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- Written by: Elizabeth Larson
Late Monday night, the US Forest Service confirmed the death of the firefighter in an incident that occurred earlier in the day.
A second firefighter is receiving medical attention, the Forest Service said.
Additional details – including information about where on the forest the incident had occurred – were not immediately available, according to Forest Service spokesman Michael R. Williams.
“We are still gathering details and will release additional information as it becomes available,” Williams told Lake County News.
The complex, burning since Aug. 17 in remote portions of the forest, grew to 236,288 acres on Monday afternoon, with containment at 20 percent.
The largest fires in the complex, primarily on the Grindstone Ranger District portion of the forest, include the Doe, 177,536 acres, 59 percent contained; the Glade, 25,358 acres, 0 percent contained; and the Tatham, 14,457 acres, 9 percent contained, the Forest Service reported.
On the Upper Lake Ranger District, the Hull fire north of Lake Pillsbury was at 11,109 acres and 10 percent contained on Monday, the Forest Service reported. Over the weekend officials said the Hull and the Doe actually burned together in the area of Rattlesnake Creek.
More than 670 firefighters were assigned to the incident on Monday, with officials reporting that 200 military personnel also are due to arrive this week to assist the firefighting effort.
Forest officials had reported over the weekend that crews are working in very rugged and steep terrain, some of it too difficult for even hotshot teams to get into safety.
Just two years ago, the Ranch fire portion of the 459,123-acre Mendocino Complex left a large fire scar in the Mendocino National Forest.
Katy Hooper, a spokesperson for the August Complex’s management team, said crews are working in the area of the old Ranch fire scar, using established fire line and fuel breaks to slow the August Complex.
Like the August Complex, the Ranch fire resulted in the death of a firefighter. Battalion Chief Matthew Burchett of the Draper City Fire Department in Utah died Aug. 13, 2018, when he was hit by a falling tree.
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- Written by: Lake County News reports
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – A Clearlake man has been sentenced to state prison for setting a June fire that occurred east of Clearlake Oaks.
On Monday, Judge J. David Markham sentenced Jose Feliciano Medina Jimenez, 27, to four years in state prison for felony violations of arson of forest land and resisting executive officers by means of threat or violence, said Chief Deputy District Attorney Richard Hinchcliff.
At the same time, Hinchcliff said Judge Markham ordered Jimenez to register as an arson offender for the rest of his life.
Sheriff’s deputies responded to the area of Mule Skinner Road and Highway 20 east of Clearlake Oaks on June 20 in response to a vegetation fire, as Lake County News has reported.
Sheriff’s Deputy Matthew McCabe arrived and contacted Jimenez standing in the middle of Highway 20 waving his arms, according to investigative reports by the Lake County Sheriff’s Office and Cal Fire.
When McCabe attempted to speak to Jimenez, Jimenez removed a large knife from his pocket. Jimenez ignored numerous commands to drop the knife and walked toward McCabe twice with the knife in his hand, the investigative reports said.
After about 10 minutes McCabe was able to get Jimenez to get rid of the knife and was able to handcuff Jimenez. When McCabe tried to place him in his patrol vehicle Jimenez began violently thrashing around, based on the reports.
Jimenez was placed in the vehicle with the assistance of other deputies arriving on the scene. One officer suffered a laceration to his knee, authorities reported.
While in the patrol vehicle, authorities said Jimenez attempted to kick the door open. When deputies opened the door Jimenez jumped out of the vehicle toward the deputies and violently resisted the deputies. The deputies were able to restrain Jimenez with a leg restraint and end his resistance and combativeness.
The reports said a Bic lighter was located in Jimenez’s pocket and he was determined to be under the influence of methamphetamine.
Deputy Antonio Castellanos and Cal Fire arson investigator Gary Uboldi interviewed Jimenez. The reports said Jimenez admitted starting the fire, claiming he became paranoid from the methamphetamine and believed people were spying on him and were going to hurt him.
Jimenez admitted to starting the fire in an effort to get the people to leave. He also admitted to starting the fire in an area with plywood and tires near a tree where it was dry and would be conducive to starting a fire, officials said.
Jimenez also admitted that at the time all of this occurred he had been working cultivating and tending marijuana plants on the property. The sheriff’s reports said deputies eradicated 352 marijuana plants from the property.
Cal Fire investigators Gary Uboldi and Brandon Bertolino conducted the origin and cause investigation for the fire, which fire officials said burned six acres and was quickly suppressed by Cal Fire using multiple engines and aircraft.
Cal Fire prevented the fire from possibly burning hundreds or thousands of acres and numerous structures due to the dry conditions and rural, brushy and steep terrain in the area, Hinchcliff said.
Hinchcliff said Jimenez’s prior criminal history included a conviction in 2017 for driving under the influence causing injury and two federal convictions in 2014 and 2018 for illegal entry into the United States.
Hinchcliff, who handles most of the fire-related prosecutions for Lake County including this case, charged Jimenez with arson, resisting officers and marijuana cultivation. Thomas Feimer was appointed as a public defender to represent Jimenez.
On Aug. 4, pursuant to a plea agreement negotiated with the District Attorney’s Office, Jimenez pleaded no contest to felony arson of forest land and felony resisting officers, with an agreed-upon potential sentence of up to four years state prison, Hinchcliff said.
At the Tuesday sentencing, in addition to sentencing Jimenez to four years in prison and ordering him to register as an arson offender, Hinchcliff said Judge Markham also ordered him to pay $1,200 in restitution.
Hinchcliff said restitution also was reserved for Cal Fire.
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The complex, which has been burning for two weeks following a round of lightning storms, remained at 375,209 acres on Monday, with containment up to 66 percent, Cal Fire said.
The fires on the complex include the 317,609-acre Hennessey, burning in Colusa, Lake, Napa, Solano and Yolo counties, which is 64-percent contained; the Walbridge fire west of Healdsburg, at 54,940 acres and 70-percent contained; and the Meyers fire north of Jenner, which remains at 2,360 acres and 99-percent containment, according to Cal Fire’s Monday evening report.
Assigned resources have begun to be reduced slightly. On Monday, Cal Fire said there were 2,730 personnel, 277 engines, 59 water tenders, 19 helicopters, 46 hand crews and 59 dozers.
Cal Fire reported that the number of structures threatened by the complex is down to 3,375 – about a tenth of what it was at its height – with structures destroyed remaining at 1,209 and those damaged at 193.
Much of the structure damage has been in Napa, Solano and Sonoma counties. To date, nine structures – eight of them homes – have been reported destroyed in Lake County.
Evacuation orders and warnings for parts of southern Lake County remained in place on Monday night, Cal Fire reported.
Those included evacuation orders for part of Jerusalem Valley and east of Hidden Valley Lake, east of Middletown and the Lower Lake area west of the Lake County line, while evacuation warnings are still in effect for Middletown and Lower Lake.
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The soldiers are due to arrive early this week from the 14th Brigade Engineer Battalion, 2nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division, I Corps, from Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Washington.
The soldiers will be deployed on the August Complex on the Mendocino National Forest after conducting additional ground training and fireline certification.
The August Complex started on August 17, 2020, from 37 different lightning fires. Many of those fires have been contained or have merged to form larger fires. As of Monday night, the Complex was 236,288 acres and 20-percent contained.
“This support will provide additional capacity to ensure firefighting resources are available to respond to ongoing and emerging wildfires in California,” said Randy Moore, regional forester for the Pacific Southwest Region. “I thank the U.S. military for their continued support with these soldiers, as well as C-130 aircraft, equipped with Modular Airborne Fire Fighting Systems units. Their assistance with wildfire suppression efforts for California’s wildfires is greatly appreciated.”
This is the first active-duty military mobilization for wildfire support in California since the Mendocino Complex Fire in 2018.
U.S. Army North, U.S. Northern Command’s Joint Force Land Component Command (JFLCC) will oversee the operations, providing personnel and command and staff support.
“For more than four decades, the Department of Defense has maintained an interagency agreement with the U.S. Department of Agriculture and U.S. Department of the Interior to provide firefighting support to wildland fire management agencies when requested,” said Lt. Gen. Laura J. Richardson, U.S. Army North (Fifth Army) and JFLCC commander. “During that time, federal military ground forces have mobilized 37 times to support wildland firefighting response efforts, and it is an honor to oversee such a mobilization again in support of our partners and America.”
There are 38 large wildfires currently burning in California, with more than 1.5 million acres burned so far this year.
August Complex incident information is posted on InciWeb.