A wind-whipped forest fire raged out of control during a Sierra Nevada Forest Fire 1992, burning more than 20,000 acres in nearly 30 hours. The fire was west of Truckee California, not too far from the famous Donner Pass. I was in Lake Tahoe that week, relaxing with the family and the picture below was taken near the intersection of I-80 and Hwy 267 just south of Truckee. The so called Cleveland forest fire of September 1992 burned up the western slope of the Sierra Nevada almost directly west of the Tahoe basin. It burned roughly 24,710 acres in 4 days, with the smoke plume trending generally north east in the terrain winds. The fire had limited impact on the Tahoe basin, but even so sharply restricted visibility. Truckee was directly in the path of the smoke plume during daylight hours. We saw numerous aerial tankers skimming the lake for water to drop on the blaze. They aerial assault on the blaze was based out of the Truckee airport from where this photo was taken.
Prescribed burning alone is not a widespread current practice of the Lake Tahoe Basin and fires like this will continue to plague the mountain west.
