By: Rachel Hutchinson
Tahoe National Forest
The small, rural community of Sierra Brooks includes about 500 residents who are no strangers to living with fire. Sierra Brooks is located south of Loyalton, Calif., nestled in the Sierra Valley and surrounded by national forest and state lands. Several wildfires have impacted the area including the Cottonwood Fire in 1994 which burned over 46,000 acres across the community. The Loyalton Fire in 2020 came close, destroying over 47,000 acres nearby.
On the afternoon of Sept. 2, 2024 the Bear Fire ignited on the eastside of the Tahoe National Forest and due to hot, dry and windy conditions, the fire became an immediate threat to the community of Sierra Brooks. Significant air and ground fire resources were immediately deployed to engage in suppression efforts.
As the fire spread, it entered a forest thinning project that was completed in 2022-2023 as part of the Smithneck Fuels Reduction Project. This project is a partnership between Sierra County, Sierra County Resource Conservation District, Tahoe National Forest and California Department of Fish and Wildlife, funded by Sierra Nevada Conservancy (SNC). This project removed densely growing small trees, brush and grass on over 723 acres surrounding Sierra Brooks that had grown back after the Cottonwood Fire. These densely growing trees had created conditions that would easily carry fire near Sierra Brooks.
As the Bear Fire spread, forward progression was stopped within these treated areas on the outskirts of Sierra Brooks. Fire behavior moderated as it entered recently thinned stands of trees, giving firefighters the opportunity to stop the fire and the trees a chance at survival.
“We worked hard to ensure that zero structures were lost during the Bear Fire and know that the fuels reduction work we completed over the last few years contributed to the success of firefighters as they protected the community of Sierra Brooks,” said Tahoe National Forest Sierraville District Ranger Rachel Hutchinson.
In 2024, Smithneck Fuels Reduction Project partners, now joined by the Fire Safe Sierra County, were funded by SNC to continue thinning 500 acres of trees and brush along Antelope Valley Road near the Smithneck project area. This work began earlier Summer 2024 and is planned to be completed in 2025.
“This is the next phase of work that is urgently needed to protect the communities of Sierra Brooks, Loyalton and Loyalton Pines from the ongoing threat of wildfire,” said Firesafe Sierra County Executive Director Rodd Rummell.
Tahoe National Forest has remained committed to reducing fuels to not only improve forest health, but also protect communities from potential impacts from wildfire. Among many large-scale fuels reduction projects, the forest is focused on reducing fuels along roadways and adjacent to communities. Reducing fuels along roadways can provide firefighters a defensive zone to hold and fight the fire. It can also improve the safe ingress and egress for members of the public and firefighting personnel during a wildfire. Reducing fuels surrounding communities can help slow and moderate fires, allowing fire personnel a better chance at keeping a fire from reaching a community—such as during the Bear Fire.
Learn more about how previous fuels reduction efforts moderated and slowed the Bear Fire, allowing firefighters to keep the fire from entering the community of Sierra Brooks: https://usda-fs.wistia.com/
