Tahoe Wildfire Destroys At Least 165 Buildings
- Thread starter chicoliving
- Start date
JBean, I read the cause of the fire was "suspicious" and that is all they are saying at this point. They won't confirm if it was intentional or not at this time. Have you heard something different?
Yes I have heard what I posted there. I just heard that a minute ago. but it doesn't mean they have the most up to date news.
>>NPR.org, June 27, 2007 · Investigators in California could have an announcement Wednesday on the cause of the wildfire that has forced thousands of people to abandon their homes near Lake Tahoe.
U.S. Forest Service officials have said there is no indication that the fire was set intentionally, but they believe it was caused by human activity.<<
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=11456623
U.S. Forest Service officials have said there is no indication that the fire was set intentionally, but they believe it was caused by human activity.<<
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=11456623
June 28, 2007, 7:13AM
Tahoe Fire Victims May Be Underinsured
SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. — Property owners who suffer losses in the Angora fire could find that their insurance policies won't provide enough money to cover rebuilding costs, state officials said Wednesday.
"There is a serious problem with underinsurance in the state of California," Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner said.
Many homeowners who thought they were fully insured found their policies left them tens of thousands _ sometimes hundreds of thousands _ of dollars short of what they needed to rebuild following fires that destroyed more than 3,600 homes in Southern California in 2003.
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/fn/4927568.html
Tahoe Fire Victims May Be Underinsured
SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. — Property owners who suffer losses in the Angora fire could find that their insurance policies won't provide enough money to cover rebuilding costs, state officials said Wednesday.
"There is a serious problem with underinsurance in the state of California," Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner said.
Many homeowners who thought they were fully insured found their policies left them tens of thousands _ sometimes hundreds of thousands _ of dollars short of what they needed to rebuild following fires that destroyed more than 3,600 homes in Southern California in 2003.
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/fn/4927568.html
TheShadow
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I was off yesterday and not able to update. Our vacation cabin survived. Although when the fire jumped highway 89 on Tuesday afternoon it was within 2 blocks of the cabin. The street was evacuated as well as all the neighboring area. We will be going up as soon as things calm down and will see first hand how much damage was done to the area. i don't want to add to the confusion up there right now. The vast majority of the fire area will not be visible to the caual passerby on hwy 89 or 50. it is mostly between the ridgelines from what I see on the map. I am so sorry for those who lost their homes. It is a helpless feeling to know that all you can do is wait for it to be over and see what's left.
Marthatex
New Member
Boy, the ground looks like ash, and the trees like bare needles sticking up. Has the fire been contained yet?
We're supposed to go to Tahoe in September and stay at the Black Bear Inn.
Will S. Tahoe still be there?
We're supposed to go to Tahoe in September and stay at the Black Bear Inn.
Will S. Tahoe still be there?
Buzz Mills
New Member
You did. I saw the Fire Investigator from the Forestry Dept. on TV, and she was explaining how she traced it back to an illegal campfire, near a lake there--can't remember the name of the small lake..
looks like we have more problems:
CHP dispatchers' flubs slowed response to Tahoe fire
(07-14) 17:09 PDT TRUCKEE -- Two California Highway Patrol dispatchers' delays of up to nine minutes in relaying the first 911 calls about last month's devastating wildfire near Lake Tahoe may have hurt firefighters' efforts to keep the fast-moving blaze from spreading, a local battalion chief said today.
"In a wind-driven fire like this, minutes do count,'' said Joe McAvoy of the Lake Valley Fire Protection District, which was the first agency to respond June 24 after winds blew embers from an illegal campfire near the Seneca Pond recreation area into an out-of-control blaze.
He said he doesn't know whether a quicker report would have made a difference, but observed, "The fire was growing by the minute. Earlier notification would have been advantageous.''
Nearly all 254 homes and 85 businesses destroyed in the Angora Fire burned within the first few hours after the blaze began.
Tapes newly released by the CHP's station in Truckee showed that the dispatchers erroneously told several callers on 911 emergency lines that the flames they saw that Sunday afternoon were from a controlled burn rather than a forest fire.
During the first call, recorded at 2:02 p.m., the caller said he was on the golf course at the Lake Tahoe Country Club and could see smoke coming from a mountain to the west.
"Yeah, they're doing a -- a control burn there,'' the dispatcher replied, according to a transcript. Four calls from other members of the public, with similar responses, were recorded at 2:11 p.m. After one of them, the dispatcher phoned an unidentified fire department to report "a bunch of calls of a fire.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/07/14/BAGJ5R0RD93.DTL&tsp=1
CHP dispatchers' flubs slowed response to Tahoe fire
(07-14) 17:09 PDT TRUCKEE -- Two California Highway Patrol dispatchers' delays of up to nine minutes in relaying the first 911 calls about last month's devastating wildfire near Lake Tahoe may have hurt firefighters' efforts to keep the fast-moving blaze from spreading, a local battalion chief said today.
"In a wind-driven fire like this, minutes do count,'' said Joe McAvoy of the Lake Valley Fire Protection District, which was the first agency to respond June 24 after winds blew embers from an illegal campfire near the Seneca Pond recreation area into an out-of-control blaze.
He said he doesn't know whether a quicker report would have made a difference, but observed, "The fire was growing by the minute. Earlier notification would have been advantageous.''
Nearly all 254 homes and 85 businesses destroyed in the Angora Fire burned within the first few hours after the blaze began.
Tapes newly released by the CHP's station in Truckee showed that the dispatchers erroneously told several callers on 911 emergency lines that the flames they saw that Sunday afternoon were from a controlled burn rather than a forest fire.
During the first call, recorded at 2:02 p.m., the caller said he was on the golf course at the Lake Tahoe Country Club and could see smoke coming from a mountain to the west.
"Yeah, they're doing a -- a control burn there,'' the dispatcher replied, according to a transcript. Four calls from other members of the public, with similar responses, were recorded at 2:11 p.m. After one of them, the dispatcher phoned an unidentified fire department to report "a bunch of calls of a fire.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/07/14/BAGJ5R0RD93.DTL&tsp=1
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/07/14/BAGJ5R0R9Q3.DTL
Saturday, July 14, 2007
(07-14) 17:02 PDT -- Excerpts of 911 calls to the California Highway Patrol's Truckee office June 24, as the Angora fire began to burn near South Lake Tahoe. The first call was at 2:02 p.m.
2:02 p.m.
Dispatcher: 911.
Male: Yeah -- uh -- I'm on the golf course. It's -- uh -- Lake Tahoe Country Club, and we can see smoke coming off the mountain to the west of us.
Dispatcher: Uh-huh.
Male: Slide Pole Peak?
Dispatcher: Yeah. Yeah, they're doing a control cq burn there.
Male: OK. Dispatcher: OK. Male: Thank you. Sorry to bother you
Saturday, July 14, 2007
(07-14) 17:02 PDT -- Excerpts of 911 calls to the California Highway Patrol's Truckee office June 24, as the Angora fire began to burn near South Lake Tahoe. The first call was at 2:02 p.m.
2:02 p.m.
Dispatcher: 911.
Male: Yeah -- uh -- I'm on the golf course. It's -- uh -- Lake Tahoe Country Club, and we can see smoke coming off the mountain to the west of us.
Dispatcher: Uh-huh.
Male: Slide Pole Peak?
Dispatcher: Yeah. Yeah, they're doing a control cq burn there.
Male: OK. Dispatcher: OK. Male: Thank you. Sorry to bother you
Marthatex
New Member
Wow. what did cause the fire; I haven't really followed it. It wasn't a controlled burn was it?
Why do a controlled burn when it's so dry?
Marthatex
New Member
Well I surely didn't think so.
Around here we put up Burn Ban signs everwhere so people will realize it's not a good time for any fire.
Once an idiot builder next to me burned a huge bonfire anyway; when we got home from eating out there were firetrucks everywhere. It got out of control but the neighbors called FS. Luckily I'm very near the fire station but I have no hydrants where I am. Scary.