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- Details
- Written by: GOVERNOR’S OFFICE
Gov. Gavin Newsom on Monday announced he is activating the California National Guard 146th Airlift Wing based out of the Channel Islands in Oxnard and authorized the deployment of a C-130J Super Hercules aircraft and crew to the state of Texas in support of wildfire fighting operations.
“In times of crisis, Americans stand together. California has built a nation-leading firefighting fleet and we’re proud to lend a helping hand to Texas as the Lone Star State battles the largest wildfire in its history,” said Newsom.
“The California National Guard always stands ready for disaster, and we are proud to lend support for this mission,” said Major General Matthew P. Beevers, adjutant general of the California National Guard. “The 146th Airlift Wing is home to some of the best airmen in the country and are prepared to support state and federal efforts to respond to this natural disaster.”
The 146th Airlift Wing is providing one aircraft to conduct wildland firefighting air operations from March 4-18 in the vicinity of Abilene, Texas.
This mission is in support of the Texas Forestry Service on the Panhandle Fires. The aircraft will stage out of Dyess Air Force Base for the duration of this mission.
The CalGuard’s 146th Airlift Wing known as the “Hollywood Guard” is one of the four C-130 Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve units in the nation that are equipped with the Modular Airborne Fire Fighting System, or MAFFS, supplied by the U.S. Forest Service.
This system is mounted in the aircraft and provides effective suppression with retardant in large wildland fires from the air.
This military air tanker serves as an emergency backup resource to the civilian air tanker fleet used in fighting wildfires nationwide.
Last summer, California provided assistance to Florida and Georgia in response to Hurricane Idalia and sent firefighting resources and personnel to Hawaii and Oregon.
In 2022, California deployed emergency personnel to Florida during Hurricane Ian. California also sent firefighters, disaster recovery experts and other personnel to Oregon, New Mexico, and Montana.
In 2021, California sent firefighting equipment and personnel to assist Oregon’s response to the Bootleg Fire.
- Details
- Written by: Mendocino County Sheriff's Office
The inmate was Artemio Ortega Reyes, 40, of Ukiah, said Capt. Gregory Van Patten.
Ortega Reyes died on March 1 after being taken to the hospital for treatment, officials said.
Corrections officers administered Narcan to Ortega Reyes and four other inmates due to suspected overdoses.
Officials said Ortega Reyes was booked into the Mendocino County Jail on Feb. 16 after being arrested by the Ukiah Police Department on open charges and active arrest warrants.
Ortega Reyes was subsequently sentenced and began serving his imprisonment at the Mendocino County Jail on Feb. 29 with a scheduled release date of 01-04-2025.
The Mendocino County Sheriff's Office Coroner's Unit is conducting a coroner's investigation into the cause and classification of Ortega Reyes' death.
- Details
- Written by: LAKE COUNTY NEWS REPORTS
Authorities identified the man as Joshua Scott Freeman, 45, a life-long Mendocino County resident.
Sgt. Jay Vanoven of the Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office said that just after 10 a.m. Friday, Mendocino County Sheriff's Office patrol personnel responded to the area of the Russian River near Norgard Lane to investigate a report of a body discovered in the river.
Deputies, community service officers, and a patrol sergeant arrived in the area and met with personnel from the Ukiah Police Department. Freeman’s body was found resting against a tree, still partially submerged in the swift-moving water, Vanoven said.
Vanoven said personnel from Ukiah Valley Fire Authority, Little Lake Fire District and Hopland Fire Protection District were summoned to assist with recovering Freeman's body.
A swift water response team deployed and recovered the body from the river. Vanoven said law enforcement personnel recognized the individual as Freeman.
No obvious signs of foul play were observed, Vanoven said.
On Saturday, Vanoven said an active coroner's investigation was underway to determine the classification and cause of Freeman's death. At that point, a forensic autopsy was pending for the coroner's investigation.
Anyone with information related to this investigation is requested to contact the Mendocino County Sheriff's Office Dispatch Center at 707-463-4086, or the anonymous tip line at 707-234-2100.
- Details
- Written by: California Department of Fish and Wildlife
The California Department of Fish and Wildlife announced Saturday that fall-run Chinook salmon fry released for the first time from its Fall Creek Fish Hatchery in Siskiyou County are presumed to have succumbed to gas bubble disease in the Klamath River.
On Monday, Feb. 26, CDFW released approximately 830,000 fall-run Chinook salmon fry into Fall Creek, a tributary of the Klamath River above Iron Gate Dam.
The fish were hatched at CDFW’s new, $35 million, state-of-the-art Fall Creek Fish Hatchery, which represents California’s long-term commitment to supporting and restoring both Chinook and coho salmon runs on an undammed Klamath River.
The salmon fry experienced a large mortality based on monitoring data downstream. Indications are the cause of mortality is gas bubble disease that likely occurred as the fry migrated through the Iron Gate Dam tunnel, old infrastructure that is targeted for removal along with the Iron Gate Dam itself later this year. Gas bubble disease results from environmental or physical trauma often associated with severe pressure change.
There is no indication the mortality is associated with other Klamath River water quality conditions such as turbidity and dissolved oxygen, which were reading at suitable levels on Feb. 26 and the days prior to release. The visual appearance of the dead fry detected by monitoring equipment points to gas bubble disease. Monitoring equipment documented other healthy yearling coho and Chinook salmon that came from downstream of the dam.
The problems associated with the Iron Gate Dam tunnel are temporary and yet another sad reminder of how the Klamath River dams have harmed salmon runs for generations. CDFW will plan all future salmon releases below Iron Gate Dam until this infrastructure is removed. Poor habitat conditions caused by the dams and other circumstances such as this are reasons why CDFW conducts releases of hatchery fish at various life stages.
CDFW’s Fall Creek Fish Hatchery continues to hold approximately 3.27 million healthy, fall-run Chinook salmon. Additional releases are planned later in the month.
The annual fall-run Chinook salmon production goal for the hatchery is to raise and release 3.25 million fish – 1.25 million released as fry, 1.75 million as smolts, and 250,000 as yearlings. The additional stock of fall-run Chinook salmon remaining in the hatchery exceeds the annual production goal and will help offset losses experienced with the initial release of fry.