After a desperately dry spring (in fact, the dryest January-March since records began in 1910), Tahoe is settling in for a tough fire season. Moonshine Ink reports that the controversial CAL FIRE is sending two fire engines to Kings Beach to help protect the 34,000 acres around the Tahoe Basin for which it is responsible. CAL FIRE is, however, holding off on sending out the $150 fire suppression fee bills that irked many of the 800,000 households they were sent to last summer who complained that the charge was redundant. It might also be a PR effort to head off some of the flack it got for "hiding" $3.6 million from the cash-stripped state of California last year. Regardless of where you stand on CAL FIRE, please listen to Smoky. You know, the bear.
· CAL FIRE Returns to Tahoe Amid High Fire Danger and Controversies [Moonshine Ink]