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NORTHERN CALIFORNIA – Work is winding down on the Glass fire, which officials said is on track to be fully contained next week.
The Glass fire has remained at 67,484 acres since last week. In its final update on the fire, issued on Tuesday night, Cal Fire said containment was up to 97 percent.
Cal Fire said the fire, burning in Napa and Sonoma counties, is expected to be fully contained on Oct. 20.
The fire has destroyed 1,555 structures and damaged 282 others, with 1,217 structures continuing to be threatened by it, Cal Fire said.
On Tuesday night, Cal Fire said the remaining personnel on the incident numbered 185, along with 10 engines, seven water tenders, two hand crews and 10 dozers.
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The August Complex was up to 1,029,110 acres on Tuesday evening, a difference of only 81 acres since Monday night, with containment remaining at 76 percent, according to the US Forest Services.
Officials said there are 4,437 personnel assigned across all four management zones.
On the complex’s South Zone, the Forest Service said the Southwest Area Incident Management Team 1 continues to coordinate with Cal Fire Team 5 on control measures in the Middle Fork of the Eel River area, northeast of Covelo. Firefighters are constructing dozer line and handline in this area of the Mendocino National Forest to help protect local communities.
As temperatures warm up over the next few days, smoke may be visible in areas where vegetation within the fire’s perimeter continues to burn, the Forest Service said.
Firefighters are patrolling the west and south side of the fire for heat. Officials said firefighters are mopping up any areas of heat near the fireline to help ensure the fire perimeter remains secure. Firefighters are using remote sensing data that detects heat and periodic reconnaissance flights to monitor the east side of the South Zone.
On the southwest side of the South Zone, firefighters are clearing roads of fallen trees and debris, to allow for access of equipment that will be used for suppression repair. The Forest Service said firefighters also have also been repairing handline in the area.
On Monday, firefighters also conducted chipping operations as part of efforts to repair firelines in the Pillsbury Lake area, the Forest Service said.
Critical fire weather is expected Wednesday through Friday, with above-normal temperatures and very dry, windy conditions.
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Authorities have arrested a Florida man and are looking for other subjects who they said took part in an early Monday morning armed robbery in Kelseyville.
Rodney Lydell Hutchinson, 38, of Crestview, Florida was arrested later on Monday morning, according to Lt. Corey Paulich.
At 3 a.m. Monday, Lake County Sheriff’s Dispatch received a call from a female living in 10600 block of Bottle Rock Road in Kelseyville reporting that four male adults broke into her house, fired several shots and took marijuana from the residence, Paulich said.
The woman told authorities that after the robbery the subjects left the area in a white Sprinter-type van and a U-Haul truck. The victim reported that all four males were armed with handguns, Paulich said.
Responding deputies saw a U-Haul truck traveling north on Highway 29 near Highland Springs Road. Paulich said the deputies attempted to stop the U-Haul, but it continued on Highway 29 at 80 miles per hour. The deputies observed items being thrown from the truck in the area of Highland Springs Road.
The pursuit continued across the Nice-Lucerne Cutoff to Highway 20. Paulich said the U-Haul continued east on Highway 20 where officers from the California Highway Patrol joined the pursuit.
The pursuit continued on Highway 20 until it reached the area of the WorldMark Resort in Nice. Paulich said the U-Haul made a U-turn and as it did one of the vehicle’s occupants jumped out and fled towards the lake.
The U-Haul then drove west on Highway 20 turning into the resort. Paulich said the U-Haul slowed in the WorldMark parking lot and two more individuals jumped out, fleeing on foot while the U-Haul was still rolling.
He said the U-Haul eventually stopped after jumping a curb and crashing into a sign for the resort.
Officers pursued the subjects but lost sight of them in the resort. Paulich said officers were able to locate a male subject matching the subject’s description who was hiding under a staircase. The subject ran from the officers, going up to the second story and jumping off the second-story balcony.
Paulich said the male subject – later identified as Hutchinson – continued to run a short distance before surrendering to officers.
When questioned, Hutchinson told officers he was homeless and only ran because he had a warrant for his arrest out of Florida. Paulich said Hutchinson denied being one of the males that ran from the U-Haul.
Officers searched the U-Haul, locating several plastic containers and trash bags containing marijuana, Paulich said.
An officer from the Lakeport Police Department had also responded to assist, locating items that had been thrown out of the U-Haul during the pursuit. Paulich said officers were able to locate handguns, cell phones and gloves.
Hutchinson was arrested and booked at the Lake County Jail on charges of robbery, assault with a firearm, evading, felon in possession of a firearm, carrying a loaded firearm and conspiracy. Paulich said Hutchinson remained in custody on Tuesday with bail set at $150,000.
The Sheriff’s Major Crimes Unit responded and continued the investigation, Paulich said.
The Sheriff’s Office is asking anyone with information regarding this investigation and the identity of the outstanding subjects involved in the robbery to contact Det. Jeff Mora at 707-262-4224.
LAKEPORT, Calif. – Firefighters and law enforcement officers are at the scene of a fast-moving wildland fire in north Lakeport where evacuations are underway.
The Lyons fire was first dispatched in the area of the Nice-Lucerne Cutoff just before 2:50 p.m. Tuesday.
Units from Lakeport Fire, Northshore Fire and Cal Fire arrived at the scene within five minutes, reporting that the fire was heading toward the Lakeside Heights Subdivision, located in the area of Hill Road East across from Sutter Lakeside Hospital.
Shortly before 3 p.m., incident command directed firefighters to go to Lancaster Road to protect structures.
At the same time, law enforcement was dispatched to respond to begin evacuating the subdivision, based on radio reports.
Incident command reported that the fire is spotting and has a strong west wind on it, which is pushing it toward numerous structures.
Cal Fire air attack arrived at the incident at around 3 p.m., reporting that the fire was five acres with a moderate rate of spread and multiple structures threatened, with four tankers requested.
Engines were directed to stage across the road at the hospital in case the fire spotted over the road, according to radio reports.
At 3:15 p.m., reports from the scene reported that the fire was impacting structures at Lancaster Road and Downing Drive, located off Hill Road East at the entrance of the subdivision.
Due to the fire’s close proximity to Highway 29, the California Highway Patrol reported that Caltrans has closed the highway’s No. 2 northbound lane.
Just after 3:15 p.m., the Lake County Sheriff’s Office issued an evacuation order over Nixle for north Lakeport in the area of Lakeside Heights, Hill Road East and Penelope Court. Residents are urged to leave immediately.
Firefighters reported from the scene just before 3:20 p.m. that spot fires were beginning on the hospital side of Hill Road East.
County roads staff are reported to be closing Lakeshore Boulevard at Hill Road in the fire area.
At 4 p.m., radio reports stated the fire was 24 acres.
Minutes later, the Lake County Sheriff’s Office said forward progress had been stopped and fire crews are working in the area to make it safe for people to return home.
The sheriff’s office lifted the evacuation order shortly after 5 p.m., clearing the way for residents to return to their homes. Fire personnel are still working in the area, so residents are asked to use caution.
Additional information will be published as it becomes available.
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The company said the shutoff, which could take place on Wednesday, would impact about 50,000 customers, including about 30 – two of them medical baseline customers – in Lake County.
Based on an outage map, the customers in Lake County would be in the south county, near Cobb and Middletown, and power would be shut off on Wednesday evening between 6 and 8 p.m.
In addition to Lake, other counties were power could be shutoff are portions of Alameda, Amador, Butte, Calaveras, Contra Costa, El Dorado, Monterey, Napa, Nevada, Placer, Plumas, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, Shasta, Sierra, Solano, Sonoma, Tehama and Yuba.
PG&E said 9,230 customers in Napa County and 1,781 customers in Sonoma County are estimated to be impacted.
Based on the forecast, high fire-risk conditions are expected to arrive Wednesday evening, with high winds continuing to through Thursday morning in some locations and Friday morning in other locations. PG&E said it would then inspect the lines for damage and work to have power restored to customers within 12 daylight hours.
PG&E said the highest probability areas for this public safety power shutoff, or PSPS, are the Northern Sierra Nevada foothills; the mid and higher elevations in the Sierra generally north of Yosemite; the North Bay mountains near Mt. St. Helena; small pockets in the East Bay near Mt. Diablo; the Oakland Hills east of Piedmont; the elevated terrain east of Milpitas around the Calaveras Reservoir; and portions of the Santa Cruz and Big Sur mountains.
PG&E's in-house meteorologists, as well as staff in its Wildfire Safety Operation Center and Emergency Operation Center, will continue to monitor conditions closely, and additional customer notifications will be issued as they move closer to the potential event.
The company said it began to send out notifications to customers via text, email and automated phone calls late Monday afternoon about the potential for a shutoff.
PG&E has launched a new tool at its online Safety Action Center to help customers prepare for PSPS events.
Last month, PG&E conducted two PSPS events that both impacted small numbers of customers.
A year ago, when PG&E first rolled out the PSPS events, most of Lake County’s residents were out of power for a week due to two overlapping planned outages.
Due to better weather technology and mitigation efforts such as sectionalizing devices and temporary generation, PG&E said the PSPS event that occurred from Sept. 7 to 10 affected 54 percent fewer customers than a comparable event would have in 2019.
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https://publicintegrity.org/ .
Twenty-four states are in the “red zone” for new coronavirus cases, according to documents the White House Coronavirus Task Force distributes to governors every week but does not publish. States in the middle of the country — North Dakota, South Dakota, Wisconsin, Montana and Utah — topped the list.
The Center for Public Integrity obtained the weekly reports, the existence of which it first revealed in July. The Trump administration has been withholding them from the public. In July, 18 states were in the red zone, with more than 100 new cases per 100,000 residents.
The task force in its most recent reports emphasized the need for masks and testing. “Masks must be worn indoors in all public settings and group gathering sizes should be limited,” the task force told red-zone Kansas, where most counties have opted out of a statewide mask mandate.
The Oct. 4 report to Idaho appears to be the first time the task force has explicitly recommended closing schools: "Recommend change to online K-12 classes in counties and metro areas with elevated test positivity and incidence among schoolage children and increasing hospital utilization," the White House advised, noting that outbreaks in 10 Idaho counties may be related to school openings. The Trump administration championed opening schools this summer, and the task force reports previously generally avoided the topic of K-12 education.
But the task force didn’t recommend the steps it advised for red zone states earlier in the pandemic, such as closing bars and limiting gatherings to 10 people or fewer. The Democrat-led House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis last month criticized the task force for watering down its recommendations over time.
Only one state, Vermont, was in the green zone for cases in the most recent report, with just six new cases per 100,000 residents in the last week.
The White House earlier told Public Integrity that it was not releasing the reports because the pandemic response should be state-led and federally supported. “The United States will not be shut down again,” White House spokesman Judd Deere said in August.
Since then, Public Integrity has contacted officials in all 50 states weekly to obtain the reports. Governors and health officials in 13 states — Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Florida, Indiana, Massachusetts, Mississippi, New Hampshire, New York, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas and West Virginia — have refused to share any so far or have not responded to repeated inquiries to multiple officials. The White House has said that states are free to share the reports if they want to do so.
The 24 states in the red zone are:
1. North Dakota
2. South Dakota
3. Wisconsin
4. Montana
5. Utah
6. Iowa
7. Nebraska
8. Idaho
9. Arkansas
10. Oklahoma
11. Missouri
12. Kansas
13. Wyoming
14. Tennessee
15. Minnesota
16. Kentucky
17. Alabama
18. Mississippi
19. Alaska
20. Nevada
21. Illinois
22. Indiana
23. Texas
24. South Carolina
Note: This story has been updated to reflect information contained in the Oct. 4 Idaho report.
This article first appeared on Center for Public Integrity and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.