LAKE TAHOE, Calif. (KRON) - The high temperatures coupled with the bone dry conditions across the state are increasing the already high wildfire risk this summer.
That's certainly the case up in the Sierra with all this dry fuel.
In the Lake Tahoe Basin, and across the Sierra, the U.S. Forest Service says that conditions are very dry.
We had a dry winter with a very small snowpack, and they are seeing conditions that they normally see in late June or July.
Carrie Thaler is the forest fire management officer with the U.S. Forest Service in the Lake Tahoe Basin. She says the conditions could become critical in June.
In response, the forest service is rallying its firefighting resources early this year.
The other thing that worries the forest service and the other fire departments around the Lake Tahoe Basin is that there is basically no buffer between urban areas and the wilderness.
There's concern that if a fire where to start it could threaten homes and lives -- It has happened before.
On the outskirts of South Lake Tahoe, back in 2007, the Angora Fire burned all of the hills across the meadow and reached into South Lake Tahoe destroying multiple homes.
To keep this from happening again, there is an ongoing effort to create defensible space and reduce fuels in the forest.
They are also working to educate the public about how easy it is to accidentally start a wildfire.
Illegal campfires, in particular, are the number one cause of wildfires around Lake Tahoe.
With the return of warm weather, a lot of people, who have been cooped up for a year because of the pandemic, maybe thinking about visiting the mountains, the forest service is asking them to be careful and follow the rules.
To help homeowners and visitors, fire agencies from around Lake Tahoe have set up a website, tahoelivingwithfire.com, that has information on preventing wildfires.
from KRON4 https://ift.tt/2U6vCcW
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