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NORTHERN CALIFORNIA – A flare up on a wildland fire in Napa and Solano counties led to new evacuation orders and hundreds of more acres burned on Tuesday.
The Wragg fire has been burning since Wednesday in steep terrain near Lake Berryessa.
Early on Tuesday the fire was reported to be 80-percent contained at approximately 6,591 acres.
However, by day's end, it had burned 400 more acres after a flare up that began at around 1:15 p.m. in the Wildhorse Canyon area, a part of the fire that Cal Fire said is within the secondary containment lines.
Cal Fire said both ground and air resources responded to the intensified fire action, with a DC-10 very large air tanker requested.
The flare up resulted in mandatory evacuations being ordered for approximately 136 homes and 200 residents in the Mix Canyon, Sky Ranch Road and Blue Ridge Road areas. Cal Fire said an evacuation center was set up in Vacaville.
Officials said an evacuation advisory also was issued for Gates Canyon Road and the area west of Pleasants Valley Road.
Cal Fire said resources on scene Tuesday included 1,158 personnel, 75 fire engines, 24 fire crews, eight helicopters and 10 water tenders.
Officials said Lake Solano campground is currently closed due to fire equipment access.
There also are numerous road closures in the fire area: Mix Canyon Road at Pleasants Valley Road, Sky Ranch Road at Mix Canyon Road to Pleasants Valley Road, Gates Canyon Road at Pleasants Valley Road, Putah Creek Road at Pleasants Valley Road South, Cantelow Road at Pleasants Valley Road and Vaca Valley Road East at Pleasants Valley Road.
Total estimated containment early Tuesday evening remained at 80 percent. Cal Fire estimates the fire will be fully contained by Thursday.
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CLEARLAKE OAKS, Calif. – A Northshore woman was killed Tuesday morning when her car collided head-on with a semi truck.
The California Highway Patrol's Clear Lake Area office did not release the name of the 40-year-old woman from Nice pending notification of family.
The CHP said the crash occurred at approximately 6:26 a.m. on Highway 20, half a mile west of the intersection with Highway 53 near Clearlake Oaks.
The woman was driving a 1998 Chevrolet Cavalier eastbound, approaching a 2001 Kenworth semi truck pulling two trailers with empty agricultural produce bins that 54-year-old Tomas Araujo of Lodi was driving westbound, the CHP said.
For reasons that the CHP said investigators have yet to determine, the woman's Chevrolet entered the westbound lane directly in Araujo's path.
Araujo took evasive action, turning the truck to the left to try to avoid hitting the Chevrolet. However, the CHP said the woman's car veered back toward the eastbound lane, colliding head-on with the semi.
The CHP said the woman died at the scene from her injuries. Araujo was uninjured. Both were using their safety equipment.
When firefighters arrived they found the Chevrolet off the road, with the jackknifed semi blocking the highway, according to reports from the scene.
Both lanes of Highway 20 were blocked as a result of the crash as well as the presence of emergency vehicles, and one-way traffic control was established, the CHP said. The roadway was reported to be fully reopened at around 10:15 a.m.
The CHP said the crash remains under investigation by Officer Efrain Cortez.
If anyone witnessed the wreck, they are asked to contact the CHP's Clear Lake Area office in Kelseyville at 707-279-0103.
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CLEARLAKE OAKS, Calif. – The California Highway Patrol is investigating a fatal crash that occurred early Tuesday between a big rig and a car.
The crash was reported just before 6:30 a.m. Tuesday on Highway 20, about four miles west of the “Y” intersection of Highway 20 and Highway 53 near Clearlake Oaks.
Northshore Fire Protection District firefighters arriving at the scene found the highway completely blocked by the jackknifed semi – an empty pear truck – with the small sedan it hit head-on off the roadway.
At that point, firefighters at the scene indicated the operation was a recovery, not a rescue, and began requesting additional firefighters for assistance.
The CHP confirmed to Lake County News that a woman died in the crash, but additional details – including how the crash occurred – were pending mid-morning Tuesday as investigators remained at the scene.
The effort to clear the roadway – including towing away the vehicles – was not reported to be complete until shortly after 10:15 a.m., according to the CHP.
Additional information will be posted as it becomes available.
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CLEARLAKE, Calif. – A combination of quick response and movement of resources from a large wildland fire in the region helped contain a Sunday fire in Clearlake before it could do much more serious damage.
The Dam fire, which broke out at around 4 p.m. Sunday, burned a total of 10 acres, according to
Suzanne Blankenship of Cal Fire's Sonoma-Lake-Napa Unit.
Blankenship told Lake County News that the fire was fully contained at about 10:30 p.m. Sunday, but resources remained on the scene overnight and into early Monday morning, mopping up.
Lake County Fire and Cal Fire had led the incident response, with fire agencies from around the county sending resources to the scene, officials said.
Blankenship said the damage estimate has remained at one destroyed mobile home on Dam Road and minor damage to the Cache Creek Apartments, behind which the fire had started.
The incident had the potential to quickly become a conflagration, with dry vegetation and high, erratic winds fanning it, according to reports from fire officials.
“It was pretty intense at the beginning,” she said, noting there was the potential for the fire to blow up.
However, Blankenship explained that a number of factors contributed to the incident not being worse.
For one, the fire engines coming to the scene had four firefighters instead of three, which Blankenship said made for an easier division of labor when evacuations of nearby apartments and homes started.
Those evacuations had begun at around 4:30 p.m., according to radio reports.
Cal Fire also diverted aircraft from the 6,500-acre Wragg fire in Napa and Solano counties, Blankenship said.
“There was a lot more air on it right away,” said Blankenship.
Those diverted air resources included Chinook helicopters that assisted with water drops, according to reports from the scene.
As for what sparked the blaze, Blankenship noted, “The fire still is under investigation.”
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NORTHERN CALIFORNIA – Thousands of firefighters are continuing their efforts to contain major wildland fires around the state.
Cal Fire spokesman Daniel Berlant said fire activity has remained high over the past week in California, with Cal Fire crews responding to more than 270 new wildfires.
On Monday more than 5,000 firefighters were assigned to nine major wildfires in California, Berlant said.
The state's largest incident, the Wragg fire in Napa and Solano counties near Lake Berryessa, has been held to 6,591 acres, with containment rising to 75 percent by late Monday, Cal Fire said.
In Nevada County, Cal Fire reported that the Lowell fire continued burning, reaching 1,700 acres, with containment at 25 percent.
That fire injured four firefighters on Sunday – two from the Cal Fire Mendocino Unit and two from the US Forest Service.
One of the Forest Service firefighters is in the hospital with serious burn injuries, Cal Fire said.
The two Cal Fire firefighters and the remaining Forest Service firefighter were treated and released from the hospital, and are expected to make a full recovery and ready to return to the firefight, the agency said. All three are in good spirits Monday morning and had an opportunity to speak with their families.
Cal Fire said one of its firefighters injured in the incident already had returned to full duty, while the second will be recovering over the next week.
Fire officials are urging Californians to be cautious this week, as temperatures are expected to increase and relative humidity will decrease, which will heighten the fire danger even further.
For information on wildland fire preparedness, visit www.ReadyForWildfire.org .
The following is are summaries of major incidents around the state follows, with size estimates through late Monday night.
Cal Fire incidents
– Lowell fire: Began July 25 in Nevada County; 1,700 acres, 25-percent contained. Evacuations remain in effect, with 1,800 structures in Nevada and Placer counties threatened. Four injuries. Cause is under investigation. Estimated full containment: Aug. 1.
– Wragg fire: Began July 22 in Napa and Solano counties; 6,591 acres, 75-percent contained. Evacuations lifted. Two outbuilding destroyed, three outbuildings and one residence damaged. No injuries reported. Cause is under investigation. Estimated full containment: July 28.
– Queen fire: Began July 25 in Humboldt County; 200 acres, 42-percent contained. Two injuries. No cause given.
Federal incidents
– Willow fire: Began July 25 in Madera County; 1,521 acres, 5-percent contained. No injuries reported. Cause is under investigation.
– Cutca fire: Began July 24 in San Diego County; 167 acres, 75-percent contained. No injuries reported. Cause is unknown.
– Kyburz fire: Began July 23 in El Dorado County; 75 acres, 98-percent contained. No injuries reported. Cause is under investigation.
– Pines fire: Began July 17 in Los Angeles County; 200 acres, 85-percent contained. No injuries reported. Cause is under investigation.
– Lake fire: Began July 16 in San Bernardino County; 31,359 acres, 98-percent contained. No injuries reported. Human caused; remains under investigation.
– Washington fire: Began June 19 in Alpine County; 17,790 acres, 99% contained. No injuries reported. Caused by lightning. Estimated full containment: July 31.
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U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx announced that Fiat Chrysler Automobiles has acknowledged violations of the Motor Vehicle Safety Act’s requirements to repair vehicles with safety defects and will submit to rigorous federal oversight, buy back some defective vehicles from owners, and agreed to a $105 million civil penalty, the largest ever imposed by the Department’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
The enforcement action comes after a July 2 public hearing at which NHTSA officials outlined problems with Fiat Chrysler’s execution of 23 vehicle safety recalls covering more than 11 million defective vehicles.
Fiat Chrysler has since admitted to violating the Safety Act in three areas: effective and timely recall remedies, notification to vehicle owners and dealers and notifications to NHTSA.
The action holds Fiat Chrysler accountable for its past failures, pushes them to get unsafe vehicles repaired or off the roads and takes concrete steps to keep Americans safer going forward, Foxx said.
“This civil penalty puts manufacturers on notice that the Department will act when they do not take their obligations to repair safety defects seriously.”
In a consent order issued by NHTSA, Fiat Chrysler commits to take action to get defective vehicles off the roads or repaired.
Owners of more than half a million vehicles with defective suspension parts that could cause the vehicle to lose control will have the opportunity to sell their vehicle back to Fiat Chrysler.
Owners of more than a million Jeeps that are prone to deadly fires either will have the chance to trade their vehicle in for above its market value, or will receive a financial incentive to get their vehicle remedied.
The consent order requires FCA to notify vehicle owners eligible for buybacks and other financial incentives that these new options are available.
The automaker also agrees to unprecedented oversight for the next three years, which includes hiring an independent monitor approved by NHTSA to assess, track and report the company’s recall performance.
“Fiat Chrysler’s pattern of poor performance put millions of its customers, and the driving public, at risk,” NHTSA Administrator Mark Rosekind said. “This action will provide relief to owners of defective vehicles, will help improve recall performance throughout the auto industry, and gives Fiat Chrysler the opportunity to embrace a proactive safety culture.”
The company must pay a $70 million cash penalty – equal to the record $70 million civil penalty the agency imposed on Honda in January.
In addition, Fiat Chrysler must spend at least $20 million on meeting performance requirements included in the Consent Order.
Another $15 million could come due if the independent monitor discovers additional violations of the Safety Act or the Consent Order.
To look up recalls by VIN, visit https://vinrcl.safercar.gov/vin/ , or to use a multi-selection search tool visit http://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/owners/SearchSafetyIssues .