Ignitions began Wednesday November 1st with minimal pile ignition Thursday morning. In total 23 of the 108 acres of piles were burned.
The original intention was to continue burning full force on Thursday. Stagnant air and a weakening incoming storm system led to the decision to hold off on burning. Continuing to ignite would have led to tremendous smoke impacts. After the burn we would have been stuck with smoke impacts even longer and more fire on the ground than allowable. Instead, on Thursday and Friday we created rings around the piles with exposure to bare mineral soil. We were seeing fire creep away from piles in some areas and are working to extinguish this process.
Please keep in mind that our forested environment here in Lake Tahoe is dependent on fire and the heat created from low-intensity fire across the landscape is beneficial and critical for nutrient cycling and forest health. It is a short term-disturbance for a long-term gain. At the same time community and structure protection is our primary responsibility.
Tomorrow (Saturday 11/4) we will have an engine company with 4-7 individuals extinguishing any remaining prescribed fire activity. The small storm system that looks to be arriving Sunday evening and Monday should add more peace of mind that this round of burning is complete, and all fires are out.
We will be reevaluating burning when we have more moisture available to safely carry out the remainder of this project. We are burning in partnership with the California Tahoe Conservancy, Cal-Fire and the California Conservation Crews out of Auburn.
Thank you everyone for your patience, understanding and appreciation for this work.
April Shackelford
NTFD Forest Fuels Manager
See map and more information.
