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CLEARLAKE, Calif. – Despite challenging wind conditions and dry vegetation, firefighters were able to contain a small fast-moving wildland fire in Clearlake on Thursday afternoon.
The fire was reported at approximately 1:23 p.m. in the 15900 block of Dam Road.
Initial radio reports indicated that Lake County Central Dispatch received multiple calls reporting flames and black smoke.
The first fire units to arrive reported a moderate to rapid rate of spread on the fire, and Lake County Fire Protection District Chief Willie Sapeta asked for a full wildland dispatch from Cal Fire, according to the first incident reports.
The radio reports stated that the forward rate of progress was stopped by 1:48 p.m., 25 minutes after the incident was first dispatched.
Altogether, the fire burned an acre and a half, Sapeta later told Lake County News.
He said wind gusts of up to 15 miles per hour had impacted the firefighting effort, and had caused spotting in the very dry vegetation.
However, he said they were able to get an engine at every corner of the fire’s footprint, and firefighters quickly put down hose line around it.
Total resources on scene, between Lake County Fire and Cal Fire, included five engines, a water tender, a helicopter and two medical units, as well as Sapeta and a Cal Fire battalion chief.
The fire’s area of origin was south of the McDonald’s restaurant, and between McDonald’s and the former Ray’s Food Place building, Sapeta said.
Homeless individuals have been known to camp in the area, but there were no homeless people in an around that location at the time, according to Sapeta.
He said the fire’s cause is under investigation.
Sapeta said firefighters had collected witness statements while on scene during the incident, and on Thursday evening the scene was still being processed by investigators.
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COBB, Calif. – The Cobb Area Council will discuss fire preparation when it meets Thursday.
The meeting will take place from 6 to 8 p.m. Thursday, June 15, at the Little Red Schoolhouse/Cobb Mountain Lions Club, 15780 Bottle Rock Road.
The main item for discussion on Thursday's agenda is community preparation for the upcoming 2017 fire season.
That item will include an update on hazard mitigation and communications.
Also on the agenda is the treasurer's report, public comment, short reports from committees and the approval of a letter of endorsement the Mountain of Attention Forest Restoration Project.
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CLEARLAKE, Calif. – Clearlake Public Works crews were busy on Tuesday with the annual “face-lift” of the Andy Johnson Memorial Skate Park, located at Austin Park.
Crews replaced the decking and enhanced the supports for the various ramps due to heavy use and some recent vandalism, city officials said.
“We plan for this annual face lift of the skate park each year and the cost to fix comes out of our limited parks budget,” said Clearlake Public Works Director Doug Herren.
City Manager Greg Folsom added, “The Andy Johnson Memorial Skate Park is a nice amenity that the city has for the skaters and bicyclists in the community. It’s nice to see that the skate park gets used so frequently.”
NORTH COAST, Calif. – A Kelseyville man arrested last year for assaulting a young woman whose vehicle had broken down near Hopland was sentenced on Tuesday to two years in state prison.
Alex Joseph Greene, 36, of Kelseyville, was sentenced for felony assault with the intent to rape, according to his defense attorney, Andrea Sullivan.
Under the guise of stopping to help a stranded motorist in March 2016, Greene instead assaulted the 19-year-old woman whose car had broken down at the turnout north of the Green Bridge on Highway 101 south of Hopland, as Lake County News first reported last year.
Greene, a driver for the Schwan's Food Delivery company, was apprehended hours later by Sonoma County Sheriff's deputies on Highway 101 near Geyserville. He was still driving a distinctive company truck, authorities said.
The investigating law enforcement agencies were the California Highway Patrol and the Mendocino County District Attorney Office's own investigators, with Deputy District Attorney Shannon Cox prosecuting the case.
Mendocino County Superior Court Judge Ann Moorman handed down the sentence during Greene’s Tuesday court appearance.
Because the offense for which Greene was convicted is characterized in the California Penal Code as a violent felony, he will be required to serve 85-percent of the sentence that was imposed, according to the Mendocino County District Attorney’s Office.
Greene’s conviction also constitutes a strike under the modified Three Strikes law, which means any punishment for a future felony conviction also will be doubled, officials said.
Additionally, the Mendocino County District Attorney’s Office said Greene will be required to register annually for life with local law enforcement as a sex offender when he is eventually released on parole.
Greene was remanded into custody and booked into the Mendocino County Jail on Tuesday night, according to jail records.
HIDDEN VALLEY LAKE, Calif. – On Tuesday, firefighters responding to a fire in a Hidden Valley Lake home saved not just the house but its canine residents, reviving one of the dogs after it stopped breathing.
The fire in the 18800 block of Hidden Valley Road was first dispatched shortly after 1 p.m., according to Cal Fire Division Chief Greg Bertelli.
Cal Fire and South Lake County Fire initially responded, putting out a request a short time later for a water tender from Lake County Fire and another engine from Kelseyville Fire, according to radio reports.
While fighting the fire, Bertelli said they found three dogs inside the home. “They got all three dogs out.”
However, Bertelli said the last dog that was brought out wasn’t breathing.
So he said firefighters began working to resuscitate the dog with special equipment they keep on hand.
Bertelli said local fire engines carry a special oxygen recovery mask that fits the muzzle of a dog.
After about 10 minutes, firefighters were able to get the dog breathing normally again, Bertelli said.
In addition to saving the dog, Bertelli said firefighters saved the home, containing the fire to the house’s kitchen and its contents.
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