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The complex is located north and northwest of Lake Pillsbury on the Mendocino National Forest's Upper Lake Ranger District. The fires were ignited by a dry lightning storm June 21.
US Forest Service spokesman Marc Peebles reported that the last fire burning actively, the Mill Fire, had burned 2,981 acres as of Monday, a growth of only nine acres over the previous day. At the same time, containment grew from 60 percent on that fire to 80 percent.
Overall, the Soda Complex has burned 8,590 acres, with total containment rising from 79 percent Sunday to 85 percent Monday.
Peebles reported that spot fires continue to challenge firefighters on the Mill. However, he said both day and night shift crews made good progress as they continued to construct direct and indirect line around the slop over and spot fires.
He said firefighters will continue to construct indirect contingency line around the southern/eastern portion of the fire.
On the fire's east flank, between Deadmans Flat and Sunset Gap, seven residences in Lake and Mendocino counties remain under evacuation at this time, according to Peebles.
On the western and southwestern flanks, Peebles said fire crews continue to improve and hold containment lines and mop up along Thomas Creek, while multiple aircraft continue to support firefighters on the ground with water and retardant drops.
While the complex's other three fires – the Monkey Rock, Big and Back – have been contained, firefighters continue to patrol their areas, Peebles said.
The Vinegar Fire, which is part of the Yolla Bolly Complex – which now is managed as part of the Lime Complex – has burned 10,565 acres on the Mendocino National Forest and is 30-percent contained, said Forest Service spokesperson Phebe Brown.
County Deputy Air Pollution Control Officer Doug Gearhart reported Monday that the county's air quality should continue to improve this week, falling in the good to moderate range.
However, some smoke might reappear in Lake County's air basin Tuesday night and into Wednesday, Gearhart reported, as north to northwest winds are predicted. Gearhart said continued west to southwest winds have kept smoke to the north of Lake County.
For more information about the forest fires visit Forest Service Web site at www.fs.fed.us/r5/mendocino or www.inciweb.org. For information about other fires around the state, visit www.cdf.ca.gov.
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They've also heard from Hughes himself about what happened in the Clearlake Park of Shannon Edmonds on Dec. 7, 2005, ending in the deaths of his friends, Christian Foster and Rashad Williams – deaths for which he is being tried.
All of that is expected to culminate this week in District Attorney Jon Hopkins' and defense attorney Stuart Hanlon's closing arguments.
The two men have, between them, nearly seven decades of legal experience. They've been battling each other in the Hughes case since Hanlon took it over in 2006, long before the trial opened last month in Martinez, after having been granted a change of venue.
Both say they expect closing arguments to take place Wednesday. Final evidence is due to be presented in court on Tuesday, when Hanlon is set to call character witnesses to testify on Hughes' behalf.
Hopkins said he expects Contra Costa County Superior Court Judge Barbara Zuniga to give instructions to the all-female jury on Thursday. He added that he hopes a verdict could be returned the following day.
The prosecution has alleged that Hughes, Foster and Williams went to Edmonds' home to steal medical marijuana from him, a provocative act which resulted in Williams and Foster being shot to death.
Hughes, because of his alleged part in the robbery scenario, is being held accountable for his companion's murders under the provocative act law, which says a person can be held accountable for any death that results in the commission of a crime likely to result in a lethal response.
The defense has offered that the three young men – and a fourth, so far unaccounted-for suspect – were buying marijuana from Edmonds, who they allege is a known drug dealer – and the deal went bad, ending in him killing Williams and Foster.
Last week was notable for Hughes himself taking the stand to give his story. Hanlon told Lake County News that, initially, he wasn't in favor of Hughes testifying, but the young San Franciscan wanted to do so. In the end, Hanlon said he was glad Hughes did tell his story in his own words.
Hanlon said young people who are being tried in such serious matters as homicide tend to “fall apart” on the stand.
In Hughes' instance, on the stand last Thursday he had some good moments and some where he had a hard time keeping it together, said Hanlon, who added that he's “almost like a father” to Hughes.
There were questions Hughes “just couldn't answer,” said Hanlon, including where a gun came from that is alleged to have been used in the confrontation.
Perhaps one of the most important parts of Hughes' testimony involved a fourth man – known to him only as “Dre,” and said to be a friend of Williams – who he said was with him, Williams and Foster that night.
“The evidence clearly shows there was a fourth person there,” said Hanlon, describing Dre as skinnier and taller than Hughes' 5-foot, 9-inch frame, and wearing an orange jacket.
Hopkins questioned the account of the fourth man. “This was totally brand new,” he said. “I hadn't heard a word of it. Nobody had.”
He said that the name “Dre” in connection to the case hadn't come up from Williams' grandmother, who lives in Clearlake, or any of the young men in the neighborhood.
“This is somebody who immediately disappeared and was never heard or seen again,” he said.
Hanlon disputes that Hopkins didn't know about it, and said the fourth man has been a factor since early on. “I've known about it since I began the case.”
Hopkins questioned why, if the fourth man was such an important factor, it hadn't been brought up by Hanlon sooner in an attempt to clear Hughes. Hanlon, for his part, said the investigation has yet to find Dre.
For Hopkins, Hughes' testimony proved he had been in the house, a point which he said the defendant and his family had denied early on in the case.
According to Hopkins, Hughes testified he had been slumped down in the back seat of a friend's car outside of Edmonds' house, drowsy from smoking a lot of marijuana, when he heard a crash and went running into the home to see what was going on. It was then that Hughes said he cut his hand on a shattered window, which he said was the reason his blood was found at the scene.
“It's not impossible for it to have happened the way he said,” said Hopkins. “It just defies common sense that it would have.”
Hopkins said he plans to emphasize crucial pieces of physical evidence to disprove Hughes' account in closing arguments this week.
For Hanlon, it was another individual who provided the most intense and important moments of the trial – Edmonds himself.
During his testimony, Hanlon said Edmonds testified to shooting Foster while he was on the ground.
“That, to me, is murder,” said Hanlon.
He said self-defense doesn't allow a person to take such actions, which Hanlon called “vigilante justice.”
“That's not what the law allows,” he said.
Hopkins asserted that Edmonds actually testified that he said it was possible he could have shot someone while they were down, but the situation was so chaotic it was hard for him to know what was going on. “There's no physical evidence, really, that says that he did,” Hopkins said.
All of the victims' recollections differ because of the trauma they experienced, said Hopkins.
On the audio from a surveillance camera, which Hopkins played in court, he said Edmonds could be heard screaming. “He said on the stand, 'I lost it,'” Hopkins recounted.
Other notable points in the trial, said Hanlon, included gathering of evidence, including a hammer with Hughes' blood on it that didn't show up when law enforcement initially searched Edmonds' home.
“The question becomes, what is the evidentiary value of my client's blood on that hammer?” Hanlon offered, adding that Hughes' blood was on a lot of things in the house. “I don't know what it means.”
He called the police work “totally incompetent,” although he added police “did the best they could.”
Asked which moment in the trial stood out as critical, Hopkins said he couldn't pick just one. “I think the key is the combination of evidence.”
An uncommon case
The case was moved to Contra Costa County after a judge ruled last year that Hughes couldn't get a fair trial in Lake County.
When picking the jury in Lake County, Hopkins said they only had encountered two people in the more than 300 considered for jury service who had a bias based on race.
“We had a whole lot more than that in Contra Costa County,” he said, adding that diversity doesn't mean a lack of racial bias.
Hopkins said the jury includes 12 female members, plus four alternates – including two men.
The jury's makeup, Hopkins said, includes two black women, two Asian women – one born in Vietnam and one in South Korea – and one woman who came from Poland.
Hanlon said the case is a complex one which has been “grueling emotionally” for him because of its huge implications – namely, that a guilty verdict means Hughes is headed to prison, possibly for life.
He called the case against Hughes “outrageous” – “given who Edmonds is.”
“What it all means the jury will have to figure out,” he said.
The results of the confrontation at Edmonds' home two and a half years ago already have been devastating, he said, with Edmonds' family destroyed and his girlfriend's son left with a permanent brain injury from being hit in the head.
Hughes' life has been torn apart and “two wonderful families” – those of Williams and Foster – have two dead sons, Hanlon added.
Hanlon, who has been practicing law for 35 years, said the case is an uncommon one. “I wouldn't have made it this long if this was par for the course.”
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Mansur Balaei, 30, died after colliding with a guard rail three miles west of Lakeport, the CHP said Sunday.
The CHP said Balaei, who has ridden motorcycles for 16 years, was traveling with a group when the crash occurred at 1:22 p.m.
He was riding 50 miles per hour in a sharp curve when he lost control of the bike and went off the roadway, hitting a guard rail head-on, according to the CHP report.
Officials said a Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital emergency room nurse was the first on scene, and performed cardiopulmonary resuscitation on Balaei for 20 minutes.
REACH helicopter was summoned but medical personnel at the scene decided Balaei wasn't stable enough to travel by air, said Lakeport Fire Protection District Captain Bob Ray. Instead, Balaei was transported to Sutter Lakeside Hospital by ground ambulance.
CHP said Balaei succumbed to blunt force trauma injuries. He had been wearing safety gear – helmet, leathers and boots, Ray added.
Balaei leaves behind a 28-year-old widow and a 5-month-old daughter, the CHP reported.
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The complex of four fires – three of which are contained – is located in the vicinity of Lake Pillsbury on the Mendocino National Forest's Upper Lake Ranger District. The fires were ignited by a dry lightning storm June 21.
US Forest Service spokesman Marc Peebles reported Sunday that the last of the fires still burning, the Mill Fire, has reached 2,972 acres and is 60-percent contained, with full containment – originally estimated to take place on Wednesday – pushed back to July 26.
The entire complex has burned 8,581 acres and is 79-percent contained overall, the same as the previous day, Peebles reported.
Nearly 30 more firefighting personnel have been assigned to the fire since Saturday, bringing the total, according to Peebles, to 793. There also are 23 crews, 26 engines, three dozers, 11 water tenders and 14 helicopters working the fire.
Peebles said the fire continued to spread through spot fires into steep and rugged terrain in a southeast direction, where firefighters and aircraft continue to work to hold the fire. Crews also continue to patrol the areas of the already-contained Monkey Rock, Big and Back fires.
Seven residences in Lake and Mendocino counties remain under evacuation at this time between Deadmans Flat and Sunset Gap to the east flank of the fire, he said.
Also still burning is the Vinegar fire, which has burned 10,410 acres on the the Mendocino National Forest and another 16,975 in the Shasta Trinity National Forest, for a total of 27,485 acres burned, according to forest officials.
For more information about the forest fires visit Forest Service Web site at www.fs.fed.us/r5/mendocino or www.inciweb.org. For information about other fires around the state, visit www.cdf.ca.gov.
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
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