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Prescribed fire operations to continue in Lake Tahoe Basin

Forest Service crews conduct a prescribed burn near Meyers.
Ryan Hoffman / Tahoe Daily Tribune

Several local agencies expect to start prescribed fire operations in the coming weeks in the Tahoe Basin.

Weather permitting, Tahoe Douglas Fire Protection District and the U.S. Forest Service plan to continue prescribed fire operations over the next several weeks, according to the Tahoe Fire and Fuels Team.

Three burns are planned in the Douglas County portion of the basin: one off Kingsbury Grade and two in the Zephyr Heights area.

Two burns are planned for the California side of South Shore: one near South Tahoe High School and one near Sawmill Pond.

A map with project locations and details is available here. To receive prescribed fire notifications, send an email to pa_ltbmu@fs.fed.us.

Prescribed fire operations are conducted whenever weather, conditions and staffing allow to reduce excess vegetation that can feed unwanted wildland fires, according to the fire and fuels team. Planned fires reduce the threat of unplanned fires.

Each prescribed fire operation follows a specialized burn plan, which considers temperature, humidity, wind, moisture of the vegetation, and conditions for the dispersal of smoke.

Smoke from prescribed fire operations is normal and may continue for several days after an ignition depending on the project size and environmental conditions, according to the team. Prescribed fire smoke is generally less intense and of much shorter duration than smoke produced by unwanted wildland fires.

Before prescribed fire operations are conducted, agencies post road signs around areas affected by prescribed fire, send email notifications and update the local fire information line maintained by the Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit at 530-543-2816.


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