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LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Firefighters are on scene of two wildland fires, one in Clearlake and one near Clearlake Oaks.
The Borax fire was reported at around 1:30 p.m. Thursday in the area of Sulphur Bank Road and Borax Lake in Clearlake, according to radio reports.
Lake County Fire and Cal Fire are on scene, with tankers and Copter 104 hitting the fire from the air early on, radio reports indicated.
The last report of size given over the air was between six and seven acres, with spot fires being contained through a retardant line.
Then, just after 3 p.m., Northshore Fire received a report of a small wildland fire in the area of Harvey Boulevard and Terry Drive in Clearlake Oaks.
The fire was reported to be running uphill, with structures threatened. Radio reports indicated that the fire was about six to eight acres at around 4 p.m.
Resources were being released from the Borax fire in order to respond to the Harvey fire, according to radio traffic.
At least eight engines and one dozer, and several crews were reported to be on scene at about 3:30 p.m.
Air resources, including tankers and Copter 104, also were assigned to respond to the Harvey fire.
Law enforcement was dispatched to the scene to deal with traffic and crowd control, radio reports indicated.
Due to the need for additional resources, the call went out to local fire districts for an in-county strike team, but with incident commanders reporting that local resources were tapped out, a request was put out to Mendocino County for four engines and a water tender, which were entering the county at about 4 p.m.
At 4 p.m. one injury was reported, and Lake County Sheriff's officials were being requested to come to the scene to discuss possible evacuations, according to radio reports.
Just after 5 p.m., Lake County Public Works reported that, effective immediately and until further notice, Harvey Boulevard in Clearlake Oaks is closed to all traffic except emergency response vehicles due to the fire.
The agency asked that the public stay away from the area in order to allow emergency vehicles unhampered access to the fire and to facilitate evacuations if necessary.
Additional updates will be posted as information becomes available.
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LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – The Lake County Sheriff's Marine Patrol will be joining agencies across the country in a weekend enforcement campaign targeting boating under the influence.
“Operation Dry Water” takes place Friday, June 26, through Sunday, June 28.
“Last year, agencies from every state and federal agency participated,” said Sgt. Don McPherson, who oversees the Sheriff's Marine Patrol unit. “It is a crackdown on boating under the influence.”
McPherson believes boating under the influence, or BUI, is a bigger problem than many realize, and that many cases aren't caught.
Last year, there were three arrests for BUI in Lake County, he said.
So far this year, he said there has been one BUI arrest in connection to a boating accident.
As part of the Marine Patrol's participation this year, “We will be doing saturation patrol,” particularly in the evening hours from 6 to 11 p.m., McPherson said.
It's during those hours, McPherson said, that the Marine Patrol sees the majority of the BUI cases involved in an accident or some other incident.
Operation Dry Water began in 2009, according to the campaign Web site, www.operationdrywater.org , which is administered by the National Association of State Boating Law Administrators, or NASBLA.
Since Operation Dry Water's inception, the three-day enforcement weekend has resulted in law enforcement officers across the country removing 1,875 BUI operators from the nation’s waterways and making contact with over 604,250 boaters, NASBLA reported.
In 2014, 585 local, state and federal law enforcement agencies and US Coast Guard units from 56 state and territories participated in Operation Dry Water, the organization said.
NASBLA reported that while the weekend event is meant to heighten awareness, Operation Dry Water actually is a year-round boating under the influence awareness and enforcement campaign.
The mission, NASBLA said, is to reduce the number of alcohol and drug related accidents and fatalities through increased recreational boater awareness and foster a stronger and more visible deterrent to alcohol and drug use on the water.
Alcohol use is the leading contributing factor in recreational boater deaths, and a leading factor in recreational boating accidents, according to 2014 US Coast Guard recreational boating statistics.
In 2014, alcohol use was the primary factor in nearly one-fourth – or 21 percent – of boater deaths, according to the Operation Dry Water campaign.
NASBLA said boaters can become impaired more quickly on the water than on land due to a number of environmental “stressors” – wind, noise and the movement of the boat while on the water – that intensify the effects of alcohol or drug use on an individual while boating.
“The decision about whether to drink and boat under the influence is a choice every boater makes, ” says NASBLA Deputy Executive Director John Fetterman. “Boating under the influence is a 100-percent preventable crime. Operation Dry Water, participating law enforcement agencies and our boating safety partners encourage boaters to stay safe by staying sober while boating.”
In addition to Lake County, agencies in the neighboring counties of Glenn, Napa, Sonoma and Yolo counties will participate in Operation Dry Water this year, along with numerous other communities across the state, NASBLA reported.
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LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – A $1 million appropriation Lake County's state legislators had managed to have included in the 2015-16 state budget survived the negotiations process right up to the last minute, but was not included in the final document approved by Gov. Jerry Brown on Wednesday.
Instead, Brown exercised his line-item veto power – known as the “blue pencil” – and removed the money that Assemblyman Bill Dodd (D-Napa) and Sen. Mike McGuire (D-Healdsburg) had worked to get for lake restoration projects.
The $1 million appropriation had been included in Assembly Bill 93, the Budget Act of 2015 by Assemblywoman Shirley N. Weber (D-San Diego). Along with that bill, the governor signed 17 related acts on Wednesday to bring the budget process in on time.
Clear Lake's appropriation was one of several items Brown either reduced or removed from AB 93, according to the final state budget document released on Wednesday.
Dodd and McGuire had proposed that the $1 million for wetland restoration, water quality improvement and manage invasive species come from the Fish and Game Preservation Fund Budget.
However, the legislators had been concerned in recent weeks that the governor might blue pencil the appropriation after a Department of Finance staffer questioned it in a Budget Conference Committee meeting, as Lake County News has reported.
As a result, local government and business leaders had rallied to send letters of support to the governor, urging him to OK the funds.
Despite reports that the Fish and Game Preservation Fund's budget was projecting a $25 million surplus for the coming year, in his veto message Brown said he was removing the item because the “Fish and Game Preservation Fund has a structural deficit and cannot absorb additional expenditures.”
He added, “There are existing grant programs that are available and appropriate to support the restoration of Clear Lake. I am directing my Administration to provide technical assistance to Lake County to assist them in identifying and applying for ecosystem restoration and drinking water grant funding.”
Along with that, the State Water Resources Control Board and the California Department of Fish and Wildlife said Wednesday that they had been directed by the governor to work with McGuire and Dodd to identify sources of state or other funding to help address the significant water quality problems plaguing Clear Lake.
“Clear Lake’s problems of deteriorating drinking water quality, loss of wetlands and threats of invasive species have been exacerbated by the ongoing drought. Voters recently approved Proposition 1, which provides significant amounts of funding for improving drinking water and ecosystem restoration,” the agencies said in a joint statement.
The State Water Resources Control Board and Fish and Wildlife said they have identified other funding sources – such as low interest loans – “that could be combined with possible Proposition 1 allocations to provide up to 100 percent of drinking water quality improvement project costs, in addition to funding for projects qualified under the ecosystem restoration program.”
State officials said they will work with Lake County leaders and communities in the process of pursuing grant funds, and also will provide appropriate technical planning assistance during the application process.
That process, the state agencies said, is expected to take place in the 2015-16 fiscal year “to help the communities of Lake County to address their water quality and ecosystem restoration problems as expeditiously as possible.”
For their part, while Dodd and McGuire said they were disappointed that the funds won’t immediately be appropriated, they were nevertheless encouraged by the strong commitment from the administration to get the funds from another source.
“Both Assemblymember Dodd and myself have been working with the Governor’s Office as well as the State Water Resources Control Board and the Department of Fish and Wildlife to advance Proposition 1 funding which will benefit the Lake’s ecosystem and Lake County’s drinking water supply,” McGuire said. “We are committed to securing these resources and look forward to working with Governor Brown and the residents of Lake County in the months to come.”
“While we wanted to see the governor approve the allocation the legislature approved for Clear Lake, we’re encouraged by the governor’s direction to the appropriate state agencies to work this upcoming budget year to help secure needed funding,” Dodd said. “We’ve worked closely with Lake County residents to elevate the issue of resorting Clear Lake to a level that the state cannot continue to ignore.”
Dodd added, “Sen. McGuire and I will be working hard to hold the board and the department accountable for their commitment.”
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LAKEPORT, Calif. – A developmentally disabled woman who was reported missing late Tuesday was found safe early Thursday morning.
Amanda Maher, 26, was located shortly after midnight, according to Lakeport Police Sgt. Gary Basor.
“She's fine,” said Basor.
Maher – who receives help from Tailored Living Choices, or, TLC, a care assistance program – was last seen at about 11:15 p.m. Tuesday, with program staff reporting her missing about 20 minutes later, police reported.
Police were dispatched to an address on Royale Avenue at 11:45 p.m. Tuesday to take the missing person's report on Maher, who was considered to be at-risk due to a history of running away, suicidal behavior and her disabilities.
A community alert was put out shortly after 4 p.m. Wednesday, with Basor explaining that he also sent out an alert to law enforcement agencies as far north as the Oregon border, as Maher had been known to travel out-of-state, having hitched rides with truckers.
He said police started receiving leads at about 6 p.m., as Maher's information began to be circulated through the community and online, including on social media.
The lead that resulted in Maher being located came in at about midnight, Basor said, when she was reported to be hanging out locally at a person's home.
At around 1 a.m. Basor said she was back with a TLC staffer and getting checked out at Sutter Lakeside Hospital.
On Lake County News' Facebook page, Maher's mother – Tammy Fitch of Willits – offered thanks for the support and prayers she received from the community.
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LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Electrical equipment is believed to be the cause of a fire that burned along Highway 29 on Tuesday.
The Thomas fire broke out Tuesday afternoon in a field alongside Highway 29 and near Rainbow Ag, as Lake County News has reported.
Kelseyville Fire Chief Joe Huggins said the fire was not mapped, but its total size has been estimated at between 35 and 40 acres.
He said a man turned on his well pump, and the pump arced with wires from an old wind machine that had been removed.
“It took off pretty quick,” said Huggins, noting the situation was exacerbated by what he called “extreme” conditions.
Besides very dry vegetation, firefighters had to deal with a 15-mile-per-hour wind, said Huggins. “It went sideways on us pretty quick.”
It took about two and a half hours from dispatch to containment, with mop up continuing for a few more hours on Tuesday, he said.
Huggins said that on Wednesday afternoon firefighters finished picking up fire hose that had remained on site in case it was needed.
While the situation in Lake County looks extreme, “It's looking bad everywhere,” said Huggins.
Due to drought conditions, vegetation dried out earlier than normal this year, and Huggins also noted that there appear to be more wind events than is typical.
“We're in for a long summer, I think,” Huggins said.
Meanwhile, across the rest of California, Cal Fire spokesman Daniel Berlant said Wednesday that approximately 4,000 firefighters remained on the front lines of major wildland fires.
He said hot weather is expected to return, bringing higher fire danger.
Berlant said 95 percent of wildfires in Cal Fire's jurisdiction are sparked by the activity of people, “which means almost every fire is preventable.”
Cal Fire urges the public to take steps to prevent sparking a wildfire. To learn about wildland fire preparedness, visit www.ReadyForWildfire.org .
A rundown of major incidents around the state follows, with size estimates through late Wednesday.
Cal Fire incidents
– Corrine fire: Began June 18 in Madera County; 920 acres, 98-percent contained. Three outbuildings destroyed, evacuations lifted. Cause is under investigation.
– Park Hill fire: Began June 20, San Luis Obispo County; 1,791 acres, 100-percent contained. Sixteen structures and nine vehicles (including two RVs used as residences) destroyed. Cause was carbon buildup from an unknown vehicle exhaust system.
– Loma fire: Began June 24, Contra Costa County, 533 acres, 90-percent contained.
Unified command fires
– Lake fire: Began June 17 in San Bernardino County; 17,525 acres, 33-percent contained. Evacuations remain in effect; 500 structures threatened. Cause is under investigation.
Federal incidents
– Saddle fire: Began June 10 in Trinity County; 1,542 acres, 95-percent contained. Caused by lightning.
– Sky Fire: Began June 18 in Madera County; 500 acres, 95-percent contained. Caused by a vehicle.
– Washington Fire: Began June 19 in Alpine County; 17,205 acres, 10-percent contained. Caused by lightning.
Other incidents
– River fire: Began June 22 in Ventura County; 164 acres, 100-percent contained.
– Calgrove fire: Began June 24, Los Angeles County; 350 acres, 45-percent contained.
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LAKEPORT, Calif. – The Lakeport Police Department has issued an alert to the community about a developmentally disabled woman reported missing Tuesday night and considered to be at-risk.
Amanda Maher, 26, was the subject of the Wednesday afternoon alert.
Police officers were dispatched to 15 Royale Ave. No. 12 at 11:45 p.m. Tuesday on the report of an at-risk missing adult, according to the Lakeport Police report.
Tailored Living Choices, or TLC, a care assistant program assigned to Maher, reported that she took her required medications at 9:45 p.m. and then went out onto to the porch area at 11:15 p.m., according to the police report.
Police said when TLC went to check Maher again at approximately 11:35 p.m, she was gone.
TLC told police that Maher has a prior history of running away. She is developmentally disabled, has exhibited prior suicidal behavior and requires regular medications. Police said she's classified as an at-risk dependent adult.
The Lakeport Police Department report said TLC notified Maher's mother – who lives in Willits – that her daughter had gone missing.
Maher is 5 feet, 5 inches tall, weighs 200 pounds, has brown eyes and long brown hair, according to police.
Police said Maher is known to frequent casinos and take rides from truckers and other strangers. She also has a history of traveling out of state.
If she's located, contact the Lakeport Police Department at 707-263-5491.