Queen to be hauled onto land before winter

The Tahoe Queen’s future is still being decided. Photo/LTN file

Crews are working on the Tahoe Queen to make it ready for winter.

The paddle-wheeler sustained extensive damage Aug. 16 when it caught fire. Welders and painters were working in the same vicinity when flames erupted.

A yellow boom still surrounds the vessel. This is just precautionary, according to officials.

“We were taking steps to further secure the vessel, given the change in seasons, with plans to move it to dry dock in a few weeks,” Dave Freireich, spokesman for Aramark, told Lake Tahoe News.

It will sit in the parking lot until Aramark decides what to do with it. A decision about whether is will be salvaged or scrapped is not likely to be made until it is out of the water.

Aramark owns the boat. It is still tied up to the dock at Zephyr Cove and has not moved since the fire. Even though Aramark has a permit to operate the boat out of Ski Run Marina it has not been there for more than a year because of the low lake level.

“The salvage company has been in contact with TRPA about getting the Tahoe Queen out of the water, and staff are working out the details of how that would happen, but nothing has been decided yet,” Tom Lotshaw, spokesman for the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency, told Lake Tahoe News.

The Tahoe Keys Marina is likely where it will be pulled out of the water.

— Lake Tahoe News staff report