Posted on 06/27/2007 6:07:59 AM PDT by I'll be your Huckleberry
Resurgent Tahoe fire ignites chaos, panic
By John Simerman, MEDIANEWS STAFF Article Last Updated: 06/27/2007 04:27:24 AM PDT
SOUTH LAKE TAHOE — Firefighters battling the northernmost edge of the Angora fire ravaging the South Lake Tahoe area lost control of a back burn Tuesday afternoon, which jumped over Highway 89 and forced evacuations of several neighborhoods.
The Tahoe Basin's worst fire in a century bolted northeast into a subdivision about sixmiles southwest of the Stateline casinos, within a mile of the lake itself, sparking evacuations of a popular village and an enclave of pricey, waterfront homes. The marching flames ignited a scene of chaos as panicked residents waded through smoke while rushing home to meet loved ones, retrieve precious items or rescue pets.
"Everybody standing here right now better have a car and an escape plan, "a fire official shouted from the middle of an intersection as cars and people rushed by.
The setback came on the eve of winds forecast to gust up to 30 mph today.
The fire jumped a barrier created to prevent the flames from spreading from four smaller fires when a tree exploded, sending embers that sparked the flare-up.
Two firefighters had to deploy their emergency shelters to escape the suddenly advancing flames, which also forced the evacuation of about 98 Contra Costa youths at Camp Concord, who headed back by bus to the Concord Civic Center.
Hundreds of residents along Tahoe Keys Drive were forced to fight or flee the fire, and fleeing became difficult as cars and trucks jammed Tahoe Keys Drive. "It's a fairly populated area," said Tim Evans, a spokesman for the U.S. Forest Service. "That certainly is not good news for our firefighting efforts here."
Some of the people along the road were frantically loading up cars, trucks and motorcycles at 4 p.m. after the fire broke free an hour earlier.
"We're doing this ourselves. I'm not going to wait around" for an evacuation order, said Drew Norton, 20, as he loaded goods on his motorcycle. Police officers were circulating through the neighborhood but did not seem to be ordering people to leave.
It was firefighters' first significant setback in two days, which came as authorities were allowing people to return to lesser-damaged areas.
The problem began just after 3 p.m. as firefighters were conducting a back burn, north down Gardner Mountain that grew beyond their control, said U.S. Forest Service spokesman Tom Efird. Back burns are controlled burns used to eliminate fire fuel.
The fire spread a quarter- to a half-mile beyond the original containment line, pushing it back to the east of Highway 89.
As the wind picked up, it sent the back burn swooping down on two of a group of firefighters working to protect Tallac Village, said Chuck Dickson, a U.S. Forest Service spokesman.
The pair were forced to deploy the emergency shelters that firefighters carry to protect themselves during burnovers as a last resort, Dickson said. They were uninjured, he said.
Firefighters now are more worried about northeasterly gusts of up to 30 mph forecast for Wednesday which now could endanger more residential areas and historic recreation sites toward Camp Richardson. The spread could set back the containment date of July 1. "We thought we were going to have a full day of preparation and were actively fighting fire," Efird said. "We don't
Panicked residents of South Lake Tahoe run for safety as fire approaches their home Tuesday afternoon. (Wally Skalij - Los Angeles Times) call that a setback, that's just part of the game." We have four days of bad weather conditions coming," said Rich Hawkins, incident commander for U.S. Forest Service. "I can't promise you we'll control the fire during the next four days just because the winds are going to work against us."
Camp Concord, administered by Concord's parks and recreation department, operates in the Sierras between Lake Tahoe and Fallen Leaf Lake on 29 acres of the El Dorado National Forest. Participants had been camping about a half mile from the south shore of the lake, at least two miles away from the fires. Up until 3 p.m. Tuesday, activities went on as usual, said spokeswoman Leslye Asera.
"Then the fire broke through the fire line, so forest services suggested that neighborhoods in the path be evacuated.
"We agree," she added. "'Better safe than sorry.'" Traffic was at a standstill as residents voluntarily evacuated in droves from Tahoe Keys, which is between Venice Drive and the lake at the far reaches of the threat area.
Mandatory evacuations were under way near 15th and 13th streets and Venice Drive and the Gardner Mountain area, said Laurel Owen of the U.S. Forest Service.
Several helicopters and airplanes were battling the blaze where it jumped Highway 89, with the choppers drawing water from Lake Tahoe and Fallen Leaf Lake. Many residents were on their rooftops hosing down houses as a dark orange cloud began roiling over what had been a clear blue sky.
Some people in the Tahoe Keys and Camp Richardson area said they were second- and third-time evacuees who had fled the fire from earlier positions.
"We are getting better at it," said second-time evacuee Dan Ott.
A long line of cars was nearly at a standstill on Tahoe Keys Drive.
The fire has consumed more than 2,700 acres of forest studded with homes and vacation cabins. It has taken 200 homes and 75 commercial buildings, according to the California Department of Forest and Fire Protection.
About 1,900 firefighters were on the lines along with 11 helicopters battling the blaze Tuesday. A strike team of 21 firefighters from Contra Costa, Alameda and Santa Clara counties were fighting the flames along Highway 89 when the blaze jumped the road, said Contra Costa fire Capt. Dave George. They had departed for the fire line 24 hours before.
"Their comments was, today was a very interesting day," said George, who talked with the team after they came off of the fire line after a 12-hour shift. Nevada Gov. Jim Gibbons, who toured the area Monday, said fire officials estimated the cost of fighting the blaze at $35 million to $50 million, and the overall damage at more than $100 million. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is expected to tour the damage today.
I saw that segment also, the guy was using his common sense.
Hopefully the eco-police will try to fine him and he fights it to the max. This is the type thing that it will take to change a lot lot of these silly enviro laws, IMO.
Thanks for the ping.
I heard a story yesterday of a woman whose home survived because she had mowed the grass in the National Forest lands adjacent to her home.
Mowing the grass on National Forest land is illegal.
I live at the foot of the rim in Carson City - 13 miles away.
Lake Tahoe is like our backyard, many of our friends live there and we spend as much time as possible around the lake - it is truly a unique environment.
What is most frustrating is that, at least since the Yellowstone fires of several years ago, we've known that the feel good policies of the past were dangerous.
Hearing a guy tell a reporter that he had to break the law in order to make his home relatively safe reflects not only the inability of governments to act on obvious facts, but the staying power of bogus ideology.
get ‘er done :
” an audience member cut the quiet with an expletive involving bovine excrement.
Singlaub then handed off the microphone, walking away from hecklers.”
It's a complex situation because the bureaucrats have tied themselves in knots. They come up with so many rules and procedures it's going to be very hard to determine what was actually allowed, effectively not allowed, or not allowed at all. Thinning on National Forest land to create a defensible space adjacent to many of these homes is illegal.
I keep wondering what it will take to awaken the average American ?
The eco-nuts love fires that destroy people’s homes and businesses.
True. I live an hour West (can see the smoke haze now) and the enviro rules and regs up there are Machiavellian.
They have to fight the Forest Service, Tahoe Planning Agency, and the Bureau of Land Management. Worse, it depends on the whims of the b'crat in each district.
And, yes, in some cases you can't clear; pulling a nail without a permit can get you heavily fined.
Reports are that 2,000 residents showed up at a meeting there last night with a tar and feather look about them.
Maybe things will change...
Does the City of Tahoe trump the Fire Dept Officials? I live on the western slope of the Sierras, and all the Fire Stations say that you need to clear at least 35ft from your house, but they would prefer you clear 100ft to make it easily defensible. If they are only allowed 10ft, and they can’t clear any pine needles or the “dead from beetle” trees then the entire blame falls at the feet of those tree huggers up in Tahoe. If I was one who lost their house as a result of these asinine thinkers, I’d be finding me a good lawyer to sue them. I’m waiting for the homeowners insurance not to cover this.
“I heard one report say that the radical enviro-nazis prevented salvage logging and brush clearing in the area which lead to the ferocity of the fire. True?”
I heard this as well. Fox was interviewing a guy who cleared his land anyway and his house was the ONLY to survive.
I tell ya this.. if it were my property, they could fine me till the cows came home, but my land would be clear.
This is a disaster that has been building up for at least two decades with dead trees and brush protected by the anti American Sierra Club and their other eco terrorists.
This may a replay of what happened in Oregon in 2002 throughout N California. We had years of high water fall which enabled trees and brush to grown everywhere. Then our rain in the last season in most areas was below normal. This has left a lot of N California basically a tinder box.
We have had several local fires that could have really been bad in May. Fortunately the CDC and local firefighters got the jump on the fires and contained them.
If we have our normal hot North winds in California in July/August/September, we could be in real trouble.
vaudine
vaudine
vaudine
What about insurance companies? They’re willing to write policies for folks who live in areas where the enviroweenies have outlawed common sense wildfire prevention techniques?!
It takes three things to make a forest fire: air, ignition, and fuel. Air is everywhere. Ignitions are beyond our control until somebody can prevent lightning strikes. Nobody does anything about the fuel.
If I own a fuel tank, I am liable for the hazards it induces and must insure myself to set aside capital with which to redress the damage my fuel might do, but if I own a tinderbox forest, I need do nothing about the hazards it presents. Why?
The biggest fuel owner around enjoys "sovereign immunity." That's socialism for you.
Insurance markets are inherently capable of dealing with the competing risks and benefits of owning a forest with respect to its condition as long as they are free to discriminate in pricing with regard to the asset value, actuarial likelihood, and severity of that risk. What we have to do is to deregulate that market so that we stop pumping up the rate base every time there's a big loss (that's how regulation benefits big insurance). We also need to reform tort laws so that indemnification for damages reflects the actual costs of redress.
Needless to say, selling off "National Forests" is also critical to getting owners out there who will have a personal stake in their condition. In a competitive market that reflects the actual cost of risks, only those who are good at it would survive. It's beyond high time that the government sold off its armed monopoly in the land entertainment business.
Let’s hope so !
Reports are that 2,000 residents showed up at a meeting there last night with a tar and feather look about them.
Maybe things will change...
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