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UPPER LAKE, Calif. – Officials said Monday that the effort to fully contain the Elk fire is nearly complete.
The 670-acre fire on Monday evening was at 90-percent containment, Cal Fire said.
The fire began on Wednesday in the 12000 block of Elk Mountain Road. The cause remains under investigation.
Firefighters are continuing mop up on the incident, according to Cal Fire, which has been in unified command with the United States Forest Service since the fire began last week.
Cal Fire said command of the fire will transition to the Mendocino National Forest on Tuesday morning.
Crews will continue to conduct mop up and patrol for hot spots over the next three to five days, Cal Fire said.
As the fire nears full containment, the resources committed to it have been significantly reduced. Cal Fire said personnel assigned to the fire as of Monday evening included 300 firefighters, 25 overhead or command personnel, five water tenders, four fire crews and two bulldozers.
Due to the existing fire danger, authorities continue to urge the public to be extremely cautious when using equipment or recreating. Learn more by visiting www.preventwildfireca.org .
Email Elizabeth Larson at
LAKEPORT, Calif. – An Oakland woman died on Sunday evening following a single-vehicle crash on Highway 29.
The 35-year-old woman, whose name has not been released pending notification of next of kin, was riding as the passenger in a 1996 Honda Accord driven by Ioan C. Gruia, 31, of San Francisco, according to a Monday report from the California Highway Patrol.
The CHP said the crash occurred at 6:15 p.m. Sunday on Highway 29, south of the Hill Road undercrossing.
Gruia was driving southbound on Highway 29 in the No. 1 lane at an undetermined speed when, for unknown reasons, he allowed the Honda to drift off the roadway and onto the dirt center median, according to the CHP.
The CHP said Gruia attempted to drive the Honda back onto Highway 29 by sharply turning to the right, but he overcorrected and lost control of the car.
The Honda skidded across the highway's southbound lanes, hitting a raised curb and a dirt embankment, the CHP said.
The CHP said the impact with the curb and embankment caused the Honda to roll multiple times. The car traveled down a dirt embankment, where it came to rest on its roof on Hill Road, which in that area is a frontage road of Highway 29.
The female passenger suffered major injuries and had to be extricated by firefighters. The CHP said she was pronounced dead at the scene.
A REACH air ambulance flew Gruia to Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital with injuries that were not life-threatening, the CHP said.
Alcohol is not believed to be a factor in the incident, and both Gruia and his passenger were properly using their seat belts at the time the wreck occurred, the CHP said.
CHP Officer Adam Garcia is leading the crash investigation.
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MIDDLETOWN, Calif. – Dozens of classic cars stopped over in Middletown on Saturday for Twin Pine Casino's car show.
The event took place from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the casino's event center.
Lake County News contributing photographer Kurt Jensen stopped in and captured a number of great photos of the colorful, pristine autos, shown above and below.
More than 90 percent of our planet’s freshwater ice is bound in the massive ice sheets and glaciers of the Antarctic and Greenland.
As temperatures around the world slowly climb, melt waters from these vast stores of ice add to rising sea levels.
All by itself, Greenland could bump sea levels by 23 feet if its ice melted completely.
And … it’s melting.
In August 2014, Eric Rignot, a glaciologist working at the University of California, Irvine and NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, led a team in mapping ice cliffs at the front edges of three outlet glaciers in Greenland.
The researchers found cavities that undercut the base of these leading edges that can destabilize the ice front and enhance iceberg calving, the process where parts of the glacier break off and float away.
“In Greenland we have melt rates of a few meters a day in the summer months,” said Rignot.
What’s causing this “big thaw”?
Rignot’s team found that Greenland's glaciers flowing into the ocean are grounded deeper below sea level than previously measured.
This means that the warm ocean currents at depth can sweep across the glacier faces and erode them.
“In polar regions, the upper layers of ocean water are cold and fresh,” he explained. “Cold water is less effective at melting ice.”
“The real ocean heat is at a depth of 350 to 400 meters and below. This warm, salty water is of subtropical origin and melts the ice much more rapidly,” he said.
Rignot’s research team is providing critical information needed to document this effect and accurately predict where and how fast glaciers will give way.
The team gathered and analyzed around-the-clock measurements of the depth, salinity, and temperature of channel waters and their intersection with the coastal edge of Greenland's ice sheet.
They found that some of the glaciers balance on giant earthen sills that are protecting them, for now. But other glaciers are being severely undercut out of sight beneath the surface, meaning they could collapse and melt much sooner.
It’s not easy gathering such data. On top of the rough waters, wind, rain, and cold weather, there’s the ice itself.
“We came to study glaciers that discharge into the fjord. And the fjords are full of ice. In some places it can be so full of ice that the boat can’t even push through,” Rignot said.
But ice holds a peculiar fascination for Rignot. “I’ve always been interested in polar regions," he said. "My friends wanted to cruise in the Caribbean but I’d rather cruise here in these waters. I don’t know why. I just like them.”
What’s next?
“OMG,” answered Rignot. And he’s not using chatspeak.
OMG stands for Ocean Melting Greenland – the name of a new NASA-funded 5-year project that will take their investigation even further, to the four corners of Greenland by ship and by plane.
“We hope that the data collected will be a game changer for studying ice-ocean interaction in Greenland,’’ said Rignot. “It will help modelers make better projections of Greenland ice sheet melt in the future.’’
Rignot’s results have been accepted for publication in the journal Geophysical Research Letters and are now available online.
UPPER LAKE, Calif. – The Elk fire was moved closer to full containment on Sunday.
Cal Fire said the 670-acre blaze was at 75-percent containment as of Sunday night.
The fire has been burning since Wednesday afternoon off of Elk Mountain Road and Mount Dinger Road north of Upper Lake.
The United States Forest Service and Cal Fire continue to hold unified command on the incident, the cause of which remains under investigation.
Cooperating agencies also include Northshore Fire Protection District, the Lake County Sheriff's Office and the California Highway Patrol.
Email Elizabeth Larson at
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Lake County Animal Care and Control has six cats available to new homes this week.
The adult cats – two males and four females – will be vaccinated in preparation for going to their new homes.
In addition to spaying or neutering, cats that are adopted from Lake County Animal Care and Control are microchipped before being released to their new owner. License fees do not apply to residents of the cities of Lakeport or Clearlake.
If you're looking for a new companion, visit the shelter. There are many great pets there, hoping you'll choose them.
In addition to the animals featured here, all adoptable animals in Lake County can be seen here: http://bit.ly/Z6xHMb .
The following cats at the Lake County Animal Care and Control shelter have been cleared for adoption (other cats pictured on the animal control Web site that are not listed here are still “on hold”).
Domestic medium hair mix
This male domestic medium hair mix has an orange and white coat.
He's in cat room kennel No. 7, ID No. 3138.
Domestic medium hair mix
This male domestic medium hair mix has a mostly white coat with light orange markings.
He's in cat room kennel No. 62, ID No. 3137.
Domestic longhair mix
This female domestic longhair mix has a multicolored coat.
She's in cat room kennel No. 64, ID No. 3167.
Domestic medium hair cat
This beautiful all-black female cat has a medium-length coat.
She's in cat room kennel No. 70, ID No. 3156.
Domestic longhair mix
This female domestic longhair mix has a gray, orange and white coat.
She's in cat room kennel No. 74, ID No. 3139.
Female domestic short hair mix
This female domestic short hair mix has a brown and gray tabby coat.
She's in cat room kennel No. 78, ID No. 2984.
Adoptable cats also can be seen at http://www.co.lake.ca.us/Government/Directory/Animal_Care_And_Control/Adopt/Cats_and_Kittens.htm or at www.petfinder.com .
Please note: Cats listed at the shelter's Web page that are said to be “on hold” are not yet cleared for adoption.
To fill out an adoption application online visit http://www.co.lake.ca.us/Government/Directory/Animal_Care_And_Control/Adopt/Dog___Cat_Adoption_Application.htm .
Lake County Animal Care and Control is located at 4949 Helbush in Lakeport, next to the Hill Road Correctional Facility.
Office hours are Monday through Friday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., and 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., Saturday. The shelter is open from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday and on Saturday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Visit the shelter online at http://www.co.lake.ca.us/Government/Directory/Animal_Care_And_Control.htm .
For more information call Lake County Animal Care and Control at 707-263-0278.
Email Elizabeth Larson at