Tahoe Forest Reopens French Meadows After Talbot Fire

FRENCH MEADOWS — The Tahoe National Forest has lifted the closure order it issued for the Talbot Fire, reopening the campgrounds, trails, and roads around French Meadows Reservoir. The reservoir sits in remote Placer County on the Middle Fork of the American River, east of Foresthill and west of Lake Tahoe. The closure ended Monday, the forest said in an announcement Tuesday. “The Granite Chief Wilderness, campgrounds around French Meadows and previously closed trails and roads are now open,” the forest said.

Visitors returning to the area will find firefighters still at work. “Fire resources remain in the area, please use caution when entering or traveling through the impacted areas,” the forest said. Crews will continue mop-up operations and will patrol and monitor the fire over the coming weeks, according to the announcement.

The forest closed the area on Friday, August 14, when the fire stood at 75 acres and 15 percent containment. Forest Order 17-26-21, signed that morning by Acting Forest Supervisor Matt Lane, closed recreation sites, roads, and trails in parts of the American River and Truckee Ranger Districts. It also closed the Western States Trail from Forest Road 96-62 to the Granite Chief Wilderness boundary and the Pacific Crest Trail between the trailhead on Placer County 9001 Road and Barker Pass Trailhead. The order took effect at 9 AM and was written to run through December 31.

The forest chose the December date because of uncertainty about how long the fire would burn, a representative associated with Talbot Fire management told the Mountain Messenger on Saturday. “The National Forest will typically forecast out a date for these Fire Forest Closures based on the uncertainty of the length of the incident,” the representative wrote. “As the incident winds down, the Tahoe National Forest will be looking to update this closure and its expiration date.”

The fire remains at 93 acres and 95 percent contained, and its cause is under investigation, the forest said Tuesday. It was reported August 12 at 3:26 PM off French Meadows Road, about four miles northeast of the reservoir, and burned in heavy timber across steep, rugged terrain. No structures were damaged or destroyed, the Sacramento Regional Type 3 Incident Management Team said in its final update Monday. The 93-acre figure replaced an earlier estimate of 133 acres after a field observer walked the perimeter Saturday and measured only the burned ground, leaving out unburned fuel between the main fire and its spot fires.

The incident management team took command of the fire at 7 AM on August 14 and handed it back to the forest at 9 AM Monday. The fire had 385 personnel assigned as of Monday, down from 465 a day earlier as crews were released to their home agencies or sent to other incidents. In its announcement, the Tahoe Forest thanked its own team, CAL FIRE’s Nevada-Yuba-Placer Unit, the U.S. Forest Service, the Placer County Sheriff’s Office, and the federal, state, local, and contractor resources that helped. Monday’s update was the last formal incident update for the fire, the team said.

The Placer County Sheriff’s Office lifted all evacuation warnings tied to the fire on Saturday, including the warning covering portions of the forest along French Meadows Road and the Cedars community. Stage 2 fire restrictions, which limit campfires, smoking, and engine use, remain in effect across the Tahoe National Forest.