Preparing Our Community for Fire Season

Wildfires are burning across the West Coast right now, and the Bug Fire near Reno is a close reminder that fire season is here in our own backyard. As a community that lives, works, and welcomes visitors in and around North Lake Tahoe and Nevada's Sierra, wildfire preparedness isn't optional. It's part of how we take care of this place and each other. I was evacuated in September of 2024 for the Davis Fire and it was definitely scary. but we had a plan and that helped.

That's why we want to point you toward Living With Fire, a long-running program dedicated to helping residents, businesses, and visitors understand and reduce wildfire risk. It's a genuinely useful resource, and one worth bookmarking now, before smoke is in the air.

What Living With Fire Offers

• Living With Fire works with homeowners, educators, community groups, and firefighting professionals across the region. Their resources cover:
• Defensible space: Practical guidance on creating and maintaining the buffer zone around your home that gives firefighters a fighting chance and slows a fire's approach.
• Building materials: Information on fire-resistant roofing, siding, and other construction choices that can mean the difference between a home that survives and one that doesn't.
• Vegetation management: Tips for managing both native and non-native plants on your property, so landscaping supports fire safety rather than fueling risk.
• Evacuation planning: Help thinking through your evacuation route, timing, and what to do if you need to leave quickly.

Why This Matters for Our Community

North Lake Tahoe and the surrounding Nevada communities sit right in the wildland-urban interface, the zone where our homes, trails, and businesses meet dense forest. That's a big part of what makes this place beautiful, and it's also what makes fire preparedness a shared responsibility. A defensible space around one home helps the whole neighborhood. A clear evacuation plan for one family eases congestion for everyone trying to get out.

Whether you live here year-round, own a second home, or are simply passing through this season, taking a few minutes to understand fire risk and readiness makes a real difference.

Get Involved

Living With Fire isn't just about individual preparedness. It's also a way to get involved in community-wide efforts to reduce fire risk, from local defensible space workdays to educational events. If you want to do more than prepare your own home, this is a good place to start.

Learn more and access all of Living With Fire's resources: [link]

Don't Forget Your Pets: Build a Go Bag

Preparedness planning isn't complete until it covers every member of the household, including the four-legged ones. Tahoe PAWS has put together a Pet Emergency "GO BAG" checklist to help you get your pets ready to evacuate quickly and safely. Here's what they recommend packing and organizing now, before you need it:

• Identification & records: Crate or carrier for each pet, leash, collar, harness, GPS collar and chargers, current ID tags on collars, microchip number and company information, current medical and vaccination records, and full-body and face photos of each pet.
• Food & supplies: A 10-14 day supply of food, water, and treats, food and water bowls, a can opener, and your pet's favorite toys, kongs, bones, or puzzles.
• Health & comfort: Medications and supplements with instructions, a pet first aid kit, beds, blankets, and towels.
• Cleanup: Litter and litter box with scooper, poop and litter bags, trash bags, paper towels, pet-safe wipes, and disinfectants.
• Extras: Booties and a muzzle, if needed, plus phone numbers for your vet, daycare, and boarding facility.

As Tahoe PAWS puts it: you never know when an emergency or disaster is going to happen. Always be prepared and make a plan ahead of time. Please leave early and safely evacuate, and never leave your pets behind. Tahoe PAWS is a local organization that answers the call for lost pets and emergency evacuation in our region. For donations or more information, visit tahoepaws.org.

Watch Duty & Washoe County SMART911

• Watch Duty is an app available on desktop and mobile that tracks fires and evacuations across the country. It also provides notification. We highly recommend you download it. 
• Washoe County also has a text/voice/email service for emergecy alerts, including fire. Enroll here. 

Stay safe, stay informed, and thank you for being part of a community that looks out for one another, pets included.