able to leave a location quickly. Sign up for emergency alerts, if in South Lake Tahoe sign up for both Smart 911 and the City of South Lake Tahoe alert system. Leave early.
