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NORTHERN CALIFORNIA – With the fire season already well under way, and the recent incidences of the Monticello Fire near Lake Berryessa and the Butts Fire in Napa and Lake counties, wildfire safety for hikers in the region is a topic that bears repeating.
Eric “Bam Bam” Barnett builds and maintain hiking trails on a regular basis very near the area affected by the Butts Fire.
“I like to talk to my crews on the trail, especially the trails I build because of the remoteness, about fire dangers,” Barnett said.
He encourages wildfire safety and awareness.
Taking reasonable precautions during fire season before going out on a hike is the first best defense against getting trapped in a remote area with a wildfire on the way.
Before heading out, check with the local fire services for notices about possible burns or risk concerns in the area. Take the time to not only plot the course of your hike, but also to plot escape routes.
Barnett said, “I am pretty good about checking for fire [information] online. I have a campfire permit and follow the guidelines. I keep an eye out for smoke, and stay aware of phone reception areas for emergency calls.”
Watching for signs of fire is another good defense against getting trapped by a wildfire. The acrid scent of smoke or seeing smoke are obvious indicators that a fire is nearby.
If you see ash or sparks in the air, it means the fire is probably less than a mile away from you and you should take immediately measures to safely leave the area. Even small fires can loom large in just short amount of time, so don’t underestimate the danger.
“Getting away from the burn is more important than getting to your car at the trailhead,” Barnett said.
When trying to escape a fire, face the wind and move downhill whenever possible. Remember, heat rises, so fire will run up the side of a hill or embankment much quicker than it will move down it.
Move along areas that won’t provide the fire with any additional tinder, such as wide dirt trails or fire breaks, paved roads, or rocky and gravelly areas; and avoid canyons and ravines where wind will provide fuel and movement for the flames.
“Wildfires will catch a draw very similar to the draw in a fireplace or wood-burning stove along ravines,” Barnett warned.
If you do find yourself trapped by the fire, and you can’t get out into a deep water source (such as a stream or lake) do not douse your clothes with water. If the fire reaches you, it can cause the water on your clothes to super-heat and turn to scalding steam.
Never try to outrun an oncoming wildfire; they can move as quickly as 14 miles per hour.
If the fire is going to overtake you, find a relatively clear space on the ground, pull up any weeds or brush you can, and create a shallow depression to lie in. The bigger the space you can clear for yourself, the better.
Remove any synthetic clothing you’re wearing, as synthetics will burn quickly and melt onto your skin. Take off your backpack, but keep it nearby in case you need to use it as a heat shield. Then lay face-down in the depression with your feet in the direction of the fire.
As horrifying as being trapped by a wildfire may seem, keep in mind that if one does overtake you, it may pass over you in less than a minute or so. The heat will make it difficult to breathe, but try to keep yourself low to the ground and as calm as you can.
To avoid situations like this, however, it’s always best to arm yourself with as much information as you can before going out on the trail. Stay alert and stay safe.
Tuleyome Tales is a monthly publication of Tuleyome, a conservation organization based in Woodland, Calif. Mary K. Hanson is an amateur naturalist and photographer. Eric “Bam Bam” Barnett is the trail development coordinator for Tuleyome Napa in Napa County. Tuleyome also thanks Susan Kocher, natural resources adviser for the UC Cooperative Extension program for her assistance with this article. For more information about Tuleyome visit www.tuleyome.org .
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Three dogs are waiting at Lake County Animal Care and Control to go to new homes.
The three male dogs include a pit bull mix, a boxer-pit bull cross and a little terrier-Shih Tzu. They range in age from 8 months to 3 years.
Dogs that are adopted from Lake County Animal Care and Control are either neutered or spayed, microchipped and, if old enough, given a rabies shot and county license 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 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 dogs at the Lake County Animal Care and Control shelter have been cleared for adoption (additional dogs on the animal control Web site not listed are still “on hold”).
'Jo Jo'
“Jo Jo” is a 3-year-old male terrier-Shih Tzu mix.
He has a long brown and white coat, and green eyes, weighs nearly 14 pounds and has been neutered.
Jo Jo is in kennel No. 4, ID No. 40421.
Boxer-pit bull terrier
This male Boxer-pit bull terrier is 8 months old.
He has a short brown and white coat, weighs 54 and has been neutered.
Find him in kennel No. 13, ID No. 40436.
'Sparkey'
“Sparkey” is a 3-year-old pit bull mix.
He weighs 77 pounds and has a short tan and white coat. He has been neutered.
Sparkey is in kennel No. 29, ID No. 40350.
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, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., and 1 p.m. to 3 p.m., Saturday. The shelter is open from 10:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday and on Saturday from 1 p.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
NASA's Opportunity Mars rover, which landed on the Red Planet in 2004, now holds the off-Earth roving distance record after accruing 25 miles of driving, and is not far from completing the first extraterrestrial marathon. The previous record was held by the Soviet Union's Lunokhod 2 rover.
“Opportunity has driven farther than any other wheeled vehicle on another world,” said Mars Exploration Rover Project Manager John Callas, of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, California. “This is so remarkable considering Opportunity was intended to drive about one kilometer and was never designed for distance.”
A drive of 157 feet on July 27 put Opportunity's total odometry at 25.01 miles.This month's driving brought the rover southward along the western rim of Endeavour Crater.
The rover had driven more than 20 miles (32 kilometers) before arriving at Endeavour Crater in 2011, where it has examined outcrops on the crater’s rim containing clay and sulfate-bearing minerals.
The sites are yielding evidence of ancient environments with less acidic water than those examined at Opportunity’s landing site.
If the rover can continue to operate the distance of a marathon – 26.2 miles – it will approach the next major investigation site mission scientists have dubbed “Marathon Valley.”
Observations from spacecraft orbiting Mars suggest several clay minerals are exposed close together at this valley site, surrounded by steep slopes where the relationships among different layers may be evident.
The Russian Lunokhod 2 rover, a successor to the first Lunokhod mission in 1970, landed on Earth's moon on Jan. 15, 1973, where it drove about 24.2 miles in less than five months, according to calculations recently made using images from NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) cameras that reveal Lunokhod 2's tracks.
Irina Karachevtseva at Moscow State University of Geodesy and Cartography's Extraterrestrial Laboratory in Russia, Brad Jolliff of Washington University in St. Louis, Tim Parker of JPL, and others, collaborated to verify the map-based methods for computing distances are comparable for Lunokhod-2 and Opportunity.
“The Lunokhod missions still stand as two signature accomplishments of what I think of as the first golden age of planetary exploration, the 1960s and '70s,” said Steve Squyres of Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, and principal investigator for NASA's twin Mars rovers, Opportunity and Spirit. “We’re in a second golden age now, and what we’ve tried to do on Mars with Spirit and Opportunity has been very much inspired by the accomplishments of the Lunokhod team on the moon so many years ago. It has been a real honor to follow in their historical wheel tracks.”
As Opportunity neared the mileage record earlier this year, the rover team chose the name Lunokhod 2 for a crater about 20 feet (6 meters) in diameter on the outer slope of Endeavour's rim on Mars.
As impressive as the distance record is, concludes Callas, even more impressive is “how much exploration and discovery we have accomplished over that distance.”
For more information about the many discoveries of NASA's Mars rovers, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/rovers .
Dr. Tony Phillips works for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Two fires that took place overnight destroyed structures in Clearlake and Lakeport.
The first fire, reported just before 10:45 p.m. Friday on Alvita Avenue in Clearlake, burned an apartment, according to Lake County Fire Protection Chief Willie Sapeta.
Radio reports indicated that firefighters arrived to find the structure partially involved. They managed to contain the fire to the apartment.
Due to smoke and fire damage, Sapeta said the apartment was a complete loss.
Sapeta said the fire displaced a woman and a teenager, who were getting housing assistance from the Red Cross.
The fire's cause remains under investigation, Sapeta said.
Then, at around 1:40 a.m. Saturday, a structure fire was reported at 4850 Lakeshore Blvd. in Lakeport.
Firefighters found one small structure fully involved and others threatened when they arrived, and what appeared to be downed power lines, according to radio reports.
Lakeport Fire Chief Doug Hutchison said it turned out that the downed lines were for phone not power service.
Hutchison said a small lawn shed and some other backyard items burned in the fire, with some scorching to a few nearby cottages.
“We got it stopped before it got into anything,” Hutchison said.
In addition to Lakeport, Kelseyville Fire and Northshore Fire sent units to assist with the incident, Hutchison said.
Mop up continued for several hours – Hutchison himself didn't clear the scene until just after 4:30 a.m. – as there had been a wood pile in the shed and firefighters needed to make sure everything was extinguished, he said.
Hutchison said the fire's cause is under investigation.
Email Elizabeth Larson at
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – More than 1,100 adventurers descended on Lake County and traveled between participating wineries on Saturday, July 26, and Sunday, July 27, for the 2014 Lake County Wine Adventure.
The event promised wine, food and fun and delivered. From the Baconfest at Gregory Graham’s to the Sliders at Twin Pines, revelers enjoyed a smörgåsbord of wonderful food pairings to accompany the award winning wines poured for the day.
“I heard over and over that this was the best Wine Adventure yet,” said Lake County Winery Association Executive Director Terry Dereniuk. “Adventurers enjoyed one delicious experience after the other in spite of triple digit temperatures. Our members really rolled out the welcome mat to showcase our wines and welcome people to enjoy the Lake County wine region experience.”
Twenty-nine wineries opened their doors and offered wines, food, music, and fun for the 10th anniversary of this annual event.
New features were added this year including the option of picking up the passport adventure kit on Friday to avoid the Saturday rush, a best winery contest, diamond wine charms to celebrate Lake County’s famous diamonds, displays by local artists at many locations, and a raffle benefiting the Lake County Chapter of Relay for Life.
The best winery contest invited participants to vote for their favorite wineries in three categories: best food and wine; best hospitality; best overall experience.
Ballots are still being counted, but Dereniuk said, “The wineries’ staffs and volunteers work so hard to plan and execute this annual weekend. I know that they are all waiting to find out the winner in each category.”
The Relay for Life raffle included more than 50 bottles of Lake County wines donated by members of the Lake County Winery Association and a wine refrigerator donated by Savings Bank of Mendocino.
Relay volunteers sold tickets at 14 participating winery locations, raising more than $5,000 for the fight against cancer. The lucky winner of the raffle was local resident Donna Rose.
“We were thrilled to sponsor the Relay for Life. Cancer touches so many of us that we wanted to help raise money to help the American Cancer Society in the race for a cure,” Dereniuk said.
NORTHERN CALIFORNIA – Cal Fire's Sonoma-Lake-Napa Unit is seeking information from the public regarding the Monticello wildland fire that occurred early in July.
The fire began on July 4 at 9:30 p.m. three-quarters of a mile east of Canyon Creek Resort, along Highway 128, in the Lake Berryessa area of Yolo County.
The wildland fire burned 6,488 acres of grassy oak woodland and heavy brush.
Fire investigators would like to speak to anyone with additional information regarding individuals or vehicles in the area of Highway 128, between the Canyon Creek Resort and Pleasants Valley Roads, between the hours of 8 and 10 p.m. July 4.
Anyone with information is asked to contact the Cal Fire hotline at 800-468-4408.
Callers may remain anonymous.