Burn Area Emergency Response team begins fire recovery efforts at site of Little Valley Fire.

Preparations to assess impacts of Little Valley Fire on private and public property are underway.

Reno, Nevada. Oct. 21, 2016. Fire suppression efforts on the Little Valley Fire have transitioned from a National Response Team to a local Fire Management Team.  While the local Fire Team looks for any remaining hot spots, a Burn Area Emergency Response team (BAER) will begin efforts to prevent further damage. Partnering agencies and cooperators are now focusing on assessing and mitigating impacts of the fire to public and private property.

The BAER team is doing the following:

• Emergency stabilization in order to prevent further damage to life, property and natural resources are the first priority.

• Ranch fencing repair and hazard tree removal is currently taking place.   

• Protection from potential flooding, and preventing erosion on both private and public properties is key to recovering from a wildland fire. A multi-agency local Burn Area Emergency Response (BAER) team has been established for the Little Valley Fire. BAER teams are staffed by specially trained professionals including hydrologists, soil scientists, engineers, biologists, vegetation specialists, archeologists and others who rapidly evaluate the burned area and prescribe emergency stabilization treatments. These can include cleaning of culverts and ditches, redirecting water and sediment flows where needed, and installing soil stabilization treatments such as log and straw erosion barriers and the use of straw or chipped wood mulch.

• BAER teams will be performing assessments of the burned area starting next week. Severely burned areas, steep slopes, and places where water runoff will have impacts will be the focus of their efforts. Resulting recommendations for treatment will be implemented following this assessment. Restoration to establish native ground cover will occur in areas identified by the BAER team.

Partnering agencies in the BAER team are: Washoe County, US Forest Service, Nevada Division of Forestry, Nevada Land Trust, Nevada Department of Wildlife, Natural Resources Conservation Service, and Truckee Meadows Water Authority.                                

For further information please contact Cheryl Surface from the Washoe County Community Services Department at csurface@washoecounty.us.

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