"The Worm" fuels mitigation project nearing completion of phase one

North Lake Tahoe Fire Protection District is working on a fire fuel mitigation project in Incline Village north of the Mount Rose Highway.

The project is nicknamed "The Worm" thanks to the winding shape it takes through the forest.

Phase One will cover more than 60 acres this summer, and phase two kicks off next July.

NLTFPD hopes to wrap up phase one in the next couple weeks. Chief Ryan Sommers says they're working with BurnBot, a private company providing the remote-controlled equipment used to mitigate possible fire fuels.

Chief Sommers says the equipment has sped up the project dramatically.

"They can cover, for example, 22 acres in about three days," Chief Sommers says, "Where it would take us almost two weeks to do that [by hand]."

The goal of "The Worm" is to remove vegetation