Messages of thanks: Signs dot Lake Tahoe's South Shore

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE - Signs - from praising firefighters to condemning the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency - have dotted the landscape here since the Angora fire erupted.

Signs have been concentrated at the "Y," a focal point of traffic near or at traffic blockades for the fire. Most have some variation of "Thank You."

Along the fence at Sierra House Elementary School, a dozen signs facing Pioneer Trail give thanks to the firefighters and offer messages to the community such as, "We Will Overcome."

Along Lake Tahoe Boulevard, across the street from Sierra Vista Apartments, 9-year-old Brandon Tirre, along with his sister, Courtney, and mother, Amy Tirre, stapled a large blue sign with a large "Thank You!" emblazoned across the middle.

Other smaller notes of gratitude included "Rock on!" and "We will never forget."

Brandon said the family didn't want to exclude any segment of the population helping either fight the fire or taking care of the evacuees or those displaced by the fire.

"We wanted to make it big so people can read it," said Courtney, 13.

Chuck Dixon, a fire captain from Kern County contributing in the fight against the Angora fire, said the signs don't go unnoticed by firefighters.

"We love it to death," he said.

• Contact reporter William Ferchland at wferchland@tahoedailytribune. com.