LIVING WITH FIRE IN THE LAKE TAHOE BASIN
 
Jennifer and I recently attended a class on Best Management Practices.  While we were attending this class, we were given some information on fire safety in the Tahoe Basin.  Since I finished reading it, I believe I will try to pass on some of the highlights here. 
 
First of all, this information is specific for the Tahoe Basin.  While this is true, the common sense aspect will apply to properties in the Truckee area also.
 
I was surprised to hear that fire is a normal and healthy occurrence in a forest. Some fir trees like Jeffrey and Ponderosa require the conditions present after a fire to germinate and grow.  But the type of fire should occur in the form of a low-intensity fire on the average every 5 to 18 years.  During these forest fires, the low brush is naturally culled and the smaller trees are burned making the remaining forest healthy and thinner.  Prior to the 1900's this type of fire was common.  Check out the map on this web page and you will see the statistics http://www.livingwithfire.info/tahoe/?click=fireecology

 
With the advent of the 1900s, there was a period of blanket logging in the basin which forever changed this natural forest.  After the logging, there existed a brand new forest, whose trees and vegetation were all growing at the same rate.  This made for a crowded, unhealthy environment.  This is the situation we are faced with today. 
 
The Angora and Gondola fires at South Lake Tahoe are recent examples of the type of fire that WILL occur in the Tahoe Basin.  For it is not IF a fire will occur but WHEN. 
 
The point of this whole expose is to remind us and our clients what steps we and they can take and/or look for when they purchase, build or maintain a home in the Tahoe Basin.  According to the Lake Tahoe Basin Fire Protection Agencies, homeowners can reduce the wildfire threat by paying attention to the following 4 zones:
 
1)      Access Zone - make sure that your home is located within reach of a fire fighter - make sure that the road you live on is passable by fire trucks and that the address numbers on your home are clearly visible.  Homes that are located at the end of a driveway that exceeds 150' need to have a turnaround for fire trucks. 
2)      Defensible Space Zone - this is a phrase that we are all very familiar with but each home's required defensible space - that area around the home that does not add fuel to an approaching fire, but serves as a buffer - is different, depending on a lot of factors.  Be sure to check this website to find out what your home will need:  www.livingwithfire.info/tahoe  ;
3)      The Built Zone - include things that are critical to making your home fire safe when it is built.  Some items might be installing metal screens on just about every vent opening on the house so that sparks cannot enter and considering installing non-flammable decks and roof tops to avoid combustion from flying embers;
4)      The Interior Zone - refers to having a plan for evacuation with your family; installing working smoke detectors, carbon monoxide detectors and fire extinguishers.  
 
As we enter another summer we all need to take stock of where we stand with wildfire threat reduction. I am relatively certain that the people who lost their homes in the Angora Fire of 2007 had themselves pretty well convinced that it "couldn't happen to them."  Let us learn a lesson from the community's horrible experience including the loss of 242 homes.  These losses can be mitigated if we educate ourselves and follow through with that is prescribed. 

Kappy and Jennifer have a combined 40 years in the Real Estate Profession.  We are committed to giving our clients the most up to date Real Estate information and Stellar Service because, We Love Our Work and So Will You!  Call us or e-mail us for information about the Tahoe Truckee Real Estate Market.  By the way, if you think any of this information might be of interest to anyone you know, feel free to forward this newsletter.  We would really appreciate it!