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No vacancy: hotels open charitable doors

Susan Wood
Smoke fills the air above Stateline and South Lake Tahoe on Tuesday morning. / Emma Garrard / Sierra Sun
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Leave it to a disaster to place “no vacancy” signs up and down Highway 50.

Hotels, casinos and vacation resorts have opened their hearts and doors to the thousands of people stranded as a result of the 3,100-acre Angora fire.

Many residents are staying with friends and relatives. But others are staying in local establishments.



As a sampling, Harrah’s Lake Tahoe is housing 38 evacuees; Horizon has 15; Motel 6 checked in a dozen people; Forest Suites, 10; Marriott time share properties, 20; Station House Inn, 25; and Lakeside Inn and Casino, 23. Tahoe Keys Resort, which manages vacation rentals, has reached out to law enforcement by putting up 33 California Highway Patrol officers. Tahoe Seasons Resort is firefighter land, with 200 members of the crews staying there.

Robert Kendrick of Whipken Development said his Reno company is offering discounted rentals of homes for evacuees.



The Americana, Inn By the Lake, Embassy Suites, Lakeland Village, Fantasy Inn and Holiday Inn Express have joined in the humanitarian effort, which includes complimentary or discounted rooms.

The Holiday Inn’s manager, Pete MacRoberts, can empathize. He was forced to evacuate from his Lake Tahoe Boulevard home during the fire on Sunday.

“I just took two days of clothing, and I’m running out. Here I have a swimming pool, and I didn’t take my swim trunks,” he said.

One of his guests who had to evacuate has it better since he evacuated his Dixie Mountain home.

“They’ve thrown out the red carpet. I can’t believe how people are. Everybody has helped out,” William Nelson said, also mentioning the hospitality of local restaurants such as Pasaretti’s.


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