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Fireworks take back seat (New FIRE in Lake Tahoe area)
Tahoe Daily Tribune ^ | 7-4-02 | Greg Crofton, Jeff Munson

Posted on 07/04/2002 4:04:55 PM PDT by petuniasevan

July 4, 2002

Fireworks take back seat

A helicopter approaches the fire, which had grown to more than 200 acres by Wednesday at sunset.
Jim Grant/Tahoe Tribune

By Greg Crofton, Jeff Munson, Tahoe Daily Tribune

A wildfire burning out of control east of Heavenly Ski resort has consumed more than 200 acres and several hundred Upper Kingsbury Grade residents have been evacuated, officials said.

The fire began around 12:40 p.m. just east of Heavenly Gondola Towers 11 and 12. A couple traveling down the gondola reported smoke to the resort.

As of 8:30 p.m. Wednesday, 420 firefighters, eight air tankers, seven helicopters, 50 engines and 12 handcrews were battling the fire.

Officials fear the fire will move over the ridge this morning.

"It's a heavily timbered area. We're well staffed and its maybe 5 percent contained and it's definitely burning out of control," said Maribeth Gustafson, a U.S. Forest Service Lake Tahoe Basin supervisor. "We have a voluntary evacuation that could affect as many as 5000 people."

The fire is well away from Highway 50, the casino corridor and most primary recreation areas, she said.

"It started adjacent to the gondola. We don't know the cause," Gustafson said.

The burning property belongs to Nevada State Parks, U.S. Forest Service and California Tahoe Conservancy District.

Heavenly Ski Resort property is intact except for spot fires burning near Stagecoach and Boulder lifts, said Tim Smith, fire chief at Tahoe-Douglas Fire Protection District.

"This fire is real long, not real wide -- it's really going up the side of a mountain," Smith said. "By midday we'll probably have a better grasp on the size. Hopefully by then, if the weather is favorable, we'll have some containment."

Smoke was visible from Truckee to Reno, some 50 miles away with wind gusts clocked between 20-30 mph.

"The biggest challenge is the wind, fuels, terrain and access," said Kit Bailey, Forest Service fire management officer at the basin.

Tankers, bombers and helicopters dropped red fire retardant and water on the flames, which are spreading by catching on trees and jumping with wind gusts, Bailey said.

The areas of upper Kingsbury Grade, from East Benjamin Drive to the top of Daggett Summit, were evacuated on a voluntary basis.

"There are spot fires right on top of the ridge," Smith said. "The main body of the fire is still below that. But the winds (on the ridge) blow up to 30 mph every night until 11 p.m."

As of press time, the fire is moving away from the Stateline casino corridor in an easterly direction. The Ridge Tahoe and other homes at Upper Kingsbury are threatened, but fire protection is in place, Smith said.

On Wednesday afternoon, Ridge Tahoe employees were out protecting their place of work using the timeshare's foam-fire protection system.

All available fire resources on both the Nevada and California sides were responding, as well as fire protection agencies from the U.S. Forest Service, the Bureau of Land Management and fire agencies throughout the basin, Douglas County, Washoe County and Carson City.

Until around 2 p.m., 110 people on Heavenly's gondola were trapped at the top of the gondola and on the lookout area. They were safely evacuated, said Todd Crawford, El Dorado County Sheriff's Office of Emergency Service coordinator.

Forest Service officials first estimated the fire to cover about 3 acres but said it had spread to 25 acres by mid-afternoon and to 100 acres by 4:30 p.m. and 200-plus by 8:30 p.m.

The fire is a tragedy, said South Lake Tahoe Mayor Brooke Laine. "It's heart- wrenching. What we are looking at, we knew could happen. It's sad to see our worst fears coming true.

"We've got brave people out there; real professionals who know what they are doing," Laine said. "I'm confident they will do their best to keep the community safe. "

An announcement will be made this afternoon as to whether a fireworks show scheduled over Lake Tahoe will go on as planned.

"We will make a decision tomorrow by mid-day," said Tom McKinnon, internal communication manager at Harrah's, which is putting on the event. "It will be up the firefighters, what they are doing and where they are at. Right now we are hoping it will still happen."

Sue Schlerf, interim city manager for South Lake Tahoe said the responsibility of the fire rests with the Forest Service and other agencies.

"It's not our incident. We are providing as many resources as we can to whoever needs it. We are waiting for the latest decisions and will make them with the best information possible," Schlerf said.

The fire is one of the largest in recent memory, Smith said.

"There's no question in my 30 years in the basin this is the largest fire," Smith said. "Next largest I can recall was at Glenbrook in 1980 or 1981. That got to about 100 acres before a snowstorm stopped it."


TOPICS: Breaking News; News/Current Events; US: California; US: Nevada
KEYWORDS: badsign; ca; california; evacuation; fire; forest; gondola; heavenly; incline; kingsburygrade; nevada; nv; outofcontrol; overgrown; resort; sierra; ski; tahoe; tinderdry; wilderness; wildfire
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To: petuniasevan
Guess when the super-rich liberal elites have THEIR summer homes in a fire-prone area, . . .

BINGO!!! . . . surprise, surprise, surprise . . .

21 posted on 07/04/2002 6:32:52 PM PDT by Phil V.
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To: WSGilcrest
Take your soul to the Hole! I love it up there.

One of my uncles used to summer range cattle west of HellHole and north of the Rubicon as far west as Nevada Point. I've helped him in the fall round-up and drive out to Georgetown . . . AHHH, the good old days!

22 posted on 07/04/2002 6:39:12 PM PDT by Phil V.
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To: backhoe
thanks for the ping. More scorched species to document.
23 posted on 07/04/2002 6:42:12 PM PDT by madfly
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To: SierraWasp
I hope the worst is over where you are.
24 posted on 07/04/2002 6:44:39 PM PDT by madfly
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To: Free the USA; Ernest_at_the_Beach; Libertarianize the GOP; Stand Watch Listen; freefly; expose; ...
ping
25 posted on 07/04/2002 6:51:13 PM PDT by madfly
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To: Phil V.
Yeah, I told you about the massive buzzard migration the Mrs. and I watch coming out of there last summer, didn't I?

Funny thing was, they came down the canyon from Hellhole, then turned southeast right over our house and head toward your place!!!

They musta ate their fill of barbequed wildlife and Bacchi's heffers before they headed your way.

By the way, That thinning and clearing of the Tahoe forests has only made a small dent in the total job that's needed.

Plus, blithering Boxer is legislating a massive expansion of the desolation wilderness just south of Tahoe, to make it roadless and off limits to ANY motorized vehicles! You better be payin attention. The puny public hearings on it are a staged joke that ain't very funny whatsoever!!!

26 posted on 07/04/2002 7:15:58 PM PDT by SierraWasp
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To: SierraWasp
Ten four!

Boxer - "The Roadless Traveled" byebye Caples lake etc.

27 posted on 07/04/2002 7:20:59 PM PDT by Phil V.
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To: madfly
Well, I didn't mean to mislead you with my "backyard" comment. It's just that NIMBY stands for Not In My Back Yard and even though the Tahoe Basin is just over the summit to the east of me, it's in the same county I'm in and feels like my back yard.

On the news, it showed the gamblers and tourists keeping right on with their fun with just an occasional glance at the fire scene. The newscaster was trying to make it sound like the cancellation of fireworks would be the real tragedy! Amazing!!!

28 posted on 07/04/2002 7:23:28 PM PDT by SierraWasp
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To: petuniasevan
Ah, the enviral utopia: No roads, no logging, no clearing brush...NOW NO TREES, tree-hugging idiots!

Here we go again. Day after day, week after week, the no-touching policy of the ENVIROS is destroying everything they claim to hold sacred.

What a bunch of frigging hipocrites.

29 posted on 07/04/2002 7:25:02 PM PDT by BOBTHENAILER
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To: BOBTHENAILER; Phil V.
"What a bunch of frigging hipocrites."

I'd say Bob nailed it! Wouldn't you Phil?

Caples... yup, there goes your/our water supply! I hear the soil crackin while raftin profits keep goin Ka Ching!

30 posted on 07/04/2002 7:30:12 PM PDT by SierraWasp
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To: petuniasevan
Wireworks display Take a look at this page. You can make your own fireworks show.
31 posted on 07/04/2002 7:46:36 PM PDT by kcvl
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To: madfly
Until our forests are managed, there should be no fireworks. Futhermore, there are so many children burn victims, I do not think that is how our forefarthers wanted us to celebrate the 4th. I am not advocating a law, but a rethinking of how we celebrate this holiday.
32 posted on 07/04/2002 7:58:32 PM PDT by Angelique
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To: madfly
ping
33 posted on 07/04/2002 8:22:06 PM PDT by mafree
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To: petuniasevan; SierraWasp; madfly; Phil V.
The burning property belongs to Nevada State Parks, U.S. Forest Service and California Tahoe Conservancy District.

Heavenly Ski Resort property is intact except for spot fires burning near Stagecoach and Boulder lifts, said Tim Smith, fire chief at Tahoe-Douglas Fire Protection District.

Big surprise there. The National stuff burns, the private stuff doesn't.

34 posted on 07/04/2002 8:34:00 PM PDT by farmfriend
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To: madfly
Thanks for the heads up!
35 posted on 07/04/2002 9:18:29 PM PDT by Alamo-Girl
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To: farmfriend
The National stuff burns, the private stuff doesn't

A note on the Collins Almanor Forest Company's losses in that 1990 fire:

Bitter End Fire
Of the Approximately 900 acres burned, 600 were timbered. The 1990 Bitter End burn was part of the larger Campbell Fire, which burned 131,000 acres in Tehama County in 1990. Except for a few heavily burned areas, most of the impacted CAF lands received a light burn. Only 245 thousand board feet of timber needed salvaging in 1990.

36 posted on 07/04/2002 10:20:21 PM PDT by petuniasevan
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To: petuniasevan
Thanks for the link. Kind of proves my point doesn't it. This one phrase caught my attention.

Fortunately for CAF, only 2,209 acres of CAF ownership was affected, the remaining acreage is owned primarily by the Lassen National Forest.

My dad worked on the Lassen National from '73-'77.

37 posted on 07/04/2002 10:45:52 PM PDT by farmfriend
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To: petuniasevan
New FIRE in Lake Tahoe area

Were any Forest Service employees seen hurriedly leaving the area?

38 posted on 07/04/2002 11:44:17 PM PDT by Excuse_My_Bellicosity
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To: madfly
BTTT!!!!!
39 posted on 07/05/2002 3:18:56 AM PDT by E.G.C.
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To: madfly
Heavenly Father

Please provide relief for the people and land from these fires. Help these people to be strong and know it's not Your Will that these fires destroy what they have built up.

Help them see that we are subject to nature and mans failures.

Let them know that they are not alone, that many across this country pray for them.

Please answer our Prayers.

In Jesus Name Amen

40 posted on 07/05/2002 4:30:52 AM PDT by Eustace
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