It appears it’s damage was much reduced with the thinning and defensible space that was instituted, and one hopes these efforts are expanded, without unnecessary restrictions, for the future.
Study: Angora fire unstoppable
Tree thinning, homeowner maintenance and firefighters' efforts limited damage, Forest Service says.
By Chris Bowman - Bee Staff Writer
Published 12:00 am PDT Saturday, August 4, 2007
The air was wrung so dry, the trees stood so parched and the wind hollered so fiercely that nothing short of a half-mile-wide clear cut would have stopped the Angora fire from torching a Lake Tahoe community six weeks ago, according to a Forest Service study released Friday.
Forest thinning and homeowner clearance of deadwood, along with "aggressive" firefighting, nonetheless spared many homes and, perhaps, lives, the report said.
The blaze that started June 24 destroyed 254 houses but caused no deaths on the outskirts of South Lake Tahoe, the worst wildfire to strike the High Sierra basin in modern times.
The Forest Service credits its forest-thinning projects in the area and some homeowners' maintenance of "defensible space" for slowing the burn and diminishing the smoke enough for firefighters and sheriff's deputies to efficiently evacuate neighborhoods.
"This report shows that you need both thinning and defensible homes to prevent future Angora fires. Either one by itself is not enough," said Matt Mathes, spokesman for the agency's regional office in San Francisco.
