“It’s not if there is a fire but when,” says Christina Restaino, director of Tahoe Living With Fire, in the fifth part of our series on tourism impacts in the Tahoe Sierra. In this edition, we shift from the impacts of litter on our communities, to address the wildfire dangers that are a growing threat to the region and communities across the West.
While the fires remain under investigation, most wildfire are caused by humans – a cigarette butt carelessly tossed out a car window, an illegal campfire, even charcoal grills have sparked wildfires. This summer there are been illegal campfires locally from dispersed campers, bonfires on the beaches of Lake Tahoe and firepits roaring at vacation homes. Thankfully, there have been no major eruptions from these as firefighters were quick to extinguish them.
In 2007, two wildfires raged in the Tahoe Basin caused by humans – the 3,100 acre Angora Fire in South Lake Tahoe erupted from an illegal campfire and less than two months later the Washoe Fire destroyed homes in Talmont outside of Tahoe City when Red Flag Warnings were ignored and a charcoal grill caught on fire. Locals still remember the fear of these wildfires and for when it will happen again.
While factors like lightening do cause some fires, the rest can be avoided by understanding and following burn bans, which are in effect, and Red Flag Warnings. There’s no doubt that the increased number of visitors to our communities due to the pandemic brings with it increased wildfire danger from illegal campfires, fire pits, beach bonfires, charcoal grills and cigarette butts.
As I was editing Priya Hutner’s story, “Fire, fear & red flags,” I also signed up for Reverse 911 and for Nixle for the Town of Truckee, through which I-80 runs as the primary evacuation route for North Lake Tahoe where I live. I was already signed up for Placer Alerts. But, I don’t have a To-Go Bag ready, as fire officials urge, and have started putting that together. We all need to do our part to stay safe and be ready for wildfire dangers – locals and visitors alike.
“Wineries of the Sierra Foothills”
Wine columnist Lou Phillips is taking a sabbatical from his writing duties for a few months, and in its place we’ll be featuring excerpts from the second edition of “Wineries of the Sierra Foothills: Risk-Takers & Rule-Breakers,” a guidebook to Sierra Foothill Wineries.
The guidebook, published by Range of Light Media, features 20 winemaker stories, plus original recipes created to pair with landmark wines. A directory of all 286 Sierra Foothill wineries is organized to make wine touring easy. Sales from the book go directly to Tahoe Weekly and the book is available on Amazon. Email publisher@tahoethisweek.com for bulk discounts.
Win a Tahoe Slab table
Our Donation Giveaway to win a custom table from Tahoe Slab continues until Oct. 5. Tahoe Slab is creating a custom, handcrafted 24” x 48” English walnut and Tahoe Blue epoxy coffee table for our giveaway. The table is valued at more than $2,000 and supporters will be entered into the giveaway with every $20 donation to Tahoe Weekly until Oct. 5. Enter by donating at paypal.me/TahoeWeekly. Watch the table’s creation at @tahoeslabfurniture on Facebook and @tahoeslab on Instagram.
