Tahoe residents hold town hall on emergency preparedness in shadow of Maui, Caldor fires
KINGS BEACH – The deadly destruction in Maui has the Lake Tahoe community on alert and asking questions of wildfire first responders.
Placer County held an evacuation preparedness town hall meeting in Kings Beach Thursday night.
People in Lake Tahoe are feeling a close connection to Maui. Both areas are popular vacation destinations, both are in fire danger zones, and both have limited evacuation routes.
People in the town hall were able to ask first responders face-to-face about some of their concerns.
"Is the Coast Guard involved, will people get picked up, what do we do if we are at the lake?"
"I wanted to know what is our current per-hour roadway capacity based on a phased evacuation?"
"I am wondering if you could speak to how to utilize the lake?"
One other issue raised: Could the lake itself be a good place to seek shelter from a wildfire?
"The lake could look like an ocean," North Tahoe Fire Protection District Chief Steve Leighton said. "So more than likely, if there is a large fire, we're going to have waves. So it's not our first option."
One of the challenges during past evacuation orders in Lake Tahoe was limited roadway exit routes. Highway 50 came to a standstill in 2021 during the Caldor Fire when parts of the Tahoe Basin were evacuated. Cars were packed with people trying to get away.
First responders addressed highway evacuations with an explainer on contraflow.
"In theory, we kind of move that double yellow line down and now we have three lanes instead of the two," Placer County Sheriff Lieutenant Ty Conners said.
As Maui disaster relief arrives, new lessons in Lake Tahoe on how to save lives the next time wildfire strikes here.