Yesterday, I had the opportunity to attend a field tour of the Angora Fire hosted by the Fire Safe Council of Nevada County and the Sacramento-Tahoe Society of American Foresters Chapter. The tour was attended primarily by agency folks, retired US Forest Service and CalFire Foresters as well as the occasional private citizen (a.k.a., me).

The Angora Fire started on Sunday June 24th, 2007 by an illegal campfire near Seneca Pond. In less than 2 days, over 250 structures on private property were destroyed. It was one of the largest fires on recent record for the Lake Tahoe Basin. The fire consumed most of it’s 3,072 acres during the first three hours when weather conditions were at their most extreme. On that day, conditions were ripe for a fast moving fire and someone left their campfire unattended, perfect recipe for a fire storm. Firefighters reported seeing 200 to 300ft flames.

Those are the facts of the fire. However, the tour didn’t focus on the fire, but rather, what activities before, during and after the fire that helped to mitigate some of the effects of such a devastating fire.

Our first stop was at the end of a small street called Shoshone St just off of N Upper Truckee Rd just west of South Lake Tahoe.

North of this location, houses were destroyed. However, south of this location, homes survived primarily because of a 200ft reduced fuel break that had recently been completed along the community. This fuel break had astounding results. Though the fire burned hot here, it was, after all, a very hot day, with fuel moisture at an all time low and winds gusting to 50mph, the fuel break kept the fire on the ground rather than in the tree tops and many homes were spared the inferno that was created to the north. It also created a safety zone that allowed firefighters to do their job, protect valuable resources – homes.

Looking north from end of Shoshone St at newly constructed homes and severely burned hillside in background.

One year after the fire, within the fuel break area, we find plants such as lupine, mule ears, manzanita and mountain whitethorn starting to re-populate the understory. In stark contrast to areas that were severely burned where no understory growth is occurring.

Our second stop was just behind the South Tahoe High School off of Lake Tahoe Blvd. At this location, in a successful attempt to save the High School buildings as well as a government center and critical infrastructure, USFS fire personnel decided to light a backfire. Again, the fire burn severely, but moved away from the school rather than towards it and saved the school from damage.

We didn’t have time for another stop but USFS personnel discussed rehabilitation of the dozer lines created during the fire and the removal of noxious weeds – always a concern after a severe fire. We also heard about their ground and aerial application of mulch and their efforts to remove hazard trees and to reforest/revegetate the most severely damaged areas.

One revealing fact that was repeated often was that in a wind-driven fire, spot fires started from flying embers is a known hazard. Given the location of the fire, the embers from the wildland fire easily ignited homes adjacent to the forest. It was then embers from the house fires that ignited even more homes further into the subdivision.

Two years after the fire, northern California finds it self at nearly the same conditions as that June day in 2007. Conditions are warm and dry, coupled with current low fuel moisture content and another fire like the Angora Fire can occur on our next windy day. Please be fire safe! That means maintain your defensible space, consider changes in your home siding and roofing to less flammable material and don’t leave a camp fire unattended! Please visit the Fire Safe Council website or the Fire Safe Council of Nevada County for more information on how to be better prepared for a fire.

A full report of the Angora Fire can be found here: An Assessment of Fuel Treatment Effects on Fire Behavior, Suppression Effectiveness, and Structure Ignition on the Angora Fire