hazards

With a variety of winter weather conditions occurring across Nevada and Eastern California, the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest would like to remind visitors to be extra careful while recreating this Martin Luther King Jr. holiday weekend and throughout winter.

UPDATE 4PM: All roads in Douglas County, including Highway 395 through Carson Valley are open except for State Route 207 Kingsbury Grade.
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Carson City residents are waking up to a drier morning on Tuesday; however the Carson River has risen overnight to Major flood status. The river is running fast and high, at approximately 11 feet.

The Meals on Wheels program is closed today. Seniors are asked to eat their provided shelf-stable meal. Welfare checks are being made on those seniors who th participate in the program. The Senior Center will open at 9 a.m. on Tuesday and will resume normal operations.

As Carson City wakes to clean streets and soggy backyards, city employees have been hard at work throughout the night and will continue Monday to provide damage assessment, debris removal and clean up.

Temperatures have dropped steadily overnight and the river continues to rise.

I was awakened last week out of a sound sleep by the windows rattling and the bed shaking violently. The wind chimes were going crazy. About 15 minutes later, it happened again.

Earthquake!

Holiday decorating is a tradition in homes all over the world, but do you know how to safely decorate your home? The following are tips from the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) to help keep your home safe from fire this holiday season:

The Nevada Department of Agriculture has been awarded a $2 million U.S Food and Drug Administration grant that will be used to offer workshops, training and technical assistance to Nevada farmers to aid in prevention of produce-related food outbreaks.

A firefighting operations orientation training program was held Friday at the Carson City Training Center, behind Carson City Fire Department (CCFD) Station 52, located at 2400 East College Parkway, and next to the Carson City Municipal Airport.

Partnership Carson City's fall prescription drug roundups will be held Saturday in Carson City from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. with three drop-off locations. Bring your used and expired prescription drugs to a drop off location for proper disposal to protect the community and water supply.

In the aftermath of the Little Valley Fire that destroyed 23 homes and 17 outbuildings, Insurance Commissioner Barbara Richardson urges affected homeowners to be vigilant of fraudsters trying to take advantage during this devastating time. Any consumers affected are encouraged to contact the Division of Insurance if they have questions about insurance or need assistance with their insurance claims.

UPDATE 7:14PM: The Sierra Front Interagency Dispatch Center (SFIDC) is now reporting the Little Valley to be 55 percent contained, having burned 3,400 acres and destroyed 22 homes and 17 outbuildings since early Friday morning.
More than 660 firefighting personnel remain on scene, the SFIDC reports.
More rain is forecast Sunday night into Monday morning, which should further help firefighting efforts to achieve full containment of the Little Valley Fire.
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UPDATE 3:52PM: From South Lake Tahoe, Highway 89 continues to be closed from just beyond the Spring Creek Tract to the Vikingsholm parking lot gate (north side of Emerald Bay) because of the Emerald Fire, which is still 90 percent contained.
As of 3 p.m. Sunday, evacuations have been lifted for Cathedral Road, Springs Creek Tract, Camp Shelly, Camp Concord and Mount Tallac Road.
Cascade Lake and Cascade Properties are currently open to residents only.
In Washoe Valley, Franktown Road continues to be closed below the 6190 street address, because of the Little Valley Fire, which remains at 20 percent contained.
Although Old U.S. Highway 395A has been opened, Washoe County Sheriff's Office (WCSO) is asking the public to stay out of the area due to fire traffic, localized flooding from heavy rains and unstable ground from the burn areas.
Interstate 580 is open in both directions to traffic.
Public safety officials said at a 1 p.m. briefing that a re-entry plan has been established, but it will require coordination with fire management personnel, law enforcement, and utility companies before the area can be re-populated safely.
The re-entry plan called for some residents to be allowed back in Monday or Tuesday to survey their properities only. Officials are hopeful re-entry can begin Wednesday.
WCSO will contact displaced residents directly in order to visit their homes.
Fuji Park in Carson City remain open for evacuated residents with large livestock.

Partnership Carson City's fall prescription drug roundups will be held Saturday, Oct. 22, in Carson City from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. with three drop-off locations. Bring your used and expired prescription drugs to a drop off location for proper disposal to protect the community and water supply.

Thunderstorms are expected to increase this week beginning Tuesday afternoon, with some forecaster confidence for isolated showers and thunderstorms in Carson City and western Nevada, according to the National Weather Service.

The Carson City Airport has been awarded more than $2.4 million in U.S. Department of Transportation grant money for rehabilitation of the airport's apron pavement, according to an announcement made Friday by Nevada Sen. Harry Reid.

A private developer from Reno has purchased the membership-only Thunder Canyon Golf Club in southern Washoe Valley, renaming it Toiyabe Golf Club, a press release from the Bauserman Group said.

With summer here and more people heading outdoors to enjoy the season, the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest would like to remind visitors and residents in communities adjacent to the Forest to be extra cautious while engaging in activities that could start a wildfire.

Gardening can beat up an aging gardener. When we are young, we rarely think about the amount of strain various gardening activities put on different parts of our body. We are flexible and resilient in our youth, and even if an activity hurts, we recover quickly.

The opening dates for recreational facilities in the Lake Tahoe Basin have been announced, with the first ones set to open April 30.

Kiva Picnic area, Baldwin and Nevada beaches, Big Meadow trailhead, the McKinney Rubicon Off-Highway Vehicle area and Sawmill Pond, Eagle Falls, Chimney Beach and Secret Harbor parking areas will open April 30, according to the U.S. Forest Service.

International experts will join with local seismologists in a public forum this month to inform the region on the dangers and probabilities of devastating earthquakes, and how to recover economically as a region.

Contrary to the general public perception, the California-Nevada border region is at risk for large, magnitude 7-plus earthquakes striking the greater Reno-Tahoe region. In a magnitude 6 earthquake, according to FEMA estimates, the region could suffer billions of dollars in damage: $1.9 billion in the Reno/Sparks area and $590 million in the Stateline area.

Nevada has received more than $11.2 million in federal funding from the Department of Homeland Security and has secured $3.7 million from the State Homeland Security Program for federal fiscal year 2016, Gov. Brian Sandoval announced Wednesday.

The Carson City Fire Department has requested that the Board of Supervisors apply for a grant that would pay for a new ladder truck and a new ambulance for the department’s new Community Paramedicine Program concept.

More than 17,500 earthquakes were recorded in 2015 by the University of Nevada, Reno’s Nevada Seismological Laboratory. That includes the 231 recent quakes in south Reno and the magnitude 4.8 in Caliente that shook Las Vegas in January 2015.

With Nevada Day festivities Saturday, Halloween trick or treating in Carson City is celebrated Friday. It’s different, sure, but that’s how we do things here in the capital city. With that in mind, drinking and driving can be a ghastly decision that can end up being more of a trick than a treat. The witches’ brew that you consume can lead to a frightening crash when you choose to drive afterwards.

Dayton, Nev. — The softest and most receptive greens in 21 years of PGA Tour Qualifying tournaments at Dayton Valley Golf Club produced a leaderboard full of red numbers in the first round of Web.com Tour Stage One Qualifying Tuesday. Chris Williams of Moscow, Idaho lead the way with a 6-under par 66. Jake Johnson, Cameron Park, Calif. and J.R. Meyers, Saratoga, Fla. were just one shot back with opening rounds of 65.

Carson City Emergency Management and the Carson City Fire Department will host a planning and community hazard mitigation open house and workshop Thursday, marking the 100th anniversary of the historic 1915 Nevada Pleasant Valley earthquake that happened 50 miles south of Winnemucca and considered the strongest earthquake ever recorded in Nevada.

As summer wanes and turns into fall many of you will use these last days of warmth and sun to take your motorcycles out and enjoy the freedom of the roadways in Northern Nevada. Unfortunately some will still choose to drink and ride.

The Nevada Department of Public Safety's Division of Emergency Management Security is reminding Nevada residents the importance of planning and preparing for any emergency.

A reader recently asked me if a solution of vinegar, Epsom salts and a small amount of liquid dish soap, mixed and sprayed on weeds was as effective as using glyphosate (the active ingredient in Roundup and similar products) and safer. The reader went on to ask, “If this solution is as effective as Roundup and much cheaper, is there anything in the mixture that would/could be dangerous to humans?”

With our recent heavy rains and floods, Nevadans can go to NevadaFloods.org to find information on what areas are most at risk, how to be prepared for floods, what to do and what not to do during a flood, and more.

Thinning of trees for fuels reduction and forest health has resumed on approximately 340 acres of National Forest System lands on the east side of Highway 267 north of Speckled Avenue above Kings Beach, according to the U.S. Forest Service.