SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. – Fire agencies teamed up on Tuesday to fight a structure fire at the Raley’s on Emerald Bay Road.

On September 7th 2021 at 5:30 p.m., fire units were dispatched to smoke inside a second floor office of the Raley’s at the “Y”.

According to South Lake Tahoe Fire Rescue, “the initial alarm included three engines, one truck company and two chief officers.”

The first units to arrive at the scene saw the smoke, began to look for the seat of the fire and ensured all occupants were out of the building.

Upon arrival of the first in company light smoke was found in the upstairs office and they continued to look for the seat of the fire. Crews ensured that all occupants were out of the building.

Truck 2 arrived at the scene and found fire showing through the roof on the back side of the business. Two additional engines, one additional truck company and an additional chief officer were requested.

“As crews attempted to gain access to the fire, the fire grew and smoke production increased, Battalion 3 requested an additional five engines from the Caldor Incident to respond to the fire scene,” the fire report stated.

Once the fire was located in the ceiling of a back room, crews worked to extinguish the fire that had burned through the roof. A building official was requested to the scene to ensure structural integrity was still intact.

“As crews extinguished the fire, they worked with all of the allied agencies that arrived at the scene and together overhauled and evacuated the smoke from the business,” the report stated. “Ultimately the business will be closed for an undetermined amount of time while they work to reconstruct the area of the fire.”

Lake Valley Fire Protection District provided two engines and two chief officers that responded to assist as well as a truck company from Tahoe Douglas Fire Protection District. A chief officer and an engine was provided by Clark County Fire.

“We also had a Clark County Engine and an Engine from Tahoe Douglas covering our city while units were busy at the fire scene.,” Jay Manning, Battalion Chief said in an email. “Five units from the Caldor Fire that were requested, arrived and provided Rapid Intervention Teams from both sides of the structure and included units from LA County Fire, Glendale Fire, Burbank Fire and West Covina Fire.”

An initial investigation determined that the fire was accidental and possibly caused by an electrical short from heat tape located on the roof of the structure. Management from Raley’s are working with the Electrical and Structural Contractor to quickly rebuild so that they can reopen the store.