Wildfire Awareness Week

See the full gallery of Wildfire Awareness Week on Google+

The first ever WildFire Awareness Week event drew over 600 spectators to the Montbleu resort Memorial Day weekend.  It fetured baloon rides on the famous Smokey the Bear baloon, making its first ever appearance in Lake Tahoe, as well as firefighter gear demonstrations and representatives from many local, state, and federal agencies.

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Defensible Space

For the individual homeowner, the key thing they can do to protect their home from the risk of being consumed in a catastrophic wildfire is to have good defensible space. LivingWithFire.info reccomends at least 30 feet of non-flammable plants, with a stone drainage between any vegitation and your house and a 100 foot "lean, clean, and green" area around your home if possible.  The TRPA used to reccomend that people leave their pine needles in their yard for water quality, the new reccomendation is to clean the entire defensible space area of all dead material.

Lake Tahoe Master Gardeners has provided a list of plants to be sure to avoid in the 30ft area including:

• Juniper
• Spruce
• Pines and Firs
• Manzanita
• Chinquepin
• Huckleberry Oak

Fire Gear

Structure firefighting and wildland firefighting have very different needs. Structure fires burn hot in confined spaces, so the gear is designed to offer protection against both extreme heat and dense smoke inside a building. 

Wildland firefighting gear has to be lighter.  According to fire marshal Eric Guevin "obviously when we do a  wildland fire, a brush fire, that gear is not practical.  We wouldn't be able to have all that gear on. It's way to heavy, the guys would be exhausted and they wouldn't be able to fight the fire because they'd be physically unable to do that."

He continued, "It's a lot lighter, so they're more agile on the fire line, and yet it affords some protection against fire brands and fire exposure.  So it's designed to keep them a little cooler and a little bit more agile but yet provide for protection." 

Wildland firefighters also have to contend with the weight of carrying a portable fire shelter, a hose, a supply of water, and tools for cutting fire lines and setting backfires.

Trey Stone kicks off Heavenly Village concert series

The new Heavenly Village Friday night concert series (Sponsored by KTHO radio and Wake Up Tahoe) kicked off on the Friday of Memorial Day weekend in front of Base Camp Pizza with the Trey Stone band playing some great blues and Jimi Hendrix covers including "Voodoo Chile", and "The Wind Cries Mary"

Trey Stone is a longtime musician who has played with Parliament/Funkadelic, Bootsie Collins, Dee-Lite, and Tower of Power.  He has lived in Tahoe for a number of years now and loves it too much to leave.


He is accompanied in this video by "8-track" John Belanger (Drums), and  Boyce Pittman (Bass).

The Heavenly Village concert series will continue all through June and July.  Upcoming dates include:

• May 31 - Jesse Kalin and Cool Black Kettle
• June 7 - Moondog Matenee
• June 14 - Jason King Band
• June 21 - Glam Cobra
• June 28 - Island of Black and White
• July 05 - Connor Brothers feat. Groovebox
• July 12 - Street Urchinz
• July 19-20 Jon Bovi (Las Vegas)

Follow Wake Up Tahoe on Facebook to stay up to date on this concert series.

 

Slow Rollers 2013 afterparty

For the last 3 years running Lake Tahoe's Slow Rollers bicycling club has put on a costumed bike parade, which last year I filmed as a contender for the Gueiness world record for "World's Longest Bicycle Parade" but this year the spring weather was rainy with a threat of lightning and the turnout wasn't as big as usual. 

It's  usually from the Y to Stateline; this time it was from South Shore Bikes to Mo's Place, so I missed the actual parade; but I caught up with the slow rollers at their afterparty and got this video with all the riders in their costumes.

May 2013 Tahoe Concerts: Vanilla Ice, Sammy Hagar, The Shins, Ra Ra Riot

May 1-5 Rocky LaPorte / Ron Morey @ Improv at Harvey's
May 01 Jesse Kalin and Acousitcal @ Cabo Wabo
 All Tahoe clothing swap @ American Legion
May 02 City Mouse, Ninja Slaughterhouse, End of the Line @ Rojos
 Bias and Dunn feat. Steve Kershnick @ Moody's Bistro
 Chasing Ice movie screening @ Squaw Valley
 Chango's Tree House @ The Grid
May 2-4 Left of Center @ Cabo Wabo 
May 3-5 Genoa cowboy festival feat. Riders in the Sky, Dave Stamey, Hot Club of Cowtown and Waddie Mitchell.
May 3-4 Sammy Hagar: Four Decades of Rock @ Harrah's
 Firefighter's "fill the boot"fundraiser at the Y 
May 03 Seasonal Job Fair @ Harvey's bus garage
 Jesse Kalin @ The Beacon
 The Vegascendants @ Classic Cue
 Graham Marshall @ Moody's Bistro
 New Monsoon / Acorn Project @ Crystal Bay Club
May 04 Mayweather vs. Gurerro watch party @ Montbleu
 Boogie Nights Cougars and Cubs party @ Opal
 Sugar Beats, NoWa, EfxHand, AD/AM, and Nausicaa @ RAW bar
 Truckee River Band / Molly taylor @ Whisky Dick's
 Ike and Martin @ The Beacon 
 Forget the Roses @ Moody's Bistro
 The Bumptet, Sean Leahy Trio / Spirit Family Reunion @ Crystal Bay Club
 Biggest little skate jam for Autisim feat. Melvin Makes Machine Guns in Sparks

May 05 Cinco de Mayo (parties at Hacienda del lago, Heavenly's CA Lodge, and more)
 DJ Chris English @ Cabo Wabo
May 06 Cash Only Band @ Cabo Wabo 
May 07 TYMK, IJV, Ground Score @ Whisky Dick's
 Skiier/BASE jumper Eric Roner of MTV's Nitro Circus @ Moody's Bistro  
May 8-12 Jake Johannsen / Sammy Obeid @ Improv at Harvey's
May 08 Douglas County Sherrif's office open house @ America's Greenest Jail
 Tone Cookin @ McP's
May 09 Jackson and Jesus @ McP's
May 09-12 Motherhood Out Loud @ Montbleu
May 10 Trunk Monkey @ McP's
 Jellybread, Drop Theory, Low Flying Birds @ Crystal Bay Club

May 11 The Shins / Ra Ra Riot @ Montbleu
 Super Diamond @ Harrah's
 SureFure Deluxe @ McP's
 Bent Wood @ The Beacon
 Ben Fuller @ Moody's Bistro
Joker, Philosophy, Tally, Trevor B, Agent 42 @ RAW bar
 Head for the Hills / Hellbound Glory @ Crystal Bay Club
May 12 Mother's Day
 Local's appreciation party feat. Thrive, Weapon, Bukue One @ Montbleu
 Anne Roos @ The Boathouse restaurant at BEACH retreat
May 13 Joy / Pleasure Bonus / Molly Taylor @ Whisky Dick's
May 14 Career faire @ LTCC
 Digital Connection, Humpfree LowGart of (Ohm Wrecker) @ Whisky Dick's 
May 15-19 Charles Fleisscher / Brant von Hoffman @ Improv at Harvey's
May 16 Kelly Anne Miller @ Cottonwood bar and grill
 Slow Rollers bicycle parade through South Tahoe
 Harmony Road @ McP's
 The Main Squeeze @ Crystal Bay Club
May 17-18 The Academy of Dance Arts @ Montbleu
May 17 Livitz Livitz, Boot to the Kool, Ninja Slaughterhause @ Whisky Dick's
 Ron's Garage @ McP's
 Afrolicious, Eddie Robert's west coast sound / Downbeat @ Crystal Bay Club
May 18 Ira Walker w/ M.I.P. @ Whisky Dick's
 Manic Bros @ McP's
 RYDHA J ClYDE, DUBB 20, J PIGG fr hooligans @ RAW bar
 Lyrics Born feat. Skins and Needles and 40 Watt Hype / The CME, Mr. Rooney @ Crystal Bay Club
May 21 Oscar Danliels, Dead Robot, HepHany @ Whisky Dick's
May 22-27 Nick Griffin / Gene Pompa @ Improv at Harvey's
May 23 Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeroes @ Montbleu
 Live at Lakeview Commons voulenteer recruitment (5PM) @ Lakeview Commons
 Neutralboy, Up Against It @ Rojos 
 Ben Taylor @ Crystal Bay Club
May 23-24 Northstar Elevators @ McP's
May 24-25 Steven Roth @ Moody's Bistro
May 24 Equinox, DJ Kronyak, Conspiracy Theory, Beat Karma @ Blu nightclub in Montbleu
Long Beach Rehab / Arden Park Roots @ Blu
 K-Theory @ Tahoe Biltmore
 Sisqo @ PEEK Tahoe
 Trey Stone @ Heavenly Village
 Dead Winter Carpenters w/ California Honeydrops / The Paisley Brain Cells @ Crystal Bay Club
May 25 Dead Winter Carpenters w/ He's My Brother, She's my Sister / Achilles Wheel @ Crystal Bay Club
 Valilla Ice @ Harrah's
 4-way street @ McP's
 Deep Fried Mojo @ The Beacon
 Stranger Band (reggae) w/ SO Dubs, Weapon @ Whisky Dick's
 Late Nite Billy's birthday bash feat. DJ Morefiend & DJ Enlightenment  @ RAW Bar
 Cool Black Kettle @ The Beacon 
 Perfect Giddimani / Winstrong @ Hacienda del lago
May 26 Starship w/ members of Jefferson Airplaine @ Harrah's
 Naughty By Nature @ PEEK Tahoe
 Big Bad Wolf @ The Beacon 
 Tracorum, Groove Session / The Nick Moss Band @ Crystal Bay Club
May 27 Memorial Day
 Mindfull Massive dubstep show @ Whisky Dick's
 Protoje @ Hacienda del Lago
May 28 Desert Dwellers, Ransom, Trevor & tattoo Joe Moontribe @ Whisky Dick's
May 29- June 02 Bob Zany / Zan Aufderheide @ Improv at Harvey's
May 29 Birds of Chicado @ The Divided Sky
  Ron's Garage @ McP's
 Agent Orange, Marones, The Business End @ Whisky Dick's
May 30 JG Duo @ McP's
 The Black Lillies @ Crystal Bay Club
May 31 Gretchen Wilson @ Montbleu
 Dab City in South Lake Tahoe
 Castle, Hate FX, Demon Lung, Envirusment, Serpent & Seraph @ Whisky Dick's
 4-way Street @ McP's
 Jesse Kalin and Cool Black Kettle @ Heavenly Village
 Reggae legends The Wailing Souls w/ Pure Roots / Massive Delicious @ Crystal Bay Club
July 1-2 Highway 50 Wagon Train rondezvous @ Zephyr Cove Resort
 Valhalla Rennasaince Faire @ Camp Richardson
 Big Bad Voodoo Daddy @ Harrah's
 Battlecross, Huntress, Otis, Arsonists get All The Girs @ Whisky Dick's 
July 2 America's Most Beautiful Bike Ride
 Wagon Train Parade
If your browser doesn't support embedded playlists, click here for the May 2013 playlist.