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CLEARLAKE PARK, Calif. – Dozens of state and local firefighters responded to a late afternoon fire in Clearlake Park on Thursday that swept through several structures.
The fire was reported shortly after 4:15 p.m. in the area of Lakeshore Drive and Lower Lakeshore, with an area of Arrowhead Road later reported to be involved, according to reports from the scene.
Fire officials on scene reported four structures were burned, along with between five and 10 acres of vegetation.
More specific details weren't immediately available Thursday night, as mop up efforts continued late into the evening.
Initially burning vegetation, firefighters arriving at the scene found the fire quickly moving into nearby homes, with Lake County Fire Protection District calling for assistance from Cal Fire and a strike team from agencies around the county.
Cal Fire and Konocti Conservation crews, Lake County Fire Protection District, Northshore Fire, Lakeport Fire, Kelseyville Fire and South Lake County Fire reportedly responded to the site, with Clearlake Police and Lake County Sheriff's deputies helping to stop traffic and handle crowd control in the area. One witness reported the intersection at Arrowhead and Golf was blocked to through traffic.
Estimates from the scene put the number of emergency vehicles at the scene at approximately 24.
A Cal Fire helicopter arrived to begin dropping water from nearby Clear Lake onto the fire, while an air attack circled overhead. Two air tankers also were summoned from Sonoma County.
Clearlake resident Elizabeth Hoskins, who was about three blocks from the fire, reported that she could hear snapping and crackling, and people screaming. “It looks bad,” she said Thursday evening.
Numerous live wires were down in the area, with Pacific Gas & Electric company staff requested to come to the scene. At one point radio traffic indicated power to the area might have to be cut off. Golden State Water, which serves the area, also was called out.
Red Cross was called to come and set up a shelter to assist displaced families, according to radio traffic.
Fire officials on the scene reported over the radio that they had “shaky containment” at 5:38 p.m., with all resources being kept on scene.
The air tankers were released about five minutes later, but the Cal Fire helicopter was retained later in case there were flare ups, according to radio traffic.
Over the next half-hour more resources were released as, in the words of one firefighter over the radio, “significant, long-term, heavy mop up” continued.
Units remained on scene for several hours as mop up and investigation continued.
Shortly after 11 p.m. dispatch began receiving calls of possible flare ups in the area, with firefighters responding to the scene to find some debris piles continuing to steam.
Radio traffic indicated firefighters would return to the scene Friday morning to check things over.
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On Sunday morning Heidi Anton, Joseph Enlow, Silas Keys and Jennifer Thacker of Willits; Robert Nappi of Cotati and Carrie Viarnes of Sacramento; and Nicholas Thomas of Ukiah all were located and transported to the Trout Creek Campground in the Mendocino National Forest, according to Lake County Sheriff's Office public information officer Michelle Gonzalez.
Gonzalez said the seven had been reported missing the previous evening after beginning a rafting trip.
At about 10:50 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 6, the Lake County Sheriff’s Office received a call for assistance. seven river rafters on float tubes had entered the Eel River at the Soda Creek Bridge at about 4 p.m., according to the report.
Gonzalez said the rafters had planned to raft approximately nine miles to the Trout Creek Campground where they were camping. They believed the trip would take three to four hours and had only swim wear and no supplies to spend the night.
Because the area on the Eel River is near the Lake/Mendocino county line in the Mendocino National Forest, Lake County Sheriff’s deputies requested the assistance of the Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office, Gonzalez said. Deputies checked the area, but did not locate the missing rafters.
The Lake County Sheriff’s Office called out Search and Rescue and K-Corps, which responded to the area about 1:30 a.m. Sunday, according to Gonzalez.
She said that Enlow had left the group at a small beach area and continued on, in the dark, to an area where he climbed up a steep embankment to a logging road. A local resident picked him up and drove him down to the Trout Creek Campground where he met with the Lake County Sheriff’s team.
The resident told them that the group was most likely in a steep cavernous area of the Eel River. Gonzalez said the Lake County Search and Rescue and K-Corps proceeded to the area and rappelled down approximately 500 feet, but were unable to reach the rafters on the beach.
The rafters were told that they could not be rescued from that particular location, and that they would need to wait for daylight and float to another area to be picked up, Gonzalez said.
She said sheriff’s deputies requested a California Highway Patrol helicopter to locate the rafters and provide possible routes of travel for rescue.
On Sunday at about 9:30 a.m. the missing rafters arrived at the designated meeting point, in good condition and good spirits, and were transported back to the Trout Creek Campground, Gonzalez said.
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CLEARLAKE, Calif. – A Clearlake man was arrested by Lake County Sheriff’s Narcotic Task Force detectives last week on drug and immigration charges.
Juan Rodriguez-Sandoval, 34, was arrested on Friday, Aug. 5, according to Lake County Sheriff's public information officer Michelle Gonzalez.
Gonzalez said the arrest warrant for Rodriguez-Sandoval stemmed from a May 19 undercover drug operation in the city of Clearlake.
That operation had involved, according to Gonzalez, a half-ounce sale of methamphetamine and another subject, Michael Tremell Mitchell, 26.
Mitchell had been taken into custody by undercover drug agents, as Lake County News has reported.
Clearlake Police, in whose jurisdiction the operation was taking place, wasn't notified of it and after receiving a report of a potential hostage situation sent four officers. They arrived with weapons drawn, with one of the detectives finally telling them they were undercover sheriff's deputies.
From that operation Gonzalez said narcotics officers secured a search warrant for Rodriguez-Sandoval’s person, residence and vehicle, which resulted in the seizure of approximately 531 marijuana plants and two firearms.
One of the firearms, a .45 caliber semi-automatic pistol, was reported stolen during a burglary in Clearlake, Gonzalez said.
During the ongoing investigation, Gonzalez said Rodriguez-Sandoval was identified as being responsible for the illegal marijuana grow and possession of the stolen firearm.
On the afternoon of Aug. 5 the Narcotics Task Force located Rodriguez-Sandoval as he drove northbound on Highway 53 in Clearlake. Gonzalez said narcotics detectives arrested Rodriguez-Sandoval and executed the search warrant.
Detectives located a half pound of nonmedical marijuana and $7,321 in cash, Gonzalez said.
Rodriguez-Sandoval was arrested for the illegal possession of marijuana for sale and the warrant of arrest in the previous case. Gonzalez said the $7,321 was seized for asset forfeiture.
Rodriguez-Sandoval remains in the Lake County Jail on charges of possession of marijuana for sale and cultivation of marijuana.
His bail amount is $20,000, but he is being held on a separate no-bail illegal entry immigration hold.
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On Wednesday the Board of Forestry and Fire Protection directed its staff to move forward with drafting emergency regulations to impose a fee on residences in the State Responsibility Area (SRA).
The board took the actions in accordance with Assembly Bill AB X 1 29, by Assemblyman Bob Blumenfield (D-Van Nuys).
The new state law, adopted as part of the state budget package in and later signed by Gov. Jerry Brown on July 7, requires the board to adopt emergency regulations to establish a fire prevention fee of up to $150 to be charged on each “habitable” structure within the over 31 million acres of SRA on or before Sept. 1, 2011.
The bill's purpose, according to the governor's signing statement, is “to make the necessary statutory changes to realize $50 million of General Fund savings” by allocating the revenue generated to Cal Fire.
AB X 1 29 was opposed by groups including the California State Association of Counties, which called the legislation “a flawed approach to address Cal Fire's funding needs,” citing concerns with potential impact on community support for local funding of fire needs as well as possible impacts on California's mutual aid system.
The group also asserted that similar proposals had previously tried and failed, with a similar bill in 2003 repeated by the Legislature “due to a number of administrative and legal issues.”
At the Wednesday Board of Forestry and Fire Protection meeting, Executive Officer George Gentry presented the board with a comprehensive overview of the new law.
The full board will hold a special public meeting on the new rules in Sacramento on Monday, Aug. 22, in the first floor auditorium of the Resources Building, located at 1416 Ninth St. in downtown Sacramento.
Among the items the regulations need to address are refining the definition of “habitable structure” as it relates to the law and a determination of the scalability of the fee based on prevention measures already in place, according to a Wednesday Cal Fire statement.
Board Chairman Stan Dixon noted, “The law requires the board to act and we will continue to move ahead with this task.”
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PER ONE OF THE LOCAL RESIDENTS INVOLVED, THE AGE OF KAYLA WARD HAS BEEN CORRECTED.
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Several Lake County residents escaped unharmed from a multi-vehicle pile up on Interstate 5 on Monday that claimed the lives of three people.
The crash – which closed the highway until late Monday night – occurred at 12:43 p.m. on southbound Interstate 5 south of Highway 113 near Woodland, according to the California Highway Patrol.
Two residents from Monmouth, Ore. – a 49-year-old woman and a 53-year-old man whose names were not released – who were riding in a 2004 Chevy Tahoe died, as did a 2-year-old girl from Tacoma, Wash., who was riding in a 1996 Acura Integra driven by 61-year-old Tedd J. Laylock of Riverside, Calif.
Yolo County Chief Deputy Coroner Robert LaBrash said Tuesday that the names of the fatal crash victims were not yet available for release. Causes of death for the three victims also hadn't been finalized, he said.
Six vehicles were involved, including a 2010 Ford van driven by 51-year-old Laurene K. Ward of Lower Lake, the CHP reported.
Ward had riding as her passengers six young people – Lower Lake residents Kayla Ward, 21, and Dylan Ward, 17, along with Daniel Barrio and Max Scandell, both aged 20; and Clearlake residents Derick Grace and Austin Layne, both age 17, the report explained.
Ward and the six young people all were unhurt, according to the report.
The CHP reported that Carlos A. Hernandez, 38, of Elk Grove, Calif., was driving a 2006 Mits box bobtail truck southbound on I-5 south of Highway 113 in the No. 2 lane at an undetermined rate of speed approaching slower moving traffic when he changed into the No. 1 lane.
Due to road construction in the area, traffic was slowing and stopping to safely travel through the construction zone, according to the report.
The CHP said that because of Hernandez's “unsafe speed,” the front of his truck struck several southbound-traveling vehicles that were moving at a slower rate or already stopped in the No. 1 lane.
The truck's collision with the other vehicles resulted in five of the six vehicles becoming engulfed in flames, the CHP said.
Hernandez suffered major injuries, with a broken left wrist, cuts to his head and burns. The CHP said he was transported to UC Davis Medical Center.
Laylock suffered moderate injuries, including cuts to his knees and a chest bruise, while his second passenger, 21-year-old Brianna M. DeMillo of Tacoma, also suffered moderate injuries, with cuts to her elbows and burns to her hands and legs. Both were transported to Mercy San Juan Hospital.
Frances C. Allen, 59, of Livermore, who was driving a 2010 Jeep Wrangler, escaped uninjured, the CHP said.
Arturo R. Carrera, 41, of Bellflower, Calif., was driving a 1998 Ford Expedition with three passengers – 39-year Guadulupe M. Carrera, 13-year-old Adrian Carrera and 4-year-old Destiny Gonzales, all of Bellflower.
Arturo Carrera suffered minor injuries, with burns on both arms, his face and head, and Guadulupe Carrera had moderate injuries, including burns on the right side of her body, her right leg and right arm, the CHP said.
Adrian Carrera and Destiny Gonzales both suffered minor injuries, with the CHP stating that the older girl received burns to her right wrist and the young child sustaining cuts to her left ankle.
The CHP said the Carreras and Gonzales all were taken to UC Davis Medical Center for care.
All of the people involved in the crash were wearing their seat belts, according to the report.
Neither alcohol nor drugs appear to be a factor in this collision, the CHP said.
The Valley Division Multidisciplinary Accident Investigation Team (MAIT) will handle the investigation's conclusion.
Anyone who witnessed the collision or who has any other information regarding the investigation is encouraged to contact Valley Division MAIT at 916-464-2080.
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CLEARLAKE, Calif. – A Clearlake man has been arrested on several charges in connection to an early morning vehicle burglary earlier this week.
Robert Lee Hayes, 31, was arrested Sunday, Aug. 7, for vehicle burglary, possession of stolen property and vandalism, according to a report from Clearlake Police Sgt. Rodd Joseph.
Joseph said that at 4:30 a.m. Sunday an attentive Clearlake resident called Clearlake Police Department to report two suspicious male subjects looking into the windows of several parked vehicles in the area of Silk's Bar and Grill at 14825 Lakeshore Drive.
He said several Clearlake police officers responded to the area. There, the witness directed officers to Flyer’s gas station where one of the subjects was last seen.
Officers located Hayes, who matched the description given by a witness of one of the subjects at Flyer’s gas station, Joseph said.
Police officers questioned Hayes, who Joseph said was found to be in possession of an identification card in the name of another person.
Joseph said a cellular phone also was found in close proximity to Hayes. During a check of the phone, the same name was located in the phone contact list as was on the identification card found on Hayes’ person.
During further questioning by officers, Hayes allegedly admitted to smashing the window of a parked vehicle at Redbud Park moments earlier and stealing several items from inside the vehicle, Joseph said.
Joseph said the stolen property included the identification card in the victim’s name, the victims’ cellular phone and a few dollars in change. The victim vehicle described by Hayes was ultimately located in the Redbud Park parking lot with a smashed window.
Hayes also has been linked to several other recent vehicle burglaries in the area of Silk's Bar and Grill and Redbud Park, Joseph said. The stolen property was later returned to the owner.
Hayes was booked into the Lake County Jail, with bail set at $30,000. Jail records indicated that Hayes remained in custody on Tuesday.
Anyone with information about a crime occurring in the community can call the Clearlake Police Department at 707-994-8251. Callers may remain anonymous.
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