El Dorado County Local News: Resilience

Julie Gardner, who was born and raised in South Lake Tahoe, has recently taken over as CEO of California's most prominent employment social enterprise non-profits, Downtown Streets Team.

With support from the Tahoe Fund and Parasol Tahoe Community Foundation, every local fire agency in the Tahoe Basin now has access to Fire Aside, a software platform that makes defensible space and home hardening evaluations significantly faster to carry out, and risk mitigation recommendations easier for residents to implement. 

At its regular meeting on May 21, 2024, the El Dorado County Board of Supervisors proclaimed the period of May through October 2024 as Wildfire Awareness Season as a call for residents in El Dorado County to prepare for wildfire.

On May 14, California Governor Gavin Newsom announced the May Revision includes a proposed budget allocation to assist the State in achieving its fire prevention and fire suppression goals.

With fire season here, El Dorado County Sheriff's Office and the county Office of Emergency Services officials want to make sure residents know what to expect should wildfire strike and evacuation become necessary.

Tahoe Guide released the 4th annual Tahoe Wildfire Preparedness Guide in mid-May as a standalone publication for the first time. This guide provides resources for residents, vacation homeowners and visitors to be prepared in case of a wildfire.

The El Dorado Hills Fire Department has released the premiere of "Kyle’s Story," a compelling documentary that explores the serious consequences of not wearing a helmet through the personal journey of a local teenager Kyle Benton.

Earlier this year, the USDA/USFS Aerial Detection Monitoring sector released the R5 ADS Final Report (aka the 2023 Aerial Detection Survey Results for Region 5) highlighting the tree mortality rate in California.

The USDA Forest Service Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit is scheduled to begin mechanical forest thinning this week on approximately 75 acres located in two locations, one near High Meadows Trail and one near Cascade Properties in South Lake Tahoe.

Summer is here and the snow is melting. Prepare for wildfire season and sign up for defensible space evaluations and curbside chipping services. For more information on these services and to register online, visit www.nltfpd.org.

California voters narrowly passed Proposition 1, Gov. Gavin Newsom’s measure to fund mental health housing. He’s prodding counties to use the money quickly.

The Tahoe Wildfire Preparedness Guide is available in digital format for free at YourTahoeGuide.com/fire. You can download it, fill out the checklists, and post the resources section on your refrigerator.

City Council unanimously passed the first reading of an ordinance designating Very High Fire Severity Zones within city limits provided by CalFire. South Tahoe Fire Chief Jim Drennan explained, "This really is just a revision of the map for an ordinance that's already in place."

In collaboration with surrounding cities and counties, Placer County announced the launch of TahoeAlerts, an emergency notification system locator.