El Dorado County Local News: Resilience

A restless crowd demanded answers and solutions from the district offices of El Dorado County on Thursday night, after learning that snow removal services would be far more limited than in years past. The main reason for these limited operations lies in the lower pay offered to potential snow removal employees.

As Southern California grapples with an unrelenting fire season, Folsom firefighters have joined the battle against the fierce Mountain Fire that has ravaged Ventura County. This massive blaze, fanned by powerful Santa Ana winds, has scorched over 20,000 acres, destroyed more than 130 structures, and forced thousands to flee, with Folsom firefighters now among the first responders working to contain the destructive flames.

The sound of Caldor Fire embers falling from the sky and landing on windshields made a familiar noise. "It was almost like it was sprinkling, but it was sprinkling embers,"

The Sierra Nevada Alliance is hosting its biannual conservation conference Nov. 7-8 at Lake Tahoe Community College in South Lake Tahoe. They've titled this year's theme as Strengthening Conservation Impact Through Partnership.

Charred trees punctuated the Eldorado National Forest like blackened skeletons of their former selves, victims of the Mosquito Fire. Two years earlier, in 2022, the Mosquito Fire started in Tahoe National Forest, moved north to the Eldorado, and torched a total of 76,788 acres, making it California's largest wildfire in 2022.

A five-week project to replace power poles and clear large logs and brush is underway in the Tahoe Basin requiring the use of helicopters due to the steep nature of the region.

Forest health is a top priority of the Lake Tahoe Environmental Improvement Program (EIP), a landscape-scale collaboration and partnership between nearly 80 public and private organizations to achieve the environmental goals of the region. To date, partners have treated nearly 95,000 acres in Lake Tahoe Basin forests to reduce hazardous fuels.

As temperatures begin to drop below freezing at night, protecting your home plumbing from the damage and expense caused by frozen pipes is essential. Remember these tips to prepare your home for chilly temps.Before freezing temperatures set in:

The Folsom Fire Department was buzzing with activity late Saturday morning, but it wasn’t the typical work like cleaning trucks or conducting training sessions. It was all about family fun, fire safety awareness, and hearty helpings of pancakes consumed by the community at the event that drew a steady crowd all morning long.

The public can comment on a new Lake Tahoe Regional Evacuation Plan that was developed by the cooperative efforts of area fire chiefs, law enforcement agencies and emergency management personnel.

For the Sugar Pine Foundation – a local non-profit dedicated to restoring Tahoe's sugar pines and overall forest health – this September was incredibly busy with seed collection because 2024 proved to be a mast year for sugar pines and most conifers in the Tahoe region. This is significant because reforestation starts with collecting seed.

Fire agencies around the Tahoe Basin recently publicized the Lake Tahoe Regional Evacuation Plan, but most of the information within it is not particularly new.