Open house designed to teach about prescribed fire

The Tahoe Fire and Fuels Team is partnering with sixth-graders at Tahoe Expedition Academy to put on a community open house about prescribed fire.

At the Feb. 24 open house, people may learn more about the role prescribed fire plays in improving forest health and reducing wildfire risk for Lake Tahoe communities.

Since 2008, agencies have reduced hazardous fuels on nearly 40,000 acres of land in the wildland urban interface where Lake Tahoe’s forests and communities meet.

At the open house, people can meet and speak with fire managers in the Lake Tahoe Basin and learn how agencies decide when and where prescribed fire operations take place. People can also learn more about steps they can take on their own properties to reduce wildfire risk and improve public preparedness, such as creating defensible space and preparing an evacuation plan.

The open house will include stations for people to learn more about fire weather forecasting, smoke dispersal, fire behavior modeling, and how agencies test vegetation moisture before burning. Attendees can also see before and after photos of prescribed burns, maps of upcoming project locations, and sign up for prescribed fire notifications.

Sixth-graders at the Tahoe Expedition Academy are helping to host the open house and will share their knowledge about wildfire and prescribed fire operations. Shelly Robertson’s sixth grade students spent several months learning about the role wildfire plays in the Sierra Nevada ecosystem. They worked and trained with a U.S. Forest Service hotshot crew and local fire protection districts to learn about prescribed fire and the importance of defensible space and preparing for wildfire.

The event is from 5:30-7pm at North Tahoe Hebrew Congregation, 7000 Latone Ave., Tahoe Vista.