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Written by: Elizabeth Larson

Published: 10 September 2020

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Pacific Gas and Electric said Wednesday night that it has restored power to 97 percent of its customers who were part of a public safety power shutoff activated on Monday night.

The shutoff – which impacted customers across 22 counties, including Lake – was enacted due to red flag weather conditions.

At daybreak on Wednesday – after the all-clear was given for weather conditions – PG&E said it began to patrol equipment and facilities, including more than 10,750 miles of transmission and distribution power lines, for damage or hazards as a result of the high winds.

PG&E said the patrols took place by ground and by air. Due to thick smoke and haze across the region because of numerous wildland fires, the company said it had to pause air inspections initially due to unsafe flying conditions. However, by noon on Wednesday, about half of PG&E’s aircraft were flying patrols.

By Wednesday night, PG&E said it had restored power to nearly 150,000 customers in areas where no wind-related damage was found.

That included all customers in Alpine, Amador, Calaveras, El Dorado, Kern, Lake, Lassen, Mariposa, Nevada, Placer, Siskiyou, Sonoma, Tehama and Tuolumne counties.

In Lake County, PG&E said approximately 24 residents – none of them medical baseline customers – were impacted by the shutoff. Power to those customers was cut off early Tuesday morning.

As for those whose power hadn’t yet been turned back on as of Wednesday night, PG&E said they included a group of customers mainly in the Northern Sierra, where the company hasn’t been able to restore electric service due to ongoing threats from wildfires, smoke impeding air patrols and requests from first responders to keep power lines off to assist in firefighting efforts.

PG&E said it will resume its patrol, repair and reenergizaton efforts in those areas as soon as its granted access to do so.

Another 5,000 customers in Butte, Humboldt, Napa, Plumas, Sierra, Trinity and Yuba counties are expected to have power restored by noon on Thursday, once PG&E said it can patrol those areas via helicopter.

Last fall, Lake County was included in two overlapping public safety power shutoffs that left power off to the county for nearly a week.

Since then, PG&E said it was refining its shutoff planning and procedures to reduce both the length of time and the number of customers impacted.

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.

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Written by: Lake County News reports

Published: 09 September 2020

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – The Lake County Sheriff’s Office said it is investigating the homicide of a local man whose remains were found last month in the Mendocino National Forest.

The remains of John Turner Dickerson, 48, of Nice, were discovered on Aug. 9, according to Lt. Corey Paulich.

On that day, Lake County Sheriff’s deputies were dispatched to an area in the Mendocino National Forest related to possible human remains being found, Paulich said.

Paulich said detectives from the Major Crimes Unit also responded to the location and determined the remains were human and badly decomposed.

The remains were recovered and an autopsy was conducted later that week. Paulich said the autopsy revealed that the remains belonged to a male who was the victim of a homicide.

Detectives were able to positively identify the victim as Dickerson, Paulich said.

Paulich said the cause of death is not being released at this time.

Detectives have been investigating several leads related to Dickerson’s death, Paulich said.

The Sheriff’s Office is asking anyone who may have information related to the circumstances of Dickerson’s death to contact Det. Richard Kreutzer at 707-262-4233.

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Written by: Lake County News reports

Published: 09 September 2020

Due to unprecedented and historic fire conditions throughout the state, the USDA Forest Service Pacific Southwest Region is announcing a temporary closure of an additional 10 National Forests – including the Mendocino National Forest – meaning all 18 National Forests in California are now closed.

The closure of the additional 10 forests will be effective at 5 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 9.

These additional forests include the Eldorado National Forest, Klamath National Forest, Lassen National Forest, Mendocino National Forest, Modoc National Forest, Six Rivers National Forest, Plumas National Forest, Shasta-Trinity National Forest, Tahoe National Forest and Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit.

This decision will be reevaluated daily as conditions change, officials said.

The Forest Service had closed eight National Forests on Monday evening. Explosive growth of fires throughout California during the day and late evening of Tuesday led to this updated decision.

“The number of large fires and extreme fire behavior we are seeing across the state is historic," said Regional Forester Randy Moore. "These temporary closures are necessary to protect the public and our firefighters, and we will keep them in place until conditions improve and we are confident that National Forest visitors can recreate safely. I ask all Californians and visitors to take these closures and evacuations seriously for their own safety and to allow our firefighters to focus on the mission of safely suppressing these fires."

The Forest Service thanked its partners and the public for their cooperation and understanding “of this monumental fire threat.”

Officials said it is critical that all Californians and National Forest visitors follow these important closures and restrictions for their own safety and the safety of our firefighters. Citizens with specific questions within their area may call their local forests for more information.

The Forest Service manages 18 National Forests in the Pacific Southwest Region, which encompasses more than 20 million acres across California.