Angora -- 2 years later

6/09 tahoe mt. news unedited

By Kathryn Reed

Gardner Mountain -- it almost seems to be the forgotten part of Angora.
Although no houses were lost in this area during the June 2007 firestorm, the forest was ravaged. Those who live in the neighborhood and use the trails wonder why it seems this section of the 3,100 acres that were destroyed two years ago is not getting its just due.
The U.S. Forest Service as the land owner believes the acreage is being treated fairly and appropriately. Trees behind Gardner Street within about 150 feet of backyards were taken out right after the fire.
What’s left is evidence machines were used to log the area. Dirt is disturbed. Chunks of limbs of various sizes are strewn about. It’s called the lop and scatter method. New vegetation is scarce. Aesthetically it’s a bit of an eyesore – even more so than the charred forest.
USFS forester Duncan Leao scans the area, noting firs still need to be removed. But he defends what is left behind, reiterating this was a hazard tree removal area, not a thinning project.
“We do leave some of the slash on the ground for cover,” Leao said. “From a fuels perspective, this is what’s prescribed. There are less fuels on the ground now then when we had the fire.”
To the lay person, it looks more like a bonfire ready to be lighted. But because much of the debris left behind isn’t twigs or entire trees, it does not present a fire hazard, according to the Forest Service. Little sticks used for kindling pose the greatest threat to starting a fire, and then the big logs that burn hot and long that sustain a fire.
Beginning later this month and into July the trail extending off Panther Lane will have trees removed as a safety precaution. Even though the area is lush with an abundance of new green growth, some of that will succumb to the machines that will remove the towering dead pines and firs that pose a liability for the Forest Service.
Holes riddle many of the trees – evidence insects are nibbling away at the bark and birds are going after them. This behavior further destroys the trees that stand hundreds of feet tall.
Even grander views of Lake Tahoe are sure to be a result of the logging. Two years ago a hiker or mountain biker could not see the Lake.
The Forest Service uses mechanical and hand crews on dry ground for about 95 percent of work like this. Some work was done during the winter over the snow in Angora proper. Leao said that type of work is good for the ground, but it means having to go back in later to deal with large tree stumps and debris under the snow that wasn’t touched.

The burn area

It’s been two years and still no arrests have been made in the fire that was started by an illegal campfire at Seneca Pond on June 24, 2007. It was fully contained July 2. It caused more than $150 million in damage and cost about $23 million to fight.
Through May 2009, about 35 acres of U.S. Forest Service land have been reforested. The federal agency owned the bulk of the 3,100 acres that were charred.
Students from Zephyr Cove Elementary to the Environmental Magnet School helped plant some of the 7,275 trees. Most of the Jeffery pine, red fir, incense cedar and sugar pines were year-old saplings. Three-year-old seedlings also were planted by groups and individuals.
Now the Forest Service is working on maintaining the little trees by getting people to volunteer to keep them watered when Mother Nature isn’t doing so. The problem is saplings have a mortality rate of 50-100 percent. In the past, the success of planting in the basin has been dismal.
By mid-summer the USFS expects to release an environmental assessment of the area for final public comment. This will dictate how further restoration measures are carried out.
Funding for projects will be an issue no matter what is decided. Although heli-logging has been proposed for Angora Ridge and parts of Gardner Mountain, it may prove to be cost prohibitive.
The current plan is to remove the trees from Angora Ridge and let it return to chaparral – which is what pictures show it looked like in the 1930s.
Erosion control measures throughout the burn area – on all public and private land -- held during the winter and are continuing to with these unusual spring rains.
Not all contractors in the burn area are being conscientious about the environment. Two local contractors were cited for trespassing on National Forest land. A press release from the U.S. Forest Service said the contractors are accused of causing ruts, driving over seedlings and uprooting boundary markers.
Names of the companies are not being released per a federal law the Forest Service cited. Once the $250 fine has been paid the names will be public record.

Residents recover

Of the 254 houses that were destroyed in the Angora Fire, 184 are in some stage of being rebuilt – which may just be the permitting process.
It’s a mish-mash out there – with more lots bustling with activity than stagnant. A couple lots still have the county checklist out front.
On Cliff Road an asphalt driveway and cement stairs lead to a lot full of old wood chips and charred tree stumps.
From Elk Point Circle it looks like a new subdivision is being built.
On Pyramid Circle John Mauriello’s old lot remains empty. (Read about how Mauriello is doing in the July Tahoe Mountain News.)
At the Angora Garden, aka the labyrinth, on Lake Tahoe Boulevard a drip irrigation system is in place. Trees are growing. A bird house is stocked for the songbirds chirping nearby.
It’s hard not to be at this oasis amid the ruins without being contemplative. Behind the fence is the natural vegetation – yellow mule’s ear and purple delphinium bloom beneath the charred pines. Life and death – it’s a constant juxtaposition in the burn area.
Life does go on, but headaches remain. Tara Brennan and Tony Colombo still have insurance issues. Their court date with State Farm is scheduled for June 22.
Brennan is losing her job at Pier 1 Imports. Colombo just got laid off from BlueGo when the bus agency cut routes. It was his fourth job since the fire.
“I’m running out of career options in Tahoe,” he says half in jest.
Still, they say they are glad they rebuilt.
“I didn’t really know what to expect. But I sit on my back deck and say it is good to be home,” Brennan aid.
She says this even after the garage flooded in the winter because of the high water table.
Water – it’s an issue plaguing so many in the burn area. Considering an adult conifer can absorb about 80 gallons of water a day, the water has to go somewhere now that the trees are gone. The liquid just rises. Sump pumps are being put in at residences that never had them before.
“We are trying to get as much vegetation and trees in to hold the water,” Brennan said.
The couple also wants more mature trees to help with wind and shade.
The irony is the abundance of water has allowed aspen stands to flourish.
A series of meetings this year resulted in a landscape plan being developed by Susie Kocher, a natural resources advisor with UC Cooperative Extension. The document is a guideline for residents. It’s available at http://ucanr.org/angorareveg/.
Paula and Larry Lambdin live around the corner on Pyramid Circle. They’ve noticed how much more natural vegetation is coming back this year compared to a year ago.
“I think it gets better every day. It’s still hard to look at the ridge,” Paula Lambdin said.
She said when emergency vehicles were streaming to Angora Lakes Resort on May 20 it was jarring. She said the arson at the cabin “generated a lot of anxiety” for those in the burn area.
(Transient Peter Benjamin Manista, 31, is the suspect in the arson, burglary and vandalism.)
What perks the Lambdins up is seeing more people move back to the neighborhood. Lights are on at neighbors; port-a-potties are taken off the street. A sense of normalcy is returning.

Relief center

The Community Disaster Resource Center is using the last of its donations to help anyone who has at least applied for a building permit by giving them a voucher for about $1,360. The home owner has the choice to open an account with Tahoe Outdoor Living or Aspen Hollow.
People have until July 6, 2009, to open the account and until July 1, 2010, to spend the money.
The roughly $250,000 in vouchers will essentially bring the balance to zero for the nonprofit that was created after the fire. The offices will close in July.
Carrie Reiter, administrative director for CDRC, said the last day for survivors to turn in applications for underinsurance assistance is June 30. She said estimates are that collectively the households of Angora were underinsured by more than $12 million.
Her group collected just shy of $1 million in the less than two years it has existed.
Reiter had 237 cases. A case is each renter in a house, a child older than 21 living at home or a family/couple. About 90 of the cases were renters, Reiter said.
Reiter credited her board of directors for making some tough decisions – decisions not all survivors have been happy with.
“You get to see the best and worst of everybody in this situation,” Reiter said. “I’ve had some harass me for a year because they were not getting (money from CDRC) for a waterfall or barbecue and others who won’t apply (for help). Everybody had a different way of handling things.”

Things to know

Assemblyman Ted Gaines is hosing a discussion about Angora two-years later on the anniversary of the fire. The June 24 discussion from 6-9pm is at South Tahoe Middle School’s multipurpose room. He is expected to have members of the bi-state Blue Ribbon Commission on hand to talk about what, if anything, is being done with that report.
Tahoe Area Sierra Club is having Jessica Mahnken from the Sierra Nevada Fire Safe Council speak June 18 at 6:30pm to explain how residential lots can be improved to increase fire safety. She will delve into how much defensible space is necessary, and what kinds of ground cover and plantings can be close to a house.
Mahnken will also explain the various forms of assistance available to homeowners, BMPs, and Lake Valley’s chipping service.
The meeting is at the Round Hill Fire Station on Elks Point Road.
The reverse 911 system for El Dorado County has been operational since mid-April. It allows people to be notified about an emergency as it happens. The system can send alerts to landlines, cell phones and via email.
Isolated locales can be notified with an evacuation message, while outlying areas could be given a broader message. It can make 1,000 calls per minute.
A $140,000 Homeland Security grant paid for the system.
The system also allows people to call in to get recorded information during an emergency. That number is (530) 470-5001.
This summer a test message will be sent to people who are in the system and notifications sent via the media for people to add their info or more methods of contact to the database.

Firefighting capabilities

Despite a scary state budget situation, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger last month renewed his commitment to make state resources available to local jurisdictions consumed with fire.
“Last summer when California was engulfed by 2,000 fires, California’s brave and hard working firefighters beat back every one of those fires, but it was not without great sacrifice and great cost,” Schwarzenegger said in a statement. “A third straight year of drought only heightens the danger we face this summer, and we need every firefighting tool on ready alert, so we can spring into action when disaster strikes. This Executive Order directs CalFire to immediately mobilize more personnel and equipment, which means more crews, more engines, more helicopters and more planes to ensure our firefighters have the tools they need again this year to keep us safe.”
His directive calls for departments like Emergency Management Agency, National Guard, California Conservation Corps and state Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation to work with federal and local agencies when it comes to fire prevention and firefighting.
Local Forest Service firefighting budgets have not been cut. The bad economy has seen more people signup to be on-call firefighters with the Forest Service. At the beginning of June, 61 people had gone through the training and another 12 were wrapping up their paperwork.
“(There are) no budget impacts to our ability to hire on firefighters, or to our partners (that we’re aware of),” said Cheva Heck, USFS spokeswoman.