‘It is very, very depressing’

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State Assemblyman Ted Gaines (R-Roseville), who represents the district that includes South Lake Tahoe, said he was returning from a NASCAR race at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma when he learned about the fire. He said he rushed home and drafted a letter requesting that Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger declare a state of emergency in the Tahoe area. Gaines said the governor called him from Europe, where he is traveling, and ‘told me he’d do all he could. He said, ‘We’ll be doing all we can, and I’m very concerned about the loss of property and happy that there’s no loss of life.’ ‘ Gaines said the governor told him he would tour the fire-damaged area Wednesday.

Gaines was given a tour this morning of the Tahoe Paradise neighborhood. ‘It is very, very depressing,’ he said. ‘It’s scorched earth. Like a war zone.’ He said he saw a Chevrolet truck with aluminum wheels that had melted into a puddle. But a few things survived the flames. At one house, where only a chimney was left standing, the landscaping remained unscathed, Gaines said. He also saw an intact for-sale sign outside a house that had been consumed by the fire.

-- Tim Reiterman