SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. — It’s hard to believe that in the first few days of May, the Sierra region saw another five inches of snow.
Communities are in the middle of Wildfire Preparedness Week and fire season is approaching. Saturday is also a nation wide Wildfire Community Preparedness Day.
Residents in Tahoe are beginning their preparations for wildfire season but many of them can’t do much right now. Tasks like raking up pine needles is proving difficult with mounds of snow still in front yards.
Fire Marshall Kim George with South Lake Tahoe Fire Department still encouraged residents to get a head start.
“It’s a real issue. Our snow is melting incredibly fast. It’s very surprising, but we are really hoping that positive change, a positive difference this next fire season, but that being said, we are encouraging people to work around the snow and there are things they can do, like plan,” said George.
South Lake Tahoe is one of the largest Firewise communities in the state. A Firewise community is when residents do their own wildfire preparedness work.
Dianne Rees has been the Firewise community leader in Al Tahoe for two years, but this year, new concerns are arising.
“It’s extremely frustrating that even though we are doing the mitigations, we are possibly going to have our insurance canceled or not renewed or have the price go up so high we won’t be able to live in South Lake Tahoe,” said Rees.
Many neighborhoods in the Sierra recently had their designation changed to a high fire risk area after multiple wildfires in the past few years. This can cause big name insurance companies to not renew resident’s policy, because they don’t want to take on the responsibility.
“We know that our insurance policies are getting canceled, and we have no alternative but the California Fair Plan,” said Rees.
The California Fair Plan is state provided fire insurance, which is more expensive than traditional insurance. That is why the California Department of Insurance will be at the Al Tahoe event this weekend to help residents navigate concerns.
Michael Soller, with the department, wants to encourage residents to head to their website and see if they qualify for rewards with their insurance for their fire preparation work.
“Under new rules from the department, if you have made yourself safer and made your community safer, that should help you keep your insurance and get insurance you can afford,” said Soller.
The Firewise meeting with the important insurance information is Saturday starting at 11:30 a.m. at the South Lake Tahoe Community Rec Center located at 1180 Rufus Allen Boulevard.
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