Desolation fire at 30 acres and holding

Updated 5:45pm:

Thirty acres of terrain above Cascade Lake have burned, and the fire is holding despite the afternoon winds.

The fire is burning in the Snow Lake area of the Desolation Wilderness near Emerald Bay. It started in the late afternoon Sept. 24. The cause of the fire is under investigation, but has been determined to be human-caused, according to the U.S. Forest Service. No further details are being released.

While USFS spokeswoman Cheva Gabor would not say this fire was started by an illegal campfire, she told Lake Tahoe News, “We’ve had an ongoing problem with illegal campfires in the Desolation Wilderness and Snow Lake is known to our wilderness rangers as a spot where local residents hike in on a user-created trail and have campfires.”

Smoke from the Snow Lake fire is visible on the South Shore. Photo/USFS

No structures are threatened at this time.

Lake Valley and CalFire crews were at the Spring Creek tract and Cascade properties Thursday morning in the event the fire spread. By the afternoon the precipitation had reduced that risk. Patrols will now be intermittent.

The U.S. Forest Service has closed Bayview, Eagle Falls, Tallac, Glen Alpine and Stanford Camp trailheads, Bayview Campground, Inspiration Point and the Taylor Creek Sno-Park. California State Parks has temporarily closed vehicle access to the Vikingsholm parking lot in the event it is needed for fire suppression equipment.

Caltrans and the California Highway Patrol have closed turnouts in the Highway 89 corridor from Spring Creek to the Vikingsholm parking lot to keep the highway traffic flowing to enable fire apparatus and crews ready access to the area. The fire is visible from Highway 89.

This wildfire is not related to the King Fire burning west of Lake Tahoe.

With the King Fire still burning, the Forest Service is asking people to remember that fire restrictions are still in place in the Lake Tahoe Basin and to abide by those restrictions. Fire restrictions mean that no open fires or campfires are allowed outside of campgrounds with an onsite host. Campfires are never allowed in the Desolation Wilderness, only portable stoves are allowed with a valid campfire permit.

— Lake Tahoe News staff report