PLACER COUNTY, Calif. – The Tahoe Fund and Tahoe Prosperity Center have partnered to install a new wildfire alert camera in Blackwood Canyon, closing a major gap in regional wildfire surveillance. In addition to scoping the west shore, the camera also monitors across the Lake Tahoe to Incline Village, Nev.

Installed last week, the camera joins a network of ALERT Wildfire cameras already around the basin. The network has helped responding agencies stop over 100 fires in the Tahoe area before growing to more than an acre thanks to early detection.

“If you have a fire get out of hand, it’s a lot harder to fight, and that makes it really risky, so being able to spot these fires really early and put them out before they get too big is critical,” Amy Berry said with the Tahoe Fund.

The collaborative effort of the organizations as well as community donations, which quickly met the funding goal this summer, made the camera install possible.

“The threat of wildfire is the biggest issue facing the Tahoe Basin, and it’s really wonderful when organizations can work together and the private community steps up in a huge way to help keep us all safer,” Berry said.

The camera sits on Forest Service land within Blackwood Canyon, a popular summer and winter recreational area in Placer County on the west shore.

As of Aug. 26, the Forest Service has announced enhanced campfire restrictions, which prohibit campfires in the Blackwood Canyon, Luther Pass and Watson Lake campgrounds.