Posted on 06/28/2007 5:49:48 AM PDT by I'll be your Huckleberry
Calm chokes Tahoe blaze Lack of winds helps crews regain initiative
By John Simerman, MEDIANEWS STAFF
Article Last Updated: 06/28/2007 03:35:33 AM PDT
SOUTH LAKE TAHOE — The famously crisp blue skies above this mountain lake retreat made a strong if tentative return Wednesday as still air confounded dire wind warnings and helped fire crews cinch a grip on the 3,100-acre Angora fire.
The blaze, which a day earlier had jumped containment lines, raged up against homes and forced frantic evacuations from several neighborhoods, never threatened those lines Wednesday.
Forecasts had predicted northeast winds above 30 mph, drawing anxious words from fire officials of a threat to 900 homes and 300 commercial buildings in neighborhoods near the south shore of the pristine lake.
Instead, winds never eclipsed 10 mph during the day and cooler air arrived in the evening.
That allowed hundreds of firefighters free access across Tahoe Mountain, where they mopped up hot spots and strengthened containment around the worst disaster in memory for this tourist destination entering its biggest summer week.
"Phenomenal day," said Rich Hawkins, the incident commander on the fire, hours after Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger toured the area and urged tourists to feel safe. "I always say plan for the worst and hope for the best. The best actually occurred.I'm not used to that."
Fire officials late Wednesday said the blaze was 55 percent contained, up from 40 percent in the morning. The blaze reached no structures on Wednesday, but El Dorado sheriff's deputies canvassed the hard-hit neighborhoods and lifted their estimates of the destruction. They now say the four-day fire has destroyed 229 homes and cost $141 million in building losses alone.
Fire officials for the first time deemed safe the residential areas where homes burned to the ground on the south side of the mountain, near where the fire erupted by Seneca Pond.
Investigators have narrowed the location of the spark to a rock outcropping near the small pond, "the kind of place where people might be sitting around," said Hawkins. Investigators have definitively ruled that the fire was caused by humans but had not yet determined a source, he said.
Some residents of destroyed homes were being allowed to return under escort, but downed power lines and other perils would keep those streets closed for a few more days, said El Dorado County sheriff's spokesman Phil Chovanec.
But fire officials were not ready to claim victory Wednesday.
Forecasters predicted winds above 30 mph today, and Hawkins cautioned that the blaze could again rise up the timberline. Infrared images showed several areas with intense heat, and officials said 750 homes and hundreds of commercial buildings remained threatened. The priority remained the northeast corner of the scorched footprint of the fire zone, where brief spot fires leapt across Highway 89 on Tuesday afternoon, prompting panic among some residents.
"When 40 mph winds hit, that ridgetop can throw embers a half-mile," Hawkins said. "This is not a done deal."
Still, authorities reopened neighborhoods where they had put in place mandatory or voluntary evacuations on Tuesday.
They continued to anticipate full containment of the blaze by July 3, two days later than they had projected before Tuesday's setback.
That's when firefighters intentionally set a burn to corral large spot fires. A tree erupted in flames and firefighters were unable to contain embers that crossed a fire lines as swirling winds kicked up. The blaze raged down Tahoe Mountain toward homes beneath the pines in the Gardner neighborhood.
About 2,000 residents in several neighborhoods were forced to quickly evacuate beneath an ominous shadow of thick smoke that turned the sun a deep orange.
Two firefighters attempting to tamp out sparks got trapped and deployed their emergency shelters. Both emerged shaken but unscathed, officials said.
There have been no deaths in the blaze, and only one significant injury: a firefighter was hospitalized Wednesday after a boulder crushed his hand, authorities said.
In the Gardner neighborhood, where firefighters took extreme measures to narrowly beat back huge flames Tuesday afternoon, fire crews traded easy banter as residents returned relieved, some of them finding blackened earth and charred pines feet from their back doors.
"They must have been very scared. They stood there and they saved our homes," said retired Fremont fire engineer Ron Stone, who tried in vain to reach his vacation home on Gardner Street on Tuesday, then found the blaze had seared his property line.
"I think they realized if they lost this side of the block, they were going to lose the whole community." Watching residents flee in fear added to firefighters' resolve, said Art Marshall, a Santa Clara firefighter.
"We were already determined not to lose a house," he said. "But when you see that, jeez."
Nearly 2,000 firefighters from as far as Wisconsin have converged on the city, staging beneath the dry ski runs of Heavenly Resort. Hawkins said that number would remain steady until they were more confident.
Among them are several East Bay crews, including a team of Moraga-Orinda firefighters that arrived Monday and helped stave off a threat to the Gardner neighborhood on Tuesday.
"It really blew up," said Moraga-Orinda fire engineer Sean McGee. "To have an event like this in June, it might be kind of a warning sign" for a big fire season.
Firefighters from Lawrence Livermore Lab also joined the fray. Several firefighters noted the intense resources devoted to saving the lakeside heart of a key economic engine and natural gem. In some severely threatened areas, fire engines lined roads bumper to bumper, virtually one to a home.
"This is high profile," said Marshall. "We could afford to put up a real defense."
Hawkins, the incident commander, was unapologetic about the devotion of fire resources to a blaze that has cost $5.5 million to fight thus far and is expected to run between $10 million and $15 million before it's through.
"We literally have a national treasure at risk here," he said. "Every government agency in this basin has something to do with keeping this lake blue and clear."
What smoke there was from the mountain rose upward in the still air, unlike the days before when a sickly smoke squatted over the Valley and obscured a view of a lake that returned to a rich blue on Wednesday.
Nevertheless, a black line of char ringed portions of the eastern shore and concerns arose over the long-term impact of the blaze on Lake Tahoe's celebrated but long-threatened clarity.
U.S. Forest Service officials said they would implement a plan to shore up the fire zone to reduce the amount of sediment that might flow into the lake as a result of the blaze once rain returns to the mountains.
No active ground fire only hot spots.
Little smoke at the lake only haze.
High winds predicted for today perhaps as early as 11 AM.
Light winds at the Lake at dawn.
200+ homes destroyed
75 commercial buildings
3,100 acres burnt
150 Million in damage
1 Injury
3000 evacuees
950 homes threatened
5.5 million in costs to fight fire
Low pressure moving in today with strong winds, but yesterday was a wonderful day.
Many people are back in their homes, air assault lasted all day.
Today the sky is clear and they will aggressively fight to keep it down when the winds come.
55% contained
Red flag warning today
Lake wind advisory today
Many locations in Reno to drop off water, pet food etc for victims
Day shift firefighters moving to start what may prove to be a long day.
Jay Leno pledges 10K for relief
Over 200K raised yesterday from local folks to help
Red flag warning today
Lake wind advisory today
Many locations in Reno to drop off water, pet food etc for victims
Day shift firefighters moving to start what may prove to be a long day.
Jay Leno pledges 10K for relief
Over 200K raised yesterday from local folks to help
Web Cams
http://www.tahoe360.com/flashmaps2/webcams.php
http://www.virtualtahoe.com/Cam.html
http://www.virtualtahoe.com/framesets/diamondpeak_cam_set.htm
Tahoe Fire Victims May Be Underinsured
SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. — Property owners who suffer losses in the Angora fire could find that their insurance policies won’t provide enough money to cover rebuilding costs, state officials said Wednesday.
“There is a serious problem with underinsurance in the state of California,” Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner said.
Many homeowners who thought they were fully insured found their policies left them tens of thousands _ sometimes hundreds of thousands _ of dollars short of what they needed to rebuild following fires that destroyed more than 3,600 homes in Southern California in 2003.
Dozens of homeowners told state officials after those blazes that insurance companies wrote their policies based on their estimate of a home’s replacement cost. In many cases, those estimates turned out to be grossly inadequate.
Poizner said his staff was still trying to determine if underinsurance will be a widespread problem for victims of the Lake Tahoe fire. He urged homeowners to meet with their insurance agents to determine if they have enough coverage.
Lt. Gov. John Garamendi, Poizner’s predecessor as insurance commissioner, said homeowners shouldn’t skimp on coverage to keep premiums low.
“That’s a bad deal,” he said. “Raise the deductible, but keep the policy high enough so that you can rebuild.”
A spokesman for Garamendi, Norman Williams, said legislation approved in 2004 modified insurance policy disclosure requirements in an attempt to give homeowners a better understanding of how much coverage their policies would provide.
“Most people had a policy that said ‘extended replacement cost coverage,’ which to many people was misunderstood and probably misleading,” Williams said. “We had them change it to ‘limited replacement cost coverage.’”
The bill also required insurers to give their customers a notice every other year about the need to guard against being underinsured.
“Previously, they didn’t have to say anything to homeowners about being underinsured,” Williams said. “Under the new provision, they have to provide them with information which explains underinsurance and how people should reassess regularly to ensure that their coverage meets their needs.”
___
California Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner has dispatched Damage Assessment and Disaster Fraud Response teams to Lake Tahoe to assist consumers with the losses from the Agora fire burning at Lake Tahoe. Meanwhile, a state insurance association is saying state laws that were passed in recent years should aid victims.
“The Lake Tahoe blaze has destroyed homes and left neighborhoods in ruin. This fire is a harsh reminder of the dangerous conditions that make the 2007 fire season potentially disastrous for California,” Poizner said. “The amount of damage caused by this wildfire is still being assessed, and I have dispatched key members of my staff to the area to equip local residents to help them recover from this disaster as quickly as possible.”
Poizner said the Disaster Fraud Response team will work with local law enforcement and make property owners aware of the potential for scam artists (i.e. unlicensed public adjusters, unlicensed contractors, etc.).
The Disaster Assessment Team, comprised of California Department of Insurance (CDI) staff and insurance company catastrophic loss adjusters, will help to determine the extent of the insured losses in the area and to determine if insurers will have the capacity to quickly adjust insurance claims and get money into the hands of those whose homes and other property were damaged or destroyed in the fire, he said.
According to Sam Sorich, president of the Association of California Insurance Companies, the following laws were implemented, in part, based on the lessons learned from the wildfires that swept through Southern California in 2003.
•AB 2199 – When a fire loss is the result of a “state of emergency” event, the time limit for replacing the destroyed structure is 24 months from the date of the first payment from the insurer. Effective Aug. 25, 2004.
•AB 2962 – An insurer is not allowed to cancel a policy while the primary insured structure is being rebuilt, except for existing statutory reasons for cancellation. When the total loss to the primary structure is caused by a government-declared disaster and was not due to the negligence of the insured, the insurer is required to offer to renew the policy. Effective Jan. 1, 2005.
•SB 64 – This law extends the authority of the Department of Insurance to establish mediation programs for victims of wildfires that are declared a state of emergency by the governor. Effective Aug. 30, 2004.
•AB 873 – This law requires insurers, after a loss, to provide policyholders, free of charge, copies of their policies within 30 days of the insurers’ receipt of the requests. Effective Jan. 1, 2006.
•SB 2 – In the event of an emergency, this law requires insurers to extend the coverage of additional living expenses up to 24 months, without increasing policy limits and without changing other policy conditions. Effective Jan. 1, 2007.
“Recent state laws have improved post-fire assistance, especially in cases – such as the Angora Fire – where a state of emergency has been declared. We sympathize with the victims of the latest fire. Insurers are already on the scene locating and providing immediate assistance to their policyholders who lost their homes in the Angora Fire,” Sorich said.
Update: 7:40 a.m.:
Web sites offer property status Clearinghouse to property owners to check the status of homes can be found at http://www.edso.org and http://www.cityofslt.us or visit the Lake Tahoe Community College administrative offices.
Beginning at 8 a.m. today, residents from Highway 50 to Wintoon with appropriate identification will be allowed to access their property via North Upper Truckee and Highway 50; residents from Wintoon to Sawmill Road should contact the local assistance center for re-entry information.
Update: 7:25 a.m.:
Weather conditions will be changing today with increasing southwesterly winds and decreasing humidity whichmay not be good news for firefighters, said Simon Smith, co-op weather observer for the National Weather service. On the other hand light wind will help to disperse the smoke which will make for better conditions for airquality and visibilities, Smith said. At 7:25 this morning thick smoke continues to clog much of the basin.
Under sunny skies, temperatures today will be in the upper 70s to near 80 with gusty southwest winds increasing by afternoon to 15 to 25 mph with gusts to 30 mph or higher.
Tonight winds will decrease somewhat and become relatively calm in the basin, however ridge winds will continue to blow but not as strong.
Lows will drop back down into the 40s. There may be some good news on the horizon by next week with lighter winds and even the remote possibility of some precipitation by the 4th of July or perhaps later.
Update: 7:10 a.m.:
Highways 50, 89 open.
Calm weather conditions have caused a dense amount of smoke over the Lake Tahoe Basin as more than 1,889 irefighters continue to work the Angora Fire. Early reports this morning indicate progress on the fire, which has consumed more than 2,730 acres and has burned at least 178 homes. The fire remains at 40 percent containment.
Some homeowners will be allowed to return to their properties today. The Tahoe Daily Tribune will be following events as they continue this morning. At 6 a.m. briefing this morning it was reported there are 12 helicopters, 145 engines and 54 crews on the fire, said Bridgitt Boysen, spokeswoman for the U.S. Forest Service.
All highway closures have been lifted. This includes Highway 50 and 89. The North Upper Truckee Road area to Winton is open this morning, however roads within the main burn area remain closed.
Local News shows it as calm and clearing,, here’s hoping they have it nailed.
Yes I hope so,
Winds are still light in the Valley, and light to calm at the lake.
I have to drive up this afternoon, so I will try to get some live shots.
winds are definitely up but it looks they were able to knock the hot spots down and hold them so far, here’s hoping this afternoons winds don’t blow some spots back to life
55% containment.
A sign is seen thanking firefighters is seen near the burned area that was in the path of the Angora fire Thursday, June 28, 2007, in South Lake Tahoe, Calif. A break in the wind allowed firefighters to gain ground on a stubborn wildfire near Lake Tahoe as they prepared for more blustery conditions forecast for Thursday. (AP Photo/Ben Margot)
A sign is seen near a home in the burned area that survived the Angora fire Thursday, June 28, 2007, in South Lake Tahoe, Calif. A break in the wind allowed firefighters to gain ground on a stubborn wildfire near Lake Tahoe as they prepared for more blustery conditions forecast for Thursday. (AP Photo/Ben Margot)
Firefighter Ben Basque of California Department of Forestry drags a hose while working to extinguish embers after a wildfire swept through a residential area in South Lake Tahoe, California June 27, 2007. High winds expected at California's Lake Tahoe threaten to fan a raging wildfire that jumped a containment line after destroying hundreds of buildings and forcing thousands of people to evacuate the resort area, firefighters said on Wednesday. REUTERS/Max Whittaker (UNITED STATES)
West Sacramento Fire Captain Mike Francesconi's face is covered with soot from extinguishing hotspots in a burned out area in Meyers, California June 27, 2007. High winds expected at California's Lake Tahoe threaten to fan a raging wildfire that jumped a containment line after destroying hundreds of buildings and forcing thousands of people to evacuate the resort area, firefighters said on Wednesday. REUTERS/Max Whittaker (UNITED STATES)
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