By Greg Welter
Chico Enterprise-Record
SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. — California Highway Patrol officers from Chico, Oroville and the Yuba-Sutter area have been assigned to “roving patrol” duty in communities near South Lake Tahoe affected by the Angora Fire.
Chico office commander Capt. Scott Gillingwater said that means they’ll be protecting damaged homes and businesses from looters, as well as keeping people out of areas that can’t prove they have business there.
On Tuesday some victims of the devastating fire were allowed in to briefly check on their property. Although more than 200 homes were destroyed, some survived without damage, and it was feared that looters might try to enter the abandoned properties.
CHP officers and sheriff’s deputies manned checkpoints at the entrances to burned neighborhoods, using white shoe polish to mark car windows with addresses drivers would be allowed to visit.
Gillingwater said local CHP officers sent to Tahoe are part of a “Mobile Field Force” that can be ready to respond to emergencies on a two-hour notice.
He said he expected the officers Justin Maxey, Mike Backes, Stan Azavedo, Bob Boyer and Lance Erickson to remain in the Tahoe area until Thursday.
Gillingwater reported that no state-owned buildings were affected by the fire, and none of the CHP officers based in El Dorado County lost their homes in the blaze.
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