LAKE TAHOE — Weather, good prevention techniques and sheer luck helped the Tahoe/Truckee area and Northern California to one of its calmest fire seasons in recent years.

“It was a below-average fire season in terms of numbers of starts and acres,” said Doug Rinella, Calfire battalion chief in the Nevada-Yuba-Placer unit. “We only had two lighting fires, which is below average, and we didn't have to drop any retardant.”

Several small wildfires broke out at South Shore this summer, but quick responses by firefighters kept them from spreading, said Leona Allen, Lake Valley Fire Protection District spokeswoman.

“We are considering that this fire season is wrapping up, but obviously we always have to stay vigilant," Allen said.

North Shore fire officials agreed.

“I wouldn't say it's over, but the threat is reduced now,” said Norb Szczurek, North Lake Tahoe Fire Protection District fuels chief.

Chief John Pang of the Meeks Bay Fire Protection District gave a nod to nature for the quiet summer.

“Knock on wood, but yeah, Mother Nature helped us out at the beginning and the end with a little bit of rain,” Pang said. “If the winds stay mellow I'd say the rain has pretty much shut down the fire season this year.”

Rinella attributed the slower season to both natural causes and human behavior.

“What I'd consider a wet May and June helped, and perhaps people are becoming more aware, because we just aren't getting the starts,” Rinella said.

Truckee Fire Protection District Chief Bryce Keller said things were pretty normal within the town this year, as well as in their mutual-aid operations around the state.

“There were no large damaging fires here, however we did assist other fire districts in Bonny Doon (the fire near Santa Cruz), up in Redding, and further south,” Keller said.

Out-of-district responses were down this year for NLTFPD, as it responded to only a few fires throughout Northern California and Nevada, said officials in Incline Village.

Keller agreed with Rinella on the decreasing number of human-caused fires.

“We had good luck coupled with due diligence and preparation in the community, and we're seeing that increase every year,” Keller said.

As for the rain at the beginning of the summer, Keller said it may have made the window for fire shorter, but the opportunity for big fires still existed.

“The reality is whether it's caused by nature or accidental, there will be wild fires in our community,” Keller said.

Fall fire work

The relatively uneventful fire season allowed a number of local fire districts to complete or come very close to hitting their targets for fuels reduction work.

North Lake Tahoe and North Tahoe each said that while they haven't yet hit their targets for fuels reduction, both expect to before the end of the season. North Lake thinned about 500 acres in the Incline area, according to Szczurek. Pang said Meeks Bay cleared about 75 acres throughout the summer.

“Come rain, sleet or snow, we're going to burn right to the bitter end,” said Stewart McMorrow, who heads up fuels reduction for the North Tahoe Fire Protection District.

McMorrow said crews have already begun burning fuel piles in the North Tahoe area and plan to continue until there is too much snow on the ground.

The burns in the area will include both piles and a possible understory burn, McMorrow said. The understory burn would depend heavily on conditions but would aim to burn ground-level fuels.

In the Truckee area, Tahoe National Forest has plans for prescribed burns in the Russel Valley, Stampede Reservoir area, Prosser Creek Reservoir area, Sawtooth Ridge behind Ponderosa Palisades and Klondike Flats.

The Sawtooth Ridge project is particularly close to residents in the Ponderosa Palisades and Sierra Meadows neighborhoods; Linda Ferguson of the forest service said it will be mindful of smoke.

Rinella said Calfire may be helping California State parks with controlled burns at Donner Memorial State Park on the Truckee side, but it isn't certain yet.

Also not set in stone is a possible Calfire burn near Carnelian Bay, he said.

Calfire already started burning 300 piles in a 10-acre area on Dollar Point near the Chinqapin development, Rinella said.

Farther down the West Shore, Pang said crews and contractors are working to burn the 75 acres cleared in Meeks Bay. Extensive understory and pile burns are also planned at Sugar Pine Point State Park.

Tahoe Douglas Fire Protection District crews hope to complete the final 20 acres of a 120 acre prescribed burn on the Park Cattle Company property across from Edgewood Tahoe Golf Course Friday, said Mark Novak, the district's fire marshal.

Over on the East Shore, burns are planned on about 33 acres of forest service property south of Incline, as well as about 120 acres south of Tyner Way in town.

Tahoe National Forest has lifted fire restrictions due to the cooler temperatures, higher humidity and recent rain, allowing campfires with a fire permit.

At the South Shore, Tahoe Douglas expects to conduct controlled burns in the Upper Kingsbury area, Slaughterhouse Canyon, near Zephyr Cove Park and behind Kingsbury Middle School, Novak said. The burns are weather dependent and the most up-to-date information will be posted on the district's website, www.tahoefire.com, Novak said.

Lake Valley also has controlled burns planned in the areas of North Upper Truckee Road, Paradise Park, Celio Ranch and Cold Creek Trail this fall, Allen said.

Calfire has lifted burning restrictions for backyard burning as well, but residents interested in burning yard waste must call to see if it is a burn day; (530) 582-1027 in the Truckee area, and 1-800-998-2876 in Placer County.

South Shore residents should call their local fire department or fire protection district for more information on residential burning.

Ending fire season

The Nevada-Yuba-Placer unit of Calfire is starting to reduce staffing on Monday as the fire season winds down, expecting to call the season over sometime between Oct. 26 and Nov. 2, said Randy Smith, deputy chief of operations with Calfire.

“It looks like we could be done two weeks earlier than normal; we've certainly got a lot of rain, but if it heats back up and the wind starts to blow again, it could dry up,” Smith said.

Calfire budgets to end the fire season on Nov. 15 on a normal year, but Smith said it varies widely.

“It's all over the board — in 2007 we finally shut down in the middle of December,” Smith said.

Calfire monitors weather forecasts and fuel moisture in deciding when to call the fire season over and to reduce seasonal staffing, he said.

“The recent moisture we've received have made things a lot more comfortable,” Smith said.