Incline fire district adopts lead role

INCLINE VILLAGE - The fire district here will be the first in the basin to develop a fire-safe plan around homes with the help of the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency.

A memorandum of understanding with the TRPA to devise a fuels management action plan was announced by Executive Director John Singlaub. The plan will allow homeowners to work directly with the North Lake Tahoe Fire Protection District on the defensible space issue, instead of dealing with TRPA first.

"It's a one-stop shopping concept," TRPA spokeswoman Julie Regan said. "This will speed up the process and make it more convenient for the homeowner."

Removing TRPA from the equation - giving it a more limited role - will help the local fire district too, Regan added.

"This is something we're excited about," said fire district business manager Kim Szczurek. "We've been working on it for a long time."

But now that the agreement is finally in the works, Szczurek said, the district isn't going to jump into anything too quickly.

"We want to implement it correctly in a way that's beneficial to the community from the fire safety standpoint as well as the enjoyment of the forest surroundings."

Szczurek said the district is also proceeding cautiously to make sure it has the right codes in place for the project to work.

The project won't be implemented until summer. Until then, the fire district has its work cut out for it.