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- Written by: Elizabeth Larson
NICE – Fireworks – both the professional and safe and sane kinds – caused two separate, small fires at Robinson Rancheria Monday night.
Robinson Rancheria was putting on its annual fireworks display Monday at dusk, with the fireworks provided by a pyrotechnic company.
Northshore Fire Protection Chief Jim Robbins said Tuesday that the fireworks were shot off from a green, marshy area across the highway from the casino, beginning at about 9:30 p.m.
“Everything was fine until about a third of the way through the show,” said Robbins.
At that point, which Robbins estimated was about 9:45 p.m., the wind shifted, and started coming from the west.
The result was that a small fire ignited on a hilltop to the east of where the fireworks were being ignited. Robbins said it burned about an acre and a half.
Getting the three fire units to the blaze was a difficulty, said Robbins, with hundreds of cars blocking the way.
The fire, said Robbins, spread and scared people, many of whom are thinking still of the recent Tahoe fire. “It looked worse that what it was,” Robbins said of Robinson's fire.
Afterward, with additional units on scene, an estimated 1,000 people waiting for a show and $16,000 in unused fireworks, Robbins said he made the decision to let the show go on.
He reported that the professional fireworks technician said he had worked with fireworks for 27 years and had never had anything like this happen before.
Robbins said he intends to work with the rancheria next year to come up with some additional plans to avoid fire, including mowing down grass in the area. “I'd rather work with hem and mitigate the problem,” he said.
Another, separate fire broke out about 1 a.m. in a manzanita tree on Flicker Circle near Pomo Way, at the rancheria entrance, said Robbins.
That fire burned only a small patch of ground, less than 10 feet by 10 feet, said Robbins. Firefighters found the cause at the scene – burned safe and sane fireworks.
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- Written by: Elizabeth Larson
THIS STORY HAS BEEN UPDATED.
LAKEPORT – A Tuesday morning report from sheriff's officials sheds more light on the case of a Nice man found dead in his taxi last week, and notes that one of the people who last saw Womachka alive is now in jail on a parole violation.
Lt. Cecil Brown of the Lake County Sheriff's Office issued a report that stated that the death of Paul “Joe” Womachka, 39, of Nice, is being treated as a “criminal homicide.”
Womachka's ex-wife and business partner, Erica Womachka, reported him missing last Wednesday after he didn't return from a run for their Hey Taxi business, as Lake County News previously reported.
Brown's report explained that Womachka had received a call from Robinson Rancheria at about midnight early on Wednesday morning to drive Morgan Matthew Jack, 30, to his home at Big Valley Rancheria in Lakeport.
Two days later, at 3 p.m. Friday, sheriff's deputies received a call about a vehicle under water in the Big Valley Rancheria marina, Brown reported. Divers from the North Shore Dive Team responded to the scene, where they recovered the van and discovered Womachka's body inside.
Brown said sheriff's investigators have interviewed Jack about his contact with Womachka early on Wednesday as part of the homicide investigation.
Sheriff's Det. Corey Paulich arrested Jack, who works as a handyman, for a felony parole violation Friday evening, just hours after Womachka's body was found, according to jail records. He remains in jail on a no-bail hold.
Jack was known to sheriff's officials, said Brown, and had been in and out of the Lake County Jail in recent years.
A call to the California Department of Corrections office in Ukiah to ask about Jack's parole was not returned Tuesday.
Sheriff Rod Mitchell reported on Monday that Womachka's autopsy was scheduled for Tuesday. There's no word yet on when the results of the inquest will be ready.
Anyone with information regarding the Womachka case is asked to call Det. Nicole Costanza, 262-4236.
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- Written by: Harold LaBonte and Elizabeth Larson
LAKE COUNTY – Officials are still investigating the cause of a three-acre fire that broke out Monday morning along the Hopland Grade.
Alicia Amaro of Cal Fire's Incident Command Center said they received the report of the fire at 10:30 a.m. Monday.
The fire was located on Highway 175, about two and a half miles west of Highway 29. It appeared to have started at the edge of the westbound lane.
Amaro said Cal Fire sent five engines, two dozers, two fires crews, two air tankers and one air attack. In to total, about one dozen engines were on scene, with mutual aid coming from Lakeport and Kelseyville Fire Protection districts, and the U.S. Forest Service. About three dozen Department of Corrections firefighters also helped fight the fire.
The California Highway Patrol briefly closed Highway 175 to all traffic as firefighters worked to contain the blaze. A Cal Fire helicopter made a dozen or more water drops while a fixed-wing aircraft made several passes to drop retardant on the fire. Another airplane acted as a spotter.
Firefighters on scene noted that the summer fire season is shaping up to be a bad one.
Amaro said the fire was contained at about 3:40 p.m., with a cause note yet determined.
Another wildland fire broke out along Tule Lake Road near Highway 29 in North Lakeport on Monday afternoon.
Keith Hill of Cal Fire's Incident Command Center said the second fire was reported at 2:43 p.m., but did not have a time for its containment. All told, Hill said only a few acres were burned, with the cause unknown.
Cal Fire sent the same response as it did to the first fire – five engines, two dozers, two fires crews, two air tankers and one air attack. Hill said that's the planned response on “high dispatch” days like Monday, when officials look at temperature, the burn index and other factors to determine what's needed to quickly contain the fires.
Hill said Lakeport and Kelseyville Fire also were on scene.
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CLEARLAKE OAKS – A Clearlake Oaks man who failed to register as a sex offender after having previously been convicted of a violent sex crime was sentenced to prison on Monday.
Judge Arthur Mann sentenced Clarence John McCarty, 36, to five years in state prison for failing to register as a sex offender, according to a report from the Lake County District Attorney's Office.
McCarty is required to register pursuant to penal code section 290 as a result of a felony sexual battery conviction in 1999.
Deputy District Attorney John R. DeChaine reported that McCarty pleaded guilty on Feb. 23 to one felony count of failing to register as a sex offender, in violation of Penal Code section 290(a)(1)(D).
A felony penal code section 290 violation normally exposes the perpetrator to a maximum prison commitment of three years, DeChaine reported.
However, McCarty admitted at the time of his guilty plea that he had previously served two prior prison terms and had not remained free of prison custody for more than five years between each prior prison commitment, according to DeChaine's report.
The effect of McCarty admitting both prior prison terms, said DeChaine, was that his prison sentence of three years was enhanced to five years.
At the conclusion of the sentencing hearing, Judge Mann remanded the defendant into custody.
Det. Mike Curran of the Lake County Sheriff’s Office investigated the case with the assistance of Deputies Chwialkowski and Hall, said DeChaine.
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