Prevention

The Fire Prevention Division performs a multitude of tasks designed and intended to reduce the number of fires and other non-specific emergencies that occur in our  community. They include wildland-urban interface safety inspections, public education  and training for the local school district, public education & awareness programs  including fire extinguisher training for the business community, review of construction  plans for residential and commercial buildings, fire sprinklers, and major project  renovations; inspections for new construction, special events, as well as training other  divisions of this department with respect to inspections and code enforcement.

In 2000, Lake Valley Fire Protection District, enacted, through grant funding, a Fire and Fuels Management Service Program. The LVFPD’s fire and fuels management program  goal is to protect life, property and the environment from the effect of a catastrophic  wildfire. The LVFPD’s objective is to work closely with experts in resource management  and return the forest to estimated native conditions. Without fire in the ecosystem, the  forest in Lake Tahoe Basin has experienced a high amount of dead or dying trees as a  result of overstocking, drought, insects and diseases. Fire management personnel must  take an active role in the restoration process to create a forest remnant of pre-fire  management in the Lake Tahoe Basin.  The LVFPD offers a broad range of wildland fire  prevention and forestry services for our community, including:

• Defensible Space Education
  • Shaded Fuel Break Construction
• Defensible Space Inspections
• Curbside Chipping
  • Defensible Space Tree Marking
• Prescribed Fire and Pile Burning
  • Defense Zone Construction

The Community Wildfire Protection Plan (CWPP) developed for the California Side of  the Lake Tahoe Basin was approved in 2005, by California Department of Fire and  Forestry, our El Dorado County supervisor and the Lake Valley Fire Protection District  Fire Chief.  The CWPP was developed with the guidance of the Wildland Fire Leadership  Council. The CWPP identified eight communities-at-risk in the Lake Valley Fire District and assessed structural ignitibility and defensible space and performed fire behavior  modeling. Also, recommended fuel reduction projects are described in the CWPP for  Defense Zone, Urban Lot, Meadow Restoration, and Roadside Protection Projects. These  projects cross all types of land ownership including private, state, county, city and federal  lands.