South Lake Tahoe On Fire!

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Maureen
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Hi Guys,

I know this doesn't relate to, or effect most people these days, but we've had a horrid 2 weeks of fires. The last one is now burning down very close to Myers CA and South Lake Tahoe, or Stateline for those of the out West here. This is the largest populated area of Lake Tahoe.

The fire has claimed 150 homes as of the last report. That's up over a 100 homes just in the last few hours. All roads into South Lake Tahoe are closed right now. Oops, new update, 195 homes have burned and it's covered close to 2000 acres. This is a heavily populated area!

On the other hand, everyone has been evacuated. We have fire crews from everywhere in a 200 mile radius fighting the fire. No injuries. But, the fire is heading for a huge tourist area, both gaming resorts and ski resorts!

Heading out for the night, but saying a prayer for all those folks up there! Not all of them live in bi fancy homes! Quite a few that work in the resorts live in mobile homes. Most likely, you won't hear about those homes in the morning.

Isn't it funny how the media focuses on disasters differently? Those huge homes that were lost will be prime time news tomorrow... not the mobiles.

Maureen 8)
Never discourage anyone...who continually makes progress, no matter how slow.
'Plato'
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Harry
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Hi

Tuesday, firefighters across the state fought 191 active fires, according to the state Division of Forestry.

Since January, Florida has been hit with over 2,641 fires that have consumed 358,334 acres.

All this because of the severe drought.

Harry
Aside from the roof leak, soft floors, rats, mice and bursted plumbing ........ how do you like it?
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JD
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Reports from 11:30 today say that the So Lake Tahoe High School is on fire. The fire chief sounds optimistic because of weather conditions but said the fire was only 5% contained at that point.

It has been a dry winter all through California and lot's of other states this year. I hope that the fire fighters are able to get this fire taken care of before any others in the west break out. I live near the southern end of the Sierras. We have a high fire alert now too. No fires right now, but conditions are very dry and dangerous. We have had wild fires break out because of broken glass catching the sunlight.

My thoughts and sympathies go out to all those folks that lost their homes. I hope we all stay safe this summer.

JD
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All information and advice given is for entertainment and informational purposes only. The person doing the work is solely responsible to insure that their work complies with their local building code and OSHA safety regulations.
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Maureen
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Hey guys,

Yes Harry, I've been watching the fires in the Southeast. They are devastating to say the least! On the other hand, you're just now experiencing the droughts that we've had out West here since the late 70's.

We've been dealing with wild fires since I was knee high to a grass hopper out here. Lets round that off to 50 years LOL!

Great news on the fire at South Lake Tahoe! It basically laid down today! Winds died down, which is a big help for firefighters on the ground. Bad news for tankers and helicopters making drops on the fire. Out West here we have valleys that create inversions. The smoke was so bad that they couldn't fly for more than 45 minutes.

JD, South Lake Tahoe High is fine. It burned right up to the football field, but was protected by fire crews.

The new numbers are that it has burned 2500 acres, destroyed close to 200 homes, damaged many others. Mother nature blessed us with no wind today! On the other hand, there are still close to 1000 homes threatened if the wind kicks up and changes direction, all heck will break out again. I should say homes and businesses. Not all that perished last night were homes. Several businesses also went down with the fire.

Due to the inversions that we experience here in our valleys, the smoke has started to move into our area. We're about 45 miles North of South Lake Tahoe, as the crow flies. The smoke is starting to get thick, but bearable. We've had a whole lot worse!

The fire is still 5% contained, that's a very small area. Contained doesn't mean controlled! It means that that a very small area of the fire has good 'break' that it hasn't jumped yet.

The forecast calls for the same temps and winds for tomorrow. That's very good! If they can lay it down tomorrow everyone will be in good shape. If not, the forecast calls for dry winds on Wednesday. More trouble for us in this area!

Maureen 8)
Never discourage anyone...who continually makes progress, no matter how slow.
'Plato'
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Yanita
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Hi,

Yup, I have been watching this on the news as well.

Your right Maureen, no mention what so ever of any mobiles, they are all very high dollar homes.

Am glad to hear there has been no lose of life, my heart goes out to those that lost their homes.

Mobile homes typically only get into the news when a drug deal has gone bad, a murder, meth labs, child abuse or a natural disaster.

In watching the news this morning there are fires, tornado's, flooding and extreme heat...everybody stay safe.

~Yanita~
The difference between success and failure is who gives up first!
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JD
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Our local Fire Depts here in the south valley sent off 44 city/county firemen yesterday morning. Forest Service guys left days ago. This is actually a small population area of California, compared to Bay area and Sacramento, who are also sending people to help. There should be alot more boots on the ground this morning to help out. I know the ones from my area are being assigned an area of homes to protect, giving the forest service types more people to use elsewhere.

JD
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All information and advice given is for entertainment and informational purposes only. The person doing the work is solely responsible to insure that their work complies with their local building code and OSHA safety regulations.
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Maureen
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Well, as of yesterday, the fire jumped the line and headed for the lake, and more homes. We got very lucky today, the winds that we had, didn't happen up at the lake! Bad news, the winds are suppose to be worse over the next few days.

This is basically, still a small fire, it's just in a really heavily populated area of Tahoe. It's really close to Camp Richardson, Tallac Pines and the Tahoe Keys. These are right on the shoreline. Another huge concern is keeping this alpine lake as clear and blue as it is right now. Lake Tahoe is the largest alpine lake we have in the nation. When I was a kid, you could take a boat out to the middle and still see down 200 feet. It was that clear. Now it's about 50% of that. That's due to man moving in. But, it's still one of the few lakes we have that you can actually see the bottom of the lake with the naked eye in most places. There isn't a more beautiful shade of blue, than Lake Tahoe blue. In my world, it's the closest thing to heaven on earth!

We've been busy throughout this area, getting much needed supplies to those that have been evacuated, (that number is way over 3000 people), and the fire fighters. The Red Cross and Salvation Army and other agencies can only do so much. Those folks that have lost their homes need to relocate for the time being. They also need everything to set up a household. So we're doing drives all over this whole area for that. I'm participating in the Sun Valley drive. The fire fighters get fed and a shower when they come off the line, but not much else. They do get fed really good, but then they sleep on the ground when they're off. We're trying to get them pillows, blankets and such. We're also trying to get them small snacks that they can take up during the day while fighting the fire. These guys and gals have the toughest jobs in the world. The eat breakfast, go to work for 12 hours, with out food, very little water, and then come 'home' to dinner and any place they can find to sleep. I know I couldn't do it! We have to give back in some way.

Northern California and Northern Nevada are under red flag fire alerts for the next few days. This is really scary with the 4th of July coming up! There are always some idiots that just have to set off fire works. They are illegal in these areas! With just cause! Think before you decide to light those fireworks this year folks!

They have concluded that this fire was man made.

To those of you in the flood areas, our hearts go out to you! Mother Nature has a strange sense of humor.

Maureen 8)
Never discourage anyone...who continually makes progress, no matter how slow.
'Plato'
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Yanita
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Hi,

I was chatting with Fast Lane the other afternoon...the flooding in Texas has affected Dew's new home. You all know the one they have been renovating for at least a year. Seems the water in the area might of gotten the underneath wet, there is bathroom floor damage and not sure what else, details were kind of scarce.

Fastlane is fine , just the ground is real wet, but no water damage to his home.

Maureen, I watched the update on the South Lake Tahoe Fire, seems it is now 55% contained, but it seems they will be getting substantial wind gust latter this afternoon. I see where another fire has popped up a few hours away from the lake.

Thankfully NC is neither experiencing flooding, drought or fires at this time..we just keep our eye on the Atlantic this time of year!

Have a good day, and everyone stay safe.

~Yanita~
The difference between success and failure is who gives up first!
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Maureen
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Hi Yanita, and everyone else out there!

That's the main reason I keep updates going through a Mother Nature or natural disaster event.

We sort of expect others to join in with what's happening in their neck of the woods.

As far as the fire goes, the last 2 days have been wonderful for firefighters! Yes, they expected high winds yesterday and today. We got them here, but they did NOT get them up at Tahoe on the South shore. I kept looking out the kitchen window all afternoon to see another plume of smoke, it didn't happen! The fire is 55% percent contained, which in real life isn't great. Contained and controlled are two very different things in fire land here. Contained means that any little thing can still make that fire spread really fast. Controlled means that the fire is out.

It will be very tense here for the next few months. They've reported that this has been the driest year here in 45 years. I remember how bad that Summer was 45 years ago! No power for weeks at a time!

Glad to hear that Fastlane contacted you Yanita! I'm so sorry to hear about Dew! Hopefully, they have flood insurance! Weather can do real funny things, and any area can flood! Flood insurance is extra on most policies. That's something everyone needs! We learned this, I guess easy way lol! I have to rebuild our back porch because of flooding. It didn't bother the floating deck, but the box step is now so twisted and uneven it's not funny! I can't even see the pavers under the step anymore. Small price to pay for a lesson in flooding!

Maureen 8)
Never discourage anyone...who continually makes progress, no matter how slow.
'Plato'
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Harry
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Yo

Maureen - looks like your area is in for more drought. Here's a NOAA map I follow:

Image

Harry
Aside from the roof leak, soft floors, rats, mice and bursted plumbing ........ how do you like it?
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Maureen
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Location: Sun Valley, Nevada

Thanks Harry! I do use NOAA quite a bit. I don't need a map to tell me how dry it is out here right now! My water bill has gone up about $20.00 keeping the plants and trees half way healthy. Most of that is on a drip system, so $20.00 bucks is a lot in some ways.

We've been in a drought situation since the mid 70's. Even our wet years haven't really made up for that. Of course, new building permits don't help us out either. We can only water twice a week here. Granted, we live in the high desert, where we do get a snow pack, but ya put more people in one spot then there is water... and ya got a problem LOL! Prime example, look at Las Vegas! Lake Mead is half of what it used to be and they're buying water from anywhere they can get it! If it keeps going, water will be just as expensive as gas out West here! You just can't use more than you have....duh?

Great news on the fire front! The winds that we had down here in the valleys, did not happen up there! Fire fighters have it very close to contained. Now, with a fire like this, it won't be controlled for at least two weeks. A very interesting fact that I learned today. When a fire breaks out in a forest and large trees burn, the fire can look like it's out. A fire that hot and that bad, can burn down to the roots of the tree. Those tree roots can smolder for months! If the wind catches things just right, they can start another fire! That's interesting how science and investigations have progressed over the years.

More facts, it was started by either a smoker or a small camp fire. They can't determine which, the fire burned too hot. They did find the precise point of origin.

254 homes burned to the ground, more damaged heavily, more with little damage. Those numbers aren't in yet. A lot of that area still has downed power lines that haven't been repaired yet. Not safe for a full assessment yet. Al lot of folks have a real rough road ahead of them, but we're doing all we can to help out.

Our attention really needs to focus on those in the areas that are suffering horrid flooding right now! If any of you out there are having problems or can share information, please do! We worry about our other family members!

I'm going to lock this post, no response is needed! Please! Feel free to start another post about the massive flooding.

Maureen

8)
Never discourage anyone...who continually makes progress, no matter how slow.
'Plato'
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