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LUCERNE, Calif. – A Corning man suffered major injuries when the semi truck he was driving overturned on Highway 20 early Saturday morning, trapping him inside as thousands of gallons of milk from the semi's crushed trailer went into the lake.
Dana Montgomery, 57, sustained a head laceration and had a complaint of pain to his right left following the wreck, according to the California Highway Patrol.
The CHP report said Montgomery was driving a 2008 Kenworth semi with a 1999 tank trailer hauling a load of milk.
Montgomery was headed westbound at an unknown speed on Highway 20 east of Lucerne at 3:30 a.m. when, for reasons that are not known, the truck went off the road to the north of the highway, the CHP reported.
The semi hit a roadside call box and continued out of control, hitting the embankment and overturning, the CHP said.
The truck's trailer ruptured and lost its load of approximately 5,000 gallons of milk. The CHP said the milk entered a culvert that led to Clear Lake and got into the water.
Montgomery was trapped in the cab until heavy duty tow trucks arrived at the scene to lift the truck so firefighters could free him from the wreckage, according to the CHP.
Northshore Fire Protection District Deputy Chief Pat Brown told Lake County News that it took firefighters from the district's four main stations – Clearlake Oaks, Lucerne, Nice and Upper Lake – two hours to extricate Montgomery from the crushed semi. Cal Fire from the Clearlake Oaks station also was involved in the rescue.
They used heavy rescue equipment to cut through the wreckage, as well as the large tow trucks and airbags to lift the truck, Brown said.
The REACH 6 air ambulance responded to Lucerne Harbor Park to pick up Montgomery. After landing at the park, Brown said the REACH crew responded to the crash scene to assist with advanced life support for Montgomery while he was being extricated.
REACH 6 subsequently transported Montgomery to an out-of-county trauma center for treatment of his injuries, the CHP said.
Due to the milk entering the lake, firefighters at the scene requested that Lake County Environmental Health and the California Department of Fish and Wildlife respond to the scene.
The CHP said Caltrans also responded to the crash site and provided one-way traffic control during the vehicle recovery, with CHP's Emergency Notification and Tactical Alert Center notified of the traffic control.
Both lanes of Highway 20 at the crash site were reopened at 9:30 a.m., the CHP said.
Montgomery used his safety equipment, the CHP said.
Email Elizabeth Larson at
LUCERNE, Calif. – First responders spent two hours early Saturday morning extricating a driver from his overturned semi truck.
The crash was first dispatched at 3:40 a.m., according to scanner reports.
The semi, which was hauling a load of milk, rolled over on Highway 20 east of Pepperwood Cove, according to Northshore Fire Deputy Chief Pat Brown.
Radio reports indicated that the first units on scene found the semi sitting on its top, with the roadway clear.
The tank was reported to be completely ruptured, according to reports from the scene, with California Fish and Wildlife and Lake County Environmental Health asked to respond due to the runoff headed to the lake.
Brown said the driver was pinned in the overturned semi between his seat and the front dash.
The whole vehicle had to be lifted using airbags and a large tow vehicle, Brown said.
Heavy rescue from the Clearlake Oaks Station used all extrication tools to cut and remove parts of the truck in order to gain access to the patient, Brown said.
Brown said all Northshore Fire stations – Clearlake Oaks, Lucerne, Nice and Upper Lake – were involved, along with Cal Fire out of Clearlake Oaks.
The REACH 6 air ambulance crew – which had landed at Lucerne Harbor Park to transport the driver – helped Northshore Fire paramedics on scene for advanced life support for the patient during extrication, Brown said.
Additional details on the cause of the crash will be published as they become available.
CLEARLAKE, Calif. – Less than a week after marking its 2015 season opening day, Southshore Little League got an unfortunate surprise in the form of a theft.
Sometime between 8:30 p.m. Thursday and 2 p.m. Friday someone went to the league fields on Ballpark Avenue and stole the flags, according to David Singleterry Jr., the league president.
Singleterry said a US flag and two smaller league flags – one for baseball, one for softball – were stolen, and the rope on the flagpole was cut.
He said the league has lost flags to theft previously.
Each of the smaller flags costs $85, Singleterry said. He did not have an estimated replacement cost for the US flag that was taken.
It's an expensive loss for the league, which Singleterry said this year has more than 468 children taking part in softball and baseball.
Anyone who has information on the theft or the whereabouts of the flags is asked to call Helen Mitchum at 707-998-9194.
For more information about the league, visit https://www.facebook.com/Southshorelittleleagueclearlakeca?fref=ts or http://www.eteamz.com/southshore/ .
Email Elizabeth Larson at
KELSEYVILLE, Calif. – Worldwide Healing Hands (WHH) is preparing for the second annual “Hike 4 Healing” on Mount Konocti’s Wright Summit Trail on April 25.
The yearly trek is a fundraiser to support the work of Worldwide Healing Hands.
Hike participants and sponsors are sought for the event. This year WHH is encouraging “virtual” hikers, those who cannot make it to the Mount Konocti hike, to join the event via Facebook.
Hike participants will traverse a little more than 6 miles round-trip, with an elevation gain of 1,600 feet, along the trail. Entrance fee for the hike is $25 per person. There is no charge for children under the age of 12 to participate.
Participants may register at the office of Dr. Paula Dhanda, medical director for WHH, at 5685 Main St., Kelseyville.
Individuals may also register online by visiting the WHH’s Web site, www.worldwidehealinghands.org , or EventBrite ( https://eventbrite.com/event/15794115625/ ).
Facebook participants in the “Virtual Hike 4 Healing” will receive WHH visors and will be urged to post pictures of their hikes while wearing the visors. Find out more on the Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/events/898827700140409/ .
WHH seeks sponsors for the event and for hikers. Sponsors will be recognized in print and broadcast releases about the event as well as acknowledged on information available at the hike.
All donations will help support the WHH’s goals and missions to provide quality health care to women and children, especially those who do not have access to such care.
The Hike 4 Healing was launched last year as a fundraiser for Worldwide Healing Hands’ missions, according to Hike 4 Healing coordinator Anthy O’Brien, a WHH board member and supporter.
WHH provides health care services to women and children in underserved areas of the world. WHH teams have traveled to Nepal, Chad and Haiti to deliver health services. WHH volunteer medical teams have also provided free health screenings to homeless in Lake County.
“Please join us on our Hike 4 Healing this year so that we may help many more women and children with the care they need and deserve,” O’Brien said.
For more information about the Hike 4 Healing, call 707-279-8733.
Visit WHH’s Web site, www.worldwidehealinghands.org , to read more about the organization.
Many will recall 29-year-old Brittany Maynard who suffered from terminal brain cancer.
Maynard moved from California to Oregon where she chose to end her own life rather than continue in excruciating pain.
The “End of Life Option Act” presently before the California Senate would allow for terminally ill residents of California to voluntarily end their own lives by requesting “aid in dying” medicine prescribed by a physician and then self-administered by the patient.
Informed consent by the patient, verification of informed consent and an opportunity for the patient to withdraw that consent is at the heart of how the legislation works.
Let’s examine the “End of Life Option Act.”
For there to be informed consent the patient must understand and acknowledge the relevant facts after being fully informed by his or her attending physician of the following: the terminal diagnosis, the prognosis, the risks associated with taking the medicine, the probable result of death by taking the medicine, the possibility that the patient may choose at any time not to take the medicine, and the feasible alternative or additional treatment opportunities (such as comfort care) instead of taking end of life medicine.
The patient must make two oral requests, at least 15 days apart, and a written request to the attending physician.
The written request must be witnesses by two qualified witnesses who attest to the patient’s soundness of mind and voluntary request.
In addition to the attending physician, a consulting physician also must examine the patient, confirm the attending physicians’ terminal diagnosis and prognosis, and verify that the individual is competent, acting voluntarily, and has made an informed decision.
Once the medicine is delivered, the patient can either decline to use the medicine or proceed as planned and self- administer the medicine.
Brittany Maynard stated the case for why voluntary dying is very different from suicide: “For people to argue against this choice for sick people really seems evil to me," she told People Magazine. “They try to mix it up with suicide and that's really unfair, because there's not a single part of me that wants to die. But I am dying."
According to an Los Angeles Times editorial published on Feb. 10, 2015, 70 percent of Californians support the legislation.
If the End of Life Option Act is enacted, California would join Oregon, Vermont and Washington as states where terminally ill persons can end their own lives.
Dennis A. Fordham, attorney (LL.M. tax studies), is a State Bar Certified Specialist in estate planning, probate and trust law. His office is at 870 S. Main St., Lakeport, California. Fordham can be reached by e-mail at
NORTHERN CALIFORNIA – The Department of Water Resources, or DWR, will conduct this year’s fourth manual snow survey for the media on April 1 just off Highway 50 near Sierra-at-Tahoe Road approximately 90 miles east of Sacramento.
Electronic readings show that the Sierra Nevada snowpack’s water content is lower than any year in records going back to 1950 – just 8 percent of the historical average in late March.
The snowpack has been in decline since the first manual survey was taken on Dec. 30, when electronic readings found the statewide snow water equivalent at 50 percent of that date’s historical average.
The statewide readings on the second and third survey dates were 25 percent of the January 29 average and 19 percent of the March 3 average.
The media survey at Phillips Station is one of more than 230 snow courses that will be measured during a 10-day window around April 1 to determine the statewide snowpack, which normally contributes about 30 percent of California’s water when it melts.
Below-normal precipitation, combined with unusually warm weather, has produced meager snowfall during the traditional wet season.
The snowpack normally is at its peak on April 1, which historically is the seasonal total.
Barring an unexpected change in the weather, chains will not be required for vehicles, but media should be attentive to conditions. The survey will begin at 11 a.m., with results available by early afternoon. Media should not arrive before 10 a.m. due to the landowner’s concerns.
Electronic snowpack readings are available on the Internet at http://cdec.water.ca.gov/cdecapp/snowapp/sweq.action .
Water Year 2015 precipitation is available at http://cdec.water.ca.gov/snow_rain.html .
Electronic reservoir readings may be found at http://cdec.water.ca.gov/cdecapp/resapp/getResGraphsMain.action .
For a broader snapshot of current and historical weather conditions, see DWR’s Drought and Water Conditions pages http://water.ca.gov/waterconditions/docs/California_Signficant_Droughts_2015_small.pdf and http://www.water.ca.gov/waterconditions/ .