Were Reports of Fire Delayed?

The California Highway Patrol is investigating if dispatchers who took 911 calls reporting a huge wildfire near Lake Tahoe told callers it was a controlled burn, and didn’t promptly notify fire departments. The fire burned 3,100 acres and destroyed 254 homes, although no one was injured during the 1-week fire. In fact, there were no controlled burns in the area the day the fire started from an illegal campfire. The Lake Valley Fire Protection District comm center also received calls about the fire, and immediately recognized that it was an out-of-control fire. They dispatched units to the scenea and alerted other agencies, so a prompt fire response wasn’t delayed, fire officials said.