How to resolve AdBlock issue? 
News
LAKEPORT, Calif. – Lake County Special Districts reported that it has lifted the boil water notice issued for its Soda Bay water system customers over the weekend.
Special Districts Compliance Manager Jan Coppinger said the notice was lifted for County Service Area No. 20 after all lab results indicated that there was not any bacteriological contamination and the water is safe.
Coppinger said the notice was implemented due to turbidity issues in the treatment process on Saturday and remained in effect until Special Districts could verify that the water was safe.
LUCERNE, Calif. – Firefighters are on the scene of a fire in the hills above Lucerne.
The fire on top of Bartlett Springs Road was first reported at approximately 2:18 p.m. Wednesday, according to radio reports.
How the fire started so far is unclear. Initially, the incident was reported to have started with a vehicle fire. Cal Fire's Copter 104, arriving a short time later, reported that it was a structure fire that had spread into the wildland.
Northshore Fire Protection District units arriving not long afterward reported finding a travel trailer and a vehicle fully involved, with a 100-foot by 100-foot spot burning in the timber.
Additional radio reports indicted that there were two travel trailers, along with outbuildings, vehicles and motorcycles at the scene of the fire.
Cal Fire air attack was quickly over the scene, directing water and retardant drops, according to radio reports.
In addition to Northshore Fire and Cal Fire, Mendocino National Forest fire units have arrived on scene.
More details will be posted as they become available.
Email Elizabeth Larson at
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Cal Fire law enforcement officers have determined the cause of one of the two fires that burned together to form the Rocky fire, which scorched tens of thousands of acres and burned dozens of structures after it began late last month.
A report from the Lake County Sheriff's Office said Cal Fire concluded the cause of the first of the two fires was the result of the failure of a gas water heater in an outbuilding that contained flammable liquids.
The outbuilding fire then caught the nearby vegetation on fire and quickly spread to the surrounding area, officials reported.
While the cause has been determined, the circumstances surrounding the fire starting remain under investigation, according to the report.
The cause of the second fire is still under investigation, the sheriff's office said.
The Rocky fire started on Wednesday, July 29, at 3:29 p.m. off of Morgan Valley Road east of the community of Lower Lake.
When firefighters were first dispatched to the incident, it was reported as a structure fire on Rocky Creek Road, with a second fire later reported on Morgan Valley Road, as Lake County News has reported.
The fire burned approximately 69,438 acres over the next 16 days. The last damage assessment from county officials put the number of structures destroyed at 110 – nearly 50 residences with the rest outbuildings. That number may yet grow as assessments continue.
At the peak of the fire, more than 13,000 residents were impacted by evacuations and 7,500 homes were threatened, officials said.
The fire was fully contained on Aug. 14. Patrols remain under way on the fire area.
The Rocky fire remains the largest wildland fire in California this summer.
On the afternoon of Sunday, Aug. 9, the Jerusalem fire began in Jerusalem Valley, just south of the Rocky fire.
While the Jerusalem fire burned very close to the Rocky fire – with parts of the fire perimeters joining at one point – the cause is unrelated and remains under investigation, the sheriff's office reported.
On Wednesday, the Jerusalem fire remained at 25,118 acres and 95-percent containment, Cal Fire said. That fire is expected to be fully contained this week.
CLEARLAKE, Calif. – Police are investigating the circumstances of how a Clearlake man came to be in a stolen vehicle filled with items including stolen checkbooks and ID cards.
Zachary James Stovall, 20, was arrested on Monday for violating his probation, according to Detective Sgt. Nick Bennett of the Clearlake Police Department.
At 6:50 a.m. Monday Clearlake Police Officer Travis Parson conducted a traffic stop for a traffic infraction in the area of Buckeye Street near Austin Road, Bennett said.
Bennett said Sgt. Rodd Joseph covered on the traffic stop and it was soon discovered the vehicle was an unreported stolen vehicle from Sonoma County.
The driver, identified as Stovall, was found to be on probation for weapons violations in Lake County and subsequently was taken into custody for probation custody, Bennett said.
Further investigation revealed there were several items of stolen property in the vehicle including coins, checkbooks and various forms of identification cards, according to Bennett.
Bennett said many of the persons whose identification was in the stolen vehicle were unaware their identity had been stolen and were grateful of the recovery.
The investigation is continuing into the theft of the vehicle, with authorities contacting additional victims of burglaries both in Clearlake and Sonoma County, Bennett said.
Stovall was booked into Lake County Jail on a charge violation of probation with other charges pending.
He remained in custody early Wednesday, according to jail records.
NORTH COAST, Calif. – Mendocino County officials earlier this month took an Upper Lake man into custody for allegedly assaulting another man at a recreation area on South Cow Mountain.
Nathanyal Elexander Geurts, 30, was arrested on Aug. 8 for making criminal threats, battery with serious bodily injury, assault with a deadly weapon and vandalism, according to a report from Lt. Greg Stefani of the Mendocino County Sheriff's Office.
At approximately 10:19 a.m. that day Mendocino County Sheriff's deputies were requested at the Red Mountain Camp – located in the BLM South Cow Mountain Off Highway Vehicle Area – regarding a physical assault that was in progress, Stefani said.
Stefani said the caller stated that the victim was leaving the area in a white pickup and that the suspect in the case was driving a white Ford pickup.
While responding to the location deputies located a white Dodge pickup with broken windows and a smashed windshield stopped on Mill Creek Road in Talmage, which is an access road to the OHV area, Stefani explained.
The driver, 33-year-old Phillip Bacon of North Highlands, got out of his vehicle and deputies saw that his eye was swelling shut. Stefani said Bacon indicated that he was assaulted by his friend's brother, Nathanyal Geurts.
Bacon indicated that after he was assaulted that the suspect Geurts threw large rocks through his windows and then as he was leaving backed into the passenger side of his vehicle, Stefani said.
Stefani said Bacon also said that as Geurts was throwing rocks at him, he indicated he wanted to kill him.
Bacon was on his way to the hospital for medical attention when deputies encountered him, according to Stefani.
A “be on the lookout” was issued to the Lake County Sheriff's Office as Geurts is an Upper Lake resident, Stefani said.
Stefani said that a short time later Geurts was stopped by Lake County Sheriff's deputies and later questioned by Mendocino County Sheriff's deputies regarding the assault.
Geurts subsequently was placed under arrest and transported to the Mendocino County Jail with bail set at $30,000, Stefani said.
NICE, Calif. – A Monday night fire destroyed two homes and an outbuilding, and threatened several other structures in a neighborhood in Nice.
The fire, which occurred on Howard Avenue, was first reported just before 10 p.m. Monday.
Northshore Fire Chief Jay Beristianos, who remained on the scene with more than two dozen firefighters early Tuesday morning, said the fire broke out in an older mobile home and spread next door to a newer modular residence.
While there was no one at home at the time the fire began in the mobile home, two people were present in the modular home, he said.
One of the residents of the modular was a man who was handicapped and struggling to get out of the home, Beristianos said.
Neighbors came to the man's aid, dragging him out of the residence. As a result, he received abrasions, and a second man had some first-degree burns from the rescue effort. Beristianos said both men had minor injuries and were transported to Sutter Lakeside Hospital for treatment.
Personnel from Northshore Fire's nearby Nice fire station were out on a medical aid, so Beristianos said a unit from the Lucerne station arrived first.
Lakeport Fire also came to the scene with a ladder truck, which was set up in front of the modular home, with Cal Fire sending engines to work the fire.
Beristianos said that when firefighters arrived, a power line from the modular home dropped across the roadway. Pacific Gas and Electric later responded to handle the downed line, which had made the situation more challenging and dangerous for firefighters.
Meantime, Beristianos said it took more than an hour to get control of the fire, which burned in the midst of a neighborhood.
While other structures nearby were threatened, Beristianos said nearby Lakeview Drive – which law enforcement had helped close off for a time while the firefighting effort was under way – formed a barrier to the fire's movement.
In addition to the two homes, Beristianos said the fire burned a small outbuilding and may have done minor damage to a third home.
Beristianos said a total of eight people were displaced by the fires, including two adults and four children in the older mobile home and two adults in the second, modular home. Red Cross arrived on scene early Tuesday to assist them with housing.
As for the cause, Beristianos said the investigation is under way.
“We've gone through all the basic questions now,” he said, with investigators now needing to go through the process of elimination.
In addition to Lakeport Fire's ladder truck, Northshore Fire sent three engines, two support vehicles and two command vehicles, and Cal Fire sent three engines, with a total of 25 firefighters from all agencies working the incident, Beristianos said.
He said at least one engine would stay on scene overnight to monitor the burn area.
Video below courtesy of Tawn Goetjen.
Email Elizabeth Larson at
Structure fire on Howard Ave in Nice. Firefighters are real l super heros
Posted by Tawn Renee' Goetjen on Tuesday, August 18, 2015