PLACER COUNTY, Calif — Bracing for wildfire season and figuring out the best way to perform evacuations was at the forefront of training for Cal Fire, Placer County and the Placer County Sheriff Wednesday.
This year was different with the location of exercise being on the east side this year. Normally, it’s on the west, but after Caldor and Mosquito fires, preparing for incidents in the Tahoe Basin has become more critical, according to Brian Estes, chief for the Cal Fire Nevada-Yuba-Placer unit.
“Wildfire season, while maybe a little delayed this year, is at our doorstep. At the higher elevations, things are looking relatively moderate, but you go down to the valley floors on either the east side or west side and things are burning,” said Estes.
Chief Estes estimates by the end of the month, the bigger and heavier fuels from California's extra rains this year will start to catch fire.
“Fire season is a much more credible threat in the high Sierra across the region. Certainly in the last ten years, the Tahoe Basin, the Truckee Basin has seen an increase in the threat from large damaging wildfires,” said Estes.
The Caldor Fire in 2021 destroyed 1,000 structures, damaged 80 more and hurt 21 people. The Mosquito Fire in 2022 destroyed 78 structures. As a result, preparing for incidents in the Tahoe Basin has become more critical.
It's why agencies are training to learn how they can better communicate with each other.
The Tahoe Basin has it’s own unique challenges they need to adapt to. The majority of residents don’t live in the area full time, so they might be unaware of their evacuation zone and plan.
“Tourism is a necessary fact of Lake Tahoe. It nurtures the economy of Lake Tahoe and Truckee, but we have to be able to deal and mitigate the increased hazards that come with traffic and increased amount of ignitions potentially and evacuations. And that’s a big part of what today is about,” said Estes.
The training will now be held annually on the east side moving forward.
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