Message from Fire Chief Sommers Regarding Davis Fire
September 11, 2024 | Member Submitted
Submitted by NLTFPD, Tia Rancourt, 09/11/2024
September 11, 2024 | 10:00 a.m.
North Lake Tahoe Fire Protection District remains fully engaged with the Davis Fire, actively coordinating both on the ground and in ongoing communications with the Complex Incident Management Team.
Current Status:
• No Threat: The Davis Fire, given the predicted wind patterns, poses no threat to Incline Village and Crystal Bay.
• No Evacuation Warnings: There are currently no evacuation warnings or advisories for our community.
Aerial Support:
You may observe fixed-wing aircraft using Lake Tahoe for water supply in the suppression efforts for the Davis Fire. Rotary-wing aircraft are utilizing Washoe Lake.
Community Information:
Fire Information boards have been set up at the Incline Village Post Office, Raley’s, and Natural Grocer. These boards will be updated daily as new information is received from the Incident Management Team.
For the latest updates on the Davis Fire, please follow:
Highlights: Southwest Area Incident Management Team 1 assumed command of the #DavisFire at 6 p.m. on Monday, September 9th. Active fire behavior was seen along the southwestern portion of the fire yesterday in the vicinity of Mount Rose Highway. Aircraft were limited due to wind and smoke conditions, but crews were able to take advantage of natural features and roadways to directly attack the fire. Strike teams and engines from local jurisdictions were able to continue structure protection in and around all impacted communities and additional resources begin to arrive from around the country to support. Four super scooper aircraft have been assigned to the incident, increasing the speed at which water can be delivered to support firefighting efforts across the fire area.
Fire Activity: Overnight, crews and engines worked to construct direct line in areas around the south and western flanks of the fire but were challenged by very active fire behavior. A spot fire established in the lower portion of Browns Creek, east of Hidden Lake and crews were able to gain access and begin building line. Engines were also closely monitoring fire activity in and around communities, extinguishing any heat that could pose further risk to homes and property. Today, along the north and eastern edges of the fire, crews and engines will continue to monitor and mop up heat sources near the line, working to gain containment in the areas along Interstate 580. On the southern perimeter of the fire, Interagency Hotshot Crews will continue to go direct, building line directly on the fires edge, preventing any continued growth to the south. The southwestern corner of the fire is expected to continue to see extreme fire behavior today with spotting potential up to ½ mile. A mix of aircraft, supported by crews on the ground, will work to check the fire up along Mount Rose Highway, while also scouting secondary containment options.
Weather: A Red Flag Warning has been issued for the area beginning at 11:00 a.m. on September 10th. Expect wind gusts up to 35 mph and relative humidities dropping to single digits at lower elevations. The temperatures will range from 92 at the lower elevations to 74 at the high elevation. A thermal belt will establish overnight, keeping humidities lower than normal.
As we are all aware, Washoe County is in a State of Emergency due to the Davis fire. Our emergency response teams have been working around the clock to fight this fire and provide the much-needed services. United Way of Northern Nevada and the Sierra has established the Davis Creek Fire Emergency Assistance Fund. The funds will be allocated to agencies identified by UWNNS as assisting with the response and recovery efforts. This will be done through their pre-existing allocations process .Please see their message below.
Just a heads up that we are spinning up the Davis Creek Fire Emergency Assistance Fund which is a fundraising tool we make available to our communities when a state of emergency is declared. I want to be clear that this is not meant to be in the way of any other efforts…we will not take any administrative fees out of funds and they will go to organizations helping with response and recovery efforts moving forward. As you know, this is a rapidly evolving emergency so we appreciate your patience if anything we have listed needs to be fixed.
Please note: this is a page that we are actively updating…if you have an update we need to put on there, send them to me at your convenience.
If the disaster transitions to a large-scale effort, we will create a webpage that lists information for people who need help or want to provide assistance…using the same link.
Details on the fund:
UWNNS will not deduct an administrative fee from the gifts.
Funds will be allocated to agencies that UWNNS has identified as assisting with response and recovery efforts using our pre-existing allocations process.
Volunteers on our Community Impact Committee and Board of Directors will have final oversight of our allocations efforts.
Funded partners will typically be 501c3 Nonprofits that we already work with and we can also allocate to Government-affiliated organizations.
Our main goal is to stay out of the way of those doing the work on the ground.
This is not meant to take the place of any other fundraising, volunteering or in-kind donation efforts.
We only seek to enhance efforts currently underway by raising funds from our donor-base and helping to pivot volunteers and in-kind gifts to the agencies working with affected households.
Please note, at this time, volunteers and in-kind gifts have not been requested of UWNNS…we will wait and see if those resources are needed.
In essence, our job is to “have their backs”.
Who we’ve talked to so far:
Community Foundation of Northern Nevada – our partners in the funding-space. Eaton and team have already organized other funders to get ready for a funding push (wow!) and utilize our EAF page as part of that effort. THANK YOU CFNN TEAM! – https://nevadafund.org/
American Red Cross Northern Nevada Chapter – Tiandra and her team have been on the ground responding to the disaster and have been operating the shelter at Washoe County Senior Center (wow!) this whole time. I’ve connected with her in regards to timing of their next phase of recovery efforts in partnership with the County and will be ready once needs are ascertained. – https://www.redcross.org/local/nevada/about-us/locations/Northern-Nevada.html
Foodbank of Northern Nevada – Nicole and team are connecting with regional partners to assess needs. – https://fbnn.org/
FISH – is preparing / ready to assist clients with food / shelter / vouchers. – https://www.nvfish.com/
Nevada Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster: As per our membership on the VOAD, we primarily serve in a Fundraising / Allocations and Community Connection capacity during disasters…we are just getting started now before VOAD decides on a full activation. – https://www.nvvoad.org/
In The News – Wind gusts could reach 50 mph in Davis Fire area for Wednesday
September 10, 2024 | Member Submitted
Originally Published in the Reno Gazette Journal, 09/10/24, Written by Jason Hidalgo
The National Weather Service has issued a red flag warning for the Davis Fire area on Tuesday and Wednesday, with the agency forecasting especially strong wind gusts on Wednesday that could complicate efforts to contain the wildfire.
The red flag warning is in effect from 11 a.m. Tuesday to 8 p.m. Wednesday for the Western Nevada Sierra Front, which includes Reno, Sparks and Carson City.
Tuesday will start out with light and variable wind gusts in a southwest direction before picking up later in the day. Wind gusts are forecast to peak at 25 mph and go as high as 30 to 35 mph at higher elevations, said NWS meteorologist Mark Deutschendorf.
In The News – Incline Boys Soccer officially starts league action
September 9, 2024 | Member Submitted
Originally Published in the Tahoe Daily Tribune, 09/09/2024, Written by Tim Kelly
The Incline High boys soccer team went .500 last week as they started league play with a tough match at Truckee High and then dominated out in Yerington.
For the second game in a row the Highlanders came out fast and scored a quick goal against a very strong Truckee Wolverine team to go up 1-0. Junior, Jesus Herrera, scored a beautiful goal in the first 5 minutes to stun Truckee and their home crowd. Unfortunately, like the North Valleys game, the Wolverines found the back of the net just before the half time whistle to tie the game at 1-1.
Local Author Debra Hendrickson to Read ‘The Air They Breathe’
September 8, 2024 | Member Submitted
Submitted by Incline Village Library
Saturday, Sept.14 at 11 am, we will be hosting Reno local pediatrician and author for a book talk.
Reno author Debra Hendrickson, MD, will read from and discuss her book The Air They Breathe: A Pediatrician on the Frontlines of Climate Change, published by Simon & Schuster, July 2, 2024. A timely, revelatory first look into the impact climate change has on children—the greatest moral crisis humanity faces today—by a pediatrician in the fastest warming city in America.
Debra Hendrickson, MD, is a board-certified pediatrician in Reno, Nevada. She is an associate clinical professor at the University of Nevada School of Medicine, where she lectures on the impact of early childhood experiences (such as poverty and trauma) on long-term health. She has an honors degree in environmental studies from Brown University and was an environmental analyst and planner in New England and Seattle for ten years before attending medical school. Dr. Hendrickson has received many awards for academic achievement and research in both environmental studies and medicine. She is a Fellow of the American Academy of Pediatrics, a member of its Council on Environmental Health and Climate Change, and a founding member of Nevada Clinicians for Climate Action. She has three children.
In The News – Explore more: Get kids engaged in science through a love of Lake Tahoe
September 7, 2024 | Member Submitted
Originally Published in the Tahoe Daily Tribune, 09/06/2024, Claire McArthur
Before I fell in love with Lake Tahoe, I couldn’t have told you what a stream environment zone was (Meadows! Marshes!) or why the arrival of tiny little clams could have such a big impact on lakes. But over the last decade, I’ve eagerly learned about the important wetlands that filter out sediment from the 63 tributaries flowing into Tahoe, contributing to its famed clarity, and followed updates on projects that aim to reduce the populations of several aquatic invasive species. Sure, it’s interesting, but more importantly, I want to learn about it because I care about that big lake and the environment around it that has provided me with countless hours of swimming, sunset gazing and trail romping.
In The News – Positive results from Clean Up The Lake’s recent pilot study
September 6, 2024 | Member Submitted
Originally Published in the Sierra Sun, 09/05/24, Written by Zoe Meyer
A promising outlook for reservoir health
INCLINE VILLAGE, Nevada – In a recent update that’s good news for local water bodies, Clean Up The Lake (CUTL), in collaboration with The Martis Fund, has wrapped up a pilot research project with encouraging results. The study, which took place from June 26 to July 3, involved underwater surveys and cleanups in Stampede and Boca Reservoirs. The results show very low levels of litter and no troubling infestations of aquatic invasive species (AIS).
During the pilot project, CUTL’s volunteer dive team carried out eight survey dives, assessing 1.76 miles of underwater terrain. The team removed a total of just 20.57 pounds of litter, which consisted of 100 individual items. The results indicate minimal litter accumulation despite potential collection zones influenced by dams, human activity, and wind patterns. The only AIS observed were the signal crayfish, known locally as ‘crawdads,’ with no significant concerns regarding other invasive species commonly seen in the region.
In The News – Incline AYSO is fully kicking in the Village
September 2, 2024 | Member Submitted
Originally published in the Tahoe Daily Tribune, 09/02/2024, Special to Bonanza
INCLINE VILLAGE, Nev. – For years and years the Incline AYSO, the American Youth Soccer Organization, has been a staple in the Fall for many Incline Village boys and girls. Well, Saturday Aug. 24 was the official kick off for the Incline Village 995 AYSO at the Ridgeline Fields behind Incline Middle School.
First year Commissioner Alex Taylor and his team of volunteers are excited to have so many kids in Incline playing soccer this season.
“On behalf of the AYSO board and our dedicated coaches and volunteers, we’d like to invite you, the families of over 200 AYSO athletes to the Incline Village 995 AYSO opening day,” Taylor announced.
Have in common? They are all sustainable solutions that come from thinking with nature.
Walking softly with the land to listen and understand invites insights and answers for planetary problems. Nature also demonstrates resilience, now identified as the most critical attribute young people need to survive and thrive in the modern world. Mindful connection to nature can address personal issues as well.Sustainable Tahoe’s mission is to accelerate the adoption of Geotourism – tourism that does no harm.
We demonstrated this with the Geotourism Expos we hosted (2011-2014). When planning for the 2014 Tahoe Expo, I found myself on the edge of the lake with a Washoe elder, who hadn’t seen his people’s homeland in decades. He looked out into the lake like he was looking through time and after further contemplation said,
“The Lake is losing its sparkle, maybe no one sings to it anymore.”
Washoe Elder
I’m thinking, wait…what…singing? Then I remembered how Indigenous people see land, water, plants, and wildlife as sacred relations worthy of reciprocity. His response provoked me to further my own quest to better hear the earth’s voice. Eventually answers in the form of songs began to show me a key missing piece is how our culture defines Nature as separate and disconnected from humans. It’s hard to care about things you don’t feel connected to – right?
So, the idea to inspire a child’s innate connection to nature, through songs, stories and media evolved. What if we could grow a millennial forest of consciousness using the sticky rhythms of poems, songs, and stories from the earth, so children grow up feeling connected to Nature, a part of Nature, able to think with nature.
Sing with NatureIs a children’s animated media series where each 10-minute animated episode follows a clue that ends in a song highlighting insights discovered. The engagement can then move outside where a child can continue to explore seeing themselves in nature. Fostering a child’s instinctual connection to the natural world can build and preserve that resilience and natural tendency to think with nature, therefore accelerating solutions that can actually pivot a culture to align with Natures currency the currency of caring…so the water sparkles!
FYI Reference: Biomimicry: imitating nature’s systems, models, and elements to solve human problems and create a sustainable world. Regenerative Agriculture: focused on actually improving soil conditions into creating systems that are regenerative. Frontier Forests: large, intact natural forest ecosystems that are relatively undisturbed and large enough to maintain all of their biodiversity.
