NORTHERN CALIFORNIA – Firefighters continue to make steady gains in containment on the region’s wildland fires.
Cal Fire said the Glass fire grew to 67,420 acres by Wednesday night, up by nearly 400 acres since Tuesday night, with containment up to 62 percent, an increase of eight percentage points over that same 24-hour period.
It has been burning since Sept. 27 in Napa and Sonoma counties.
Assigned resources on Wednesday night included 2,322 personnel, 292 engines, 32 water tenders, 14 helicopters, 39 hand crews, 15 dozers and 15 masticators, Cal Fire said.
The number of structures threatened by the fire was reduced to 13,326 on Wednesday, Cal Fire reported.
Updated damage numbers reported Wednesday showed that 1,536 structures – 914 in Napa, 622 in Sonoma – have been destroyed. Another 280 – 148 in Napa, 132 in Sonoma – have been damaged.
Evacuation warnings for two areas in Lake County, south of Middletown, remained in effect early Thursday morning, and Highway 29 south of Middletown to Tubbs Lane is still closed to traffic.
Cal Fire said activity across the fire is mainly limited to isolated pockets of heat and smoldering heavy fuels that are well inside the control lines.
On the northern portion of the east zone, a higher concentration of smoldering and creeping activity remains, but is not a threat to the control lines, Cal Fire said.
California’s largest wildland fire, the August Complex, is continuing to stretch farther over public lands to the north, in areas including the Mendocino National Forest in northern Lake County and in the Shasta-Trinity and Six Rivers National Forests.
Cal Fire said the complex, started by lightning on Aug. 17, reached 1,014,324 acres on Wednesday, with containment at 60 percent.
There are 4,914 personnel assigned across all four zones on the incident, officials said.
Officials said U.S. Marines from Camp Pendleton’s 7th Engineer Support Battalion, 1st Marine Logistics Group, 1st Marine Expeditionary Force will begin operations on the Northeast Zone, based in Redding, on Thursday.
Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.
The August Complex as mapped on Wednesday, Oct. 7, 2020. Map courtesy of the US Forest Service.
Lands in the Mendocino National Forest burned by the August Complex of 2020. Photo courtesy of the US Forest Services. NORTHERN CALIFORNIA – Burned Area Emergency Response specialists from the U.S. Forest Service recently completed their data gathering and fieldwork of the August Complex fire burn area.
The US Forest Service said the focus of the BAER team was to verify and finalize the soil burn severity map.
Soil burn severity is classified into levels between unburned and high.
Due to the size of the fire, its activity and the team’s inability to visit the northern portion of the fire, the BAER team assessed the southern portion of the fire, an area 521,000 acres in size.
Lands in the Mendocino National Forest burned by the August Complex of 2020. Photo courtesy of the US Forest Services.
The northern portion will be evaluated at a future date once activity drops and the specialists are allowed into the burned area, the Forest Service said.
The total fire area as of late Wednesday was more than 1,014,000 acres, officials reported.
BAER specialists will now use the soil burn severity data to identify if there are areas or features of concern where increased soil erosion, accelerated surface water run-off, and debris flows have the potential to impact human life and safety, property, and critical natural and cultural resources from rain events.
More information about the BAER team can be found here.
The area assessed by the Burned Area Emergency Response team in the Mendocino National Forest. Courtesy map.
To help support the California Highway Patrol’s yearlong effort to improve pedestrian and bicycle safety, the department has been awarded the California Pedestrian and Bicyclist Enforcement and Education Project VIII grant.
The CHP will use the grant funds to conduct enhanced-enforcement patrols and public awareness campaigns through Sept. 30, 2021.
“Whether traveling by motor vehicle, bicycle, or on foot, we all share the road. Bicycle and pedestrian safety is everyone’s responsibility,” CHP Commissioner Warren Stanley said. “This grant provides us additional resources to focus on the safety of pedestrians and bicyclists, our most vulnerable roadway users.”
Pedestrian and bicycle fatalities accounted for nearly 33 percent of all traffic-related deaths in California in 2018.
The CHP reminds motorists to always scan each intersection for potential foot and bicycle traffic and to yield the right-of-way to pedestrians whether in marked or unmarked crosswalks.
The CHP also will use the grant funding to educate the public on safe and courteous traffic behavior through public presentations and safety publications, and to provide bicycle and pedestrian safety equipment for distribution including bicycle helmets and reflective gear.
Funding for this program was provided by the California Office of Traffic Safety through a grant from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Lake County Registrar of Voters Maria Valadez updated the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday about her department’s work to prepare for the Nov. 3 presidential election, which includes opening her office on some upcoming weekends in order to facilitate voting for county residents.
Valadez went before the board on Tuesday morning. Earlier in the meeting, her predecessor and mentor, Diane Fridley, the retired registrar, received a proclamation of commendation from the board for running the presidential primary in March. Valadez came back to take over the department in the spring, following the primary.
She also offered her thanks to Fridley during the meeting, noting, “I’ve learned a lot from you and I continue to learn.”
For the update to the board, Valadez was joined by her new deputy registrar, Lourdes Pantaleon.
Pantaleon stepped up after Jay Hatfield left the deputy registrar’s post over the summer. In December, Hatfield had arrived in Lake County from the Shawnee County Election Office in Topeka, Kansas, where he was the assistant director of voter services. He returned to Shawnee County in July to take over as its election manager, according to his LinkedIn profile.
Valadez said it’s hard to find someone with dedication and commitment and is grateful to have Pantaleon in the job.
She said people often ask her about election preparations. “They don’t realize that we’ve been preparing for the election since the primary ended.”
There was candidate filing in July, with all the school and special districts candidates signing up to run. By that point, Hatfield had left, and the elections office was down to just three staffers, including Valadez, Pantaleon and one other employee, Valadez said.
Valadez said one retired staffer came back to assist with polling place reservations and preparations, with an extra help employee working on poll worker recruitment.
“We’re on track,” she told the board.
“Our sample ballot booklets and official ballot booklets have been mailed,” Valadez said, explaining that on Monday 35,000 of those booklets were delivered to the San Francisco mail distribution center and so are out for mailing.
She said supplemental mailings for vote by mail – or absentee – ballots and sample ballot mailings will continue being sent out weekly until the last day the elections office can mail ballots, which is Oct. 27.
Valadez said the Registrar of Voters Office – located on the second floor of the Lake County Courthouse in Lakeport – is now open for voting through Election Day.
Regular office hours are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Thursday, but Valadez said they will be open on Friday, Oct. 16; Friday, Oct. 30; Saturday, Oct. 31; and Sunday, Nov. 1, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., so that residents can come in and vote. The office also answers the phones during business hours on Friday.
She said voters can return their vote by mail ballots in the postage-paid envelope provided by the county; there’s no need to add postage.
Valadez said the US Postal Service recommends people mail back ballots no later than Oct. 27 to make sure they reach the elections office in a timely manner.
She said voters also can choose to place their ballots in one of five secure ballot dropoff boxes installed last week and opened up on Monday morning.
One of the boxes is located in front of the Lakeport courthouse, with the rest of the boxes located at the county’s four libraries, Valadez said.
She said 22 polling place locations will be available on Election Day around Lake County. “They are completely staffed at this time. And strict COVID guidelines will be followed.”
Valadez reminded voters that, due to space restrictions, there will be a limit to the number of people allowed inside polling sites at one time to allow for social distancing and sanitizing procedures. She asked people to be patient and allow for the extra time needed because there will be delays when entering into polling places.
Regarding absentee ballots, “Voters can be reassured that we verify every signature on those ballots that come back into the office,” she said.
She said it’s a legal requirement that they compare signatures on vote by mail ballots to the voter’s legal signature on file. If election staffers feel that the voter’s signature doesn’t match, they will reach out to them, either to reregister or resign their ballot.
Valadez said voters can sign up for personalized text messages, emails or voicemails to track their ballot at http://wheresmyballot.sos.ca.gov.
She also reported that the last day to register to vote is Oct. 19. She said voter registration can take place online or at the Registrar of Voters Office, or via paper forms that can be picked up at the post office and county libraries.
Valadez encouraged people to contact the Registrar of Voters Office if they have questions, either by phone at 707-263-2372 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
Board members thanked Valadez for her careful work and attention to detail, and for making additional efforts to open her office on the weekend.
Supervisor Bruno Sabatier asked for additional information about how long Valadez’s office has to clear up any questions about signatures on absentee ballots.
Valadez said she has up until two days before she’s required to certify the election on Dec. 3 to handle signature discrepancies on ballots.
Sabatier followed up by asking if ballots from the dropoff boxes are picked up daily and when the boxes can be used.
Valadez said they are available around the clock, seven days a week, up until 8 p.m. on Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 3.
She said two election staff members will go twice a week to pick up the ballots from each location. Ten days before the election they will start going three days a week for pickup and will go more often if necessary.
There is a phone number for the Registrar of Voters Office on every dropoff box; Valadez said if voters have issues, such as not being able to place their ballot in a box, they should call her office and she’ll send out staff to check it.
Valadez said the elections office will have staff at each dropbox on Election Day to close off the box at 8 p.m. The boxes will be removed after the election.
Sabatier asked if Valadez will have preliminary voting results available on election night.
She indicated she would, but cautioned that a final, official result will be weeks off as she and her staff work to certify the election, which is a month-long process.
Valadez referred to a new state election law that allows ballots postmarked on Election Day to be received up to 17 days after the election during the pandemic. That rule went into effect when Gov. Gavin Newsom this summer signed AB 860, which also authorized all of the state’s active voters to receive a ballot in the mail.
She said the elections office has been inundated with phone calls about voting, noting that some absentee voters now want to vote at the polls and some who have voted at the polls now want to vote by mail ballots.
More information about voting and tracking your ballot
For voters who want more information about voting, dropoff ballot locations or tracking their ballots, details and resources are below.
Registrar of Voters Office Room 209, second floor of the Lake County Courthouse, 255 N. Forbes St., Lakeport Telephone: 707-263-2372 Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. Website: http://www.lakecountyca.gov/Government/Directory/ROV.htm Office hours: 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Thursday Phone hours: 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday Special office hours for October and November: 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Friday, Oct. 16; Friday, Oct. 30; Saturday, Oct. 31; and Sunday, Nov. 1
Dropoff ballot boxes locations: The boxes are located at the front of these buildings and are available for dropoff around the clock, seven days a week, until 8 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 3, Election Day: – Lake County Courthouse, 255 N. Forbes St., Lakeport. – Lakeport Library, 1425 N. High St. – Redbud Library, 14785 Burns Valley Road, Clearlake. – Middletown Library, 21256 Washington St. – Upper Lake Library, 310 Second St.
Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Authorities said distracted driving was the cause of a crash that involved five vehicles and seriously injured three people, two of them children, on Monday evening.
The California Highway Patrol’s Clear Lake Area office said the crash occurred at 5:55 p.m. Monday on Highway 20, east of Reclamation Road, near Nice.
The CHP said traffic was stopped for a major injury collision involving a semi which had occurred a short time earlier on Highway 20 near Pomo Way.
Joshua Franklin Murray, 39, of Lucerne, was driving his 2002 Dodge Ram pickup eastbound at 55 miles per hour. The CHP said Franklin stated he was eating a hamburger he recently purchased when he suddenly noticed traffic was stopped ahead of him.
Franklin heavily applied the brakes to his Dodge but was unable to avoid a collision with the rear of a Kia Soul driven by Elizabeth Elliot Ambriz, 33, of Redwood Valley, who had two girls, ages 3 and 6, in the vehicle with her, the CHP said.
The CHP said the front of Ambriz’s Kia was propelled into the rear of a 1998 Honda Accord driven by 62-year-old Jacquine Snelson of Upper Lake.
Ambriz’s Kia was then pushed into the westbound lane, directly in the path of a 2015 Ford Explorer driven by 49-year-old Ladina Williams of Lucerne. The CHP said the two vehicles collided head-on.
Snelson's Honda subsequently rolled into the rear of a 2007 Chevrolet HHR driven by 61-year-old Toni Gayle Conley of Upper Lake, the CHP said.
The CHP said the two children in Ambriz’s vehicle suffered major injuries and were flown out of the county – the 6-year-old was taken to the UC Davis Medical Center and the 3-year-old was taken to UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital Oakland. Ambriz also had major injuries and was taken to Sutter Lakeside Hospital in Lakeport.
The older of the two children was determined to have not been properly restrained in a booster seat at the time of the collision, the CHP said. All other parties were properly restrained in the appropriate seat belts and/or child restraints.
Williams suffered a possible hand injury and was transported by Northshore Fire ambulance to Sutter Lakeside Hospital. A 1-year-old female child who was with Williams in her vehicle was transported with Williams for precautionary reasons due to her age, the CHP reported.
The CHP said Murray, Snelson and Conley were uninjured.
The collision was determined to be caused by distracted driving, the CHP said, adding that neither alcohol nor drugs were determined to be factors in this collision.
Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.
The Glass fire as mapped by Cal Fire on Tuesday, October 6, 2020.
NORTHERN CALIFORNIA – Firefighters on Tuesday kept the Glass fire to its smallest one-day acreage gain so far, while the August Complex on public lands to the north added several thousand more acres after passing the one-million-acre mark on Monday.
Cal Fire said Tuesday night that the Glass fire was up to 67,050 acres, a growth of just 210 acres since Monday night, with containment up 13 percent to a total of 54-percent containment.
On Tuesday night, Cal Fire for the first time gave an estimated date of containment – Oct. 20 – for the Glass fire, which began on Sept. 27 in Napa and Sonoma counties.
Resources on the incident are now starting to be reduced. Personnel on Tuesday night totaled 2,522 – down by about 200 over the previous day – with 341 engines, 40 water tenders, 20 helicopters, 34 hand crews, 26 dozers and 15 masticators assigned, Cal Fire said.
Officials said 20,324 structures remain threatened by the fire, and evacuation warnings for two areas in Lake County, south of Middletown, remained in effect as of Tuesday night.
Highway 29 south of Middletown to Tubbs Lane in Napa County also remains closed, officials reported.
Updated damage assessment numbers show that Napa County has had 884 structures destroyed and 146 damaged by the fire, and in Sonoma County, 600 structures have been destroyed and 132 damaged.
Cal Fire said the rugged terrain in the northern portion of the Glass Fire continues to show fire activity, driven by steep slopes and heavy, dry fuels. Interior islands and smoldering, heavy fuels remain active throughout the remainder of the fire area.
Aggressive mop-up and tactical patrol continue in areas where the fire’s forward progress has stopped. Heavy dead and down fuels continue to threaten the fire line, officials said.
Cal Fire said 16 firefighters on the Glass fire were evaluated Tuesday morning for a possible carbon monoxide exposure that occurred at a location off-site out of the fire area.
The firefighters were evaluated by Santa Rosa City Fire Department in conjunction with the medical staff assigned to the incident. One firefighter was transported to a local hospital for further evaluation and all others were released back to the fire line, officials said.
For road conditions in the fire area, see the following resources:
To the north, on the Mendocino, Shasta-Trinity and Six Rivers National Forests, the August Complex on Tuesday continued to actively burn.
The fire, which was caused by lightning on Aug. 17, grew to a total of 1,006,140 acres as of Tuesday night, adding just over 2,700 acres over the previous 24 hours. Containment remains at 58 percent, the Forest Service reported.
Officials said approximately 2,376 personnel are assigned to the incident, which is being managed across several zones.
On the South Zone, which includes northern Lake County areas such as Lake Pillsbury, a new incident management team is set to arrive on Wednesday and take over operations.
The Forest Service estimates the August Complex will be fully contained on Nov. 15.
Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.
The August Complex as mapped by the US Forest Service on Tuesday, October 6, 2020.
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