TAHOE/TRUCKEE — Calfire is beefing up defensible space enforcement this year to ensure the region is well protected from catastrophic wildfire.

Doug Rinella, battalion chief with the Nevada-Yuba-Placer Unit of Calfire, said after two-to-three years of education and outreach, the state fire agency will be working with local jurisdictions to try and raise local compliance.

“My general feeling is there's low compliance — 10 to 30 percent in some areas — certainly below 50 percent,” Rinella said. “We're hoping that if we take enforcement more seriously people will take defensible space more seriously.”

Rinella said the agency issued about 50 citations last year to property owners throughout the region. He said Calfire will work this summer with the Truckee Fire Protection District, North Tahoe Fire Protection District and Northstar Fire Department on defensible space.

“They'll ask us if they have a problem they can't resolve, bring us in as a last resort to issue a citation,” Rinella said.

North Tahoe

North Tahoe Fire Protection District's Forest Fuels Manager Stewart McMorrow said the district is aiming for 2,500 inspections this year and will focus on the Ridgewood Highlands and Agate Bay to assist CalFire with defensible space enforcement. McMorrow said the district plans to up its inspector staff to three, compared to only one in 2009.

Furthermore, depending on conditions, the district will increase the number of acres it will treating through prescribed and controlled burns, he said

“We're going to treat 375 acres, and that means if it stops snowing — the snow is pushing us back quite a bit,” McMorrow said.

North Tahoe's chipping program began May 17. Last year Dave Zaski, NTFPD public information officer, said the district serviced about 1,420 homes and expects the same amount this year.

The district has scheduled a yard-waste drop-off day from 7:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday, June 12, at Dumpster locations at Homewood's South Lodge (Ski Bowl Way), at the Tahoe City Cross Country Center (925 Country Club Drive) and at North Tahoe Regional Park in Tahoe Vista. The district will announce future drop-off dates on its website at www.ntfire.net.

Truckee

The Truckee Fire Protection District will concentrate defensible space work in the Somerset/Donnington area of Glenshire, in the Armstrong Tract above Interstate 80 and on Donner Summit in the Serene Lakes and Plavada areas, said Gene Welch, public safety and information officer.

The district's free chipping program began Monday, May 17, and it is taking requests to chip cut limbs, trees and brush.

The Town of Truckee also has green bag curbside pickup for green waste including pine cones, pine needles and vegetative waste. Green bag pickup goes from May 1 to Oct. 31, and bags are available for purchase from Mountain Hardware or Tahoe Supply Company.

Truckee will also have a pine needle and vegetative waste drop off event June 19 from 7:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. in Tahoe Donner, the Truckee Rodeo Grounds, Glenshire Clubhouse and Donner Memorial State Park.

Other areas

• In Incline Village, the North Lake Tahoe Fire Protection District's free defensible space evaluation program began Monday, May 17, with lower-elevation residents getting priority, since the ground higher up still has snow on it. The district's chipping services begin the first week of June, weather permitting.

• At the Squaw Valley Fire Department the goal is total compliance, said Allen Riley, the department's fire engineer. “We're not looking to punish anyone or write out citations — we're just looking for 100 percent compliance and fire safe neighborhoods,” he said, adding that inspections begin on July 6 and pickup for yard waste begins June 26.

• In Meeks Bay, inspections, chipping and yard waste pickup all begin June 1, said Meeks Bay Fire Protection District Chief John Pang. In total, Pang said the district expects to cover more than 300 homes this season, and the district has another goal to treat 75 to 100 acres of land this year through controlled and prescribed burns.

• The Northstar Fire Department will inspect 60 to 70 homes this summer, to be picked by the chief, said Fire Prevention Officer Jim Conlin. The department also will mark trees for removal, provide curb-side yard waste pickup and have a green waste recycling area open to contractors, he said.