Lake Tahoe threatened by Caldor fire

[Borderland]

There's a lot of expensive real estate in S. Lake Tahoe. I was there a few years ago and it looked like half of CA had moved there.

If they don't get this fire under control soon there could be millions in property damage.


https://www.forbes.com/sites/graisondangor/2021/08/24/lake-tahoe-threatened-by-explosive-wildfire-and-hazardous-air/?sh=2106573798c9

[Bergeron]

I went to Lake Tahoe 15 years ago, back before the beginning of time, for a fall conference ahead of the snows. It was beautiful out there.

My greatest respect goes to the firefighters and the water bomber people.

[0ddl0t]

I'm pretty sure they'll divert resources from other fires to prevent that from happening. It is the poorer & more rural (parts of) towns that are allowed to burn (Paradise, Clear Lake, Greenville, etc)

[Borderland]

Full evacuation of South Lake Tahoe ordered. That's 20K people trying to leave today.

With the weather forecast for the next few days the entire town could be smoldering pile of rubble.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/carlieporterfield/2021/08/30/californias-caldor-wildfire-nears-lake-tahoe-forcing-mandatory-evacuations/?sh=4b83f21715f2

[Lex Luthier]

Agggh. May the firefighters be both successful and safe.

[SecondsCount]

Best wishes to the residences and fire fighters.

California needs to get their shit together. Our valley has been filled with smoke from their fires for the last two months causing a lot of health issues for the people of Utah.

I don't know what they fight fires with over there but when we have something catch fire here, they get it put out pretty damn quick. They have had several cases of arson as well.

[Suvorov]

California needs to get their shit together.

We are trying with the recall.

This is what our governor has done to help. (https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&ved=2ahUKEwjcjZqK79nyAhX_IDQIHfUeCR4QFnoECAQQAQ&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.capradio.org%2Farticles%2F20 21%2F06%2F23%2Fnewsom-misled-the-public-about-wildfire-prevention-efforts-ahead-of-worst-fire-season-on-record%2F&usg=AOvVaw2spXyJDOOP4WYHAIjYbrga)

And This (https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&ved=2ahUKEwjcjZqK79nyAhX_IDQIHfUeCR4QFnoECAUQAQ&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.capradio.org%2Farticles%2F20 21%2F06%2F29%2Fgov-gavin-newsom-retreats-on-1-billion-wildfire-prevention-plan-ahead-of-meeting-with-president-biden%2F&usg=AOvVaw21kOY4VhU63Cb9HlcTudi3)

[Dog Guy]

Retired career fire fighter here. I also did a few days planning evacuations for the Dixie fire back in July with SAR.

This fire season is downright spooky. Being around the fire personnel in the ICP, I got this feeling of disquiet that usually isn't there. No matter what they throw at these fires, it just isn't working. A few days of occasional rain, or a calm stretch for the winds, usually lets you make solid progress even if it isn't a total win. This year, as soon as any wind comes back we see these huge blowups. The severe drought followed by the record heat dome earlier this Summer has made the fuels super dry. The pyrocumulus are epic, even more dramatic than last year and are a feature on many days of many of these fires. They're launching big embers as much as a mile or two down wind. The calculated probability of ignition when they land has mostly been above 90%, and sometimes 100%. Fire is spotting way past wide dozer lines on a regular basis. A veteran fire behavior analyst on another forum said "there is no slide in the tray for what we're seeing this year."

There is also the epic cock-up of the Tamarack Fire where they chose to monitor it for about two weeks since "there are no values at risk." It went 65,000 acres and burned a lot of valuable land and structures as soon as an easily foreseeable wind came up. But for the most part, they've been trying to kill them as fast as possible after detection. Dixie and Caldor started in tough to access places and got too big too fast to be able to handle.

[vaglocker]

Hopefully they can save the Coreleone Estate

[blues]

Hopefully they can save the Coreleone Estate


https://youtu.be/dHUWDjMmz5A

[peterb]

Interesting piece on how controlled burns are common in the Southeast.

https://www.npr.org/2021/08/31/1029821831/to-stop-extreme-wildfires-california-is-learning-from-florida

In 1990, Florida passed a law to encourage prescribed burns, recognizing that the state would lose significant biodiversity without it. After firestorms in 1998 that burned almost 500,000 acres, the law was strengthened.

Florida set up a certification system for burn managers, also known as "burn bosses," requiring candidates to get special training on weather and landscape conditions for safe burning. With that certification, burners are protected from liability lawsuits in the rare event a burn gets out of control, unless it's shown there was "gross negligence" on their part.

[0ddl0t]

https://archive.epa.gov/region9/fedfac/web/jpg/map.jpg

https://media.opennews.org/cache/aa/32/aa32469e3570b125678ded3fe92ff5ef.jpg

About half of California - and the vast majority of the forests that burn here - are on federal land. These fires aren't because homeowners aren't clearing underbrush and raking pine needles on their own properties...

The US Forest service control burned about 120,000 acres in California annually from 1984-1995 (https://www.fs.fed.us/psw/publications/documents/psw_gtr173/psw_gtr173_06_cleaves.pdf). From 1999-2017 that average was just 13,000 (https://www.sfweekly.com/news/to-fight-fires-california-must-burn/).

[Borderland]

The southern half of CA used to be a desert about 400 years ago. I mean a desert like the Mohave which exists there now in a small part of southern CA.

If you have ever traveled from Needles to Barstow on I-40 you would have a good idea about a real desert.

[peterb]

https://www.star.nesdis.noaa.gov/GOES/conus.php?sat=G16

The spread of smoke from the Western fires is clearly visible in satellite photos.

[rdtompki]

Best wishes to the residences and fire fighters.

California needs to get their shit together. Our valley has been filled with smoke from their fires for the last two months causing a lot of health issues for the people of Utah.

I don't know what they fight fires with over there but when we have something catch fire here, they get it put out pretty damn quick. They have had several cases of arson as well.

Same here in Idaho's Treasure Valley (Boise area). I've heard more than one individual opine that the smoke has cut down on attendance at our Monday and Wednesday afternoon matches.

[Dog Guy]

https://archive.epa.gov/region9/fedfac/web/jpg/map.jpg

https://media.opennews.org/cache/aa/32/aa32469e3570b125678ded3fe92ff5ef.jpg

About half of California - and the vast majority of the forests that burn here - are on federal land. These fires aren't because homeowners aren't clearing underbrush and raking pine needles on their own properties...

The US Forest service control burned about 120,000 acres in California annually from 1984-1995 (https://www.fs.fed.us/psw/publications/documents/psw_gtr173/psw_gtr173_06_cleaves.pdf). From 1999-2017 that average was just 13,000 (https://www.sfweekly.com/news/to-fight-fires-california-must-burn/).

The "plan" for prescribed burning and forest management in CA has been a joke for decades. The USFS leadership since at least as far back as the GW Bush administration has never stood up and spoken truth about what is needed or what it would cost. It's always happy talk to fend off the hard questions. But the Fed agencies cannot do prescribed burns without meeting all the environmental and air quality requirements of the CA state, county, and local jurisdictions. Very few residents will tolerate smoke in their neighborhood in the name of preparation and long term protection. Add in that CA courts tend to be very environmentalist friendly and it's no wonder that fuel treatments seldom get done. Looking only at ownership doesn't tell the whole story.