INCLINE VILLAGE, Nev. - A snafu with the regional Reverse 911 system led to Lake Tahoe residents being phoned Thursday afternoon and erroneously told to evacuate because the Washoe Valley wildfire was threatening their homes.
The fire, south of Reno, scorched several homes and was threatening many more along U.S. Highway 395 by 2:30 p.m. Thursday.
But there was no danger of it closing in on homes in the Incline Village area, officials said.
The Reverse 911 system, administered by the Washoe County Sheriff's Office, allows the sheriff, fire chiefs and emergency dispatchers to call residents of a certain area to alert them of an emergency.
"Residents in the Incline Village/Crystal Bay area were accidentally called," said Tia Rancourt, a spokeswoman for the North Lake Tahoe Fire Protection District. "It was a computer error."
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