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NORTHSHORE – The Northshore's stretch of Highway 20 saw two serious crashes on Wednesday afternoon.
The crashes occurred near Nice and Upper Lake, according to the California Highway Patrol.
The first crash occurred around 1:45 p.m. near Ceago Vinegarden, outside of Nice and west of Lucerne.
Two vehicles were involved – an older model silver Ford Ranger and a green Ford Taurus. Reports from the scene explained that the pickup had put on its brakes quickly and the Taurus hit the back of it.
The highway's westbound lane was closed for about 45 minutes as Northshore Fire personnel and CHP responded to the scene.
Major injuries resulted, with a helicopter landing nearby to transport the injured. But CHP and Northshore officials were unavailable to give further detail late Wednesday, in part because they were shortly on their way to another crash scene.
The second crash occurred shortly before 4:45 p.m. near Upper Lake. Reports indicated a vehicle pulled out in front of a Dodge pickup towing a travel trailer.
A helicopter was once again summoned to transported injured from the crash.
Northshore Fire Chief Jim Robbins had to have players leave the soccer field at the nearby county park so the helicopter could land.
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CACHE CREEK WILDERNESS – By day's end on Wednesday a fire on Bureau of Management Land in the Cache Creek Wilderness Area had burned an estimated 1,400 acres.
The Oasis Fire moved into its second full day on Wednesday, with approximately 1,114 firefighters – 1,059 of them with Cal Fire – on the ground trying to knock the fire out.
The fire, which broke out Monday evening, is located south of Highway 20 and six miles west of Highway 16.
It's located both in Lake and Colusa counties, burning on federal land and in the Northshore Fire Protection District, according to Northshore Fire Battalion Chief Pat Brown.
The Oasis Fire reached 55-percent containment Wednesday, with 75-percent containment reported Thursday morning. Cal Fire said it's expected to be fully contained on Friday.
The cause is still under investigation, officials reported.
Three injuries have been reported so far, according to Cal Fire.
Since it began the fire, which is burning in oak and brush on steep terrain, has jumped fire lines and even Cache Creek itself. On Wednesday afternoon, it jumped a retardant line.
Firefighters had to deal with hot, dry conditions on Wednesday, according to Nancy Carniglia of Cal Fire.
Road access to the area where the fire is burning is limited, so bulldozers, air tankers and helicopters have played an important in the fight.
Cal Fire reported that 15 bulldozers are being used to get access for ground crews, while several air tankers and eight helicopters continued water and retardant drops.
On Wednesday air tankers were being brought in from around Northern California, including McClellan Air Force Base near Sacramento, according to reports from the fire scene.
Resources on scene Tuesday included 40 engines, 43 fire crews and 14 water tenders.
Brown, who is working with Cal Fire as an agency representative and medical unit leader, said Northshore Fire resources include one engine from Lucerne and a water tender from Clearlake Oaks, as well as a medic rig that is staffing the fire's base and another medic rig that is transporting injuries out of the Oaks station.
In addition to Northshore Fire and Cal Fire, cooperating agencies include Williams Fire Department, BLM, Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation and California Highway Patrol.
Costs to fight the fire have been estimated at $1.7 million so far, Cal Fire reported.
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The Oasis Fire, which started Monday evening south of Highway 20 and six miles west of Highway 16, was reported to have burned 1,350 acres by midday Wednesday, according to Cal Fire. The cause is under investigation.
The fire currently is at 40-percent containment, with Cal Fire officials estimating full containment on Friday.
On Wednesday morning, six air tankers and five helicopters were making drops on the fire, said Nancy Carniglia with Cal Fire.
That air contingent was small compared to the nearly 1,100 firefighters on the ground, Carniglia said.
Moderate wind conditions weren't causing issues for firefighters on Wednesday, but Carniglia said weather conditions were expected to be hot and dry – with temperatures in the high 90s and low humidity.
Because there are no established roads in the fire area, bulldozers have played a big part in fighting the fire. In addition to building new fire lines, Cal Fire reported the dozers are reopening old dozer lines and improving them to allow vehicles access.
On scene Wednesday were 50 engines, 41 fire crews, five helicopters, 15 dozers and 13 water tenders, according to Cal Fire.
The costs for suppression to date are approximately $461,965, Cal Fire said.
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The Oasis Fire is located south of Highway 20 and six miles west of Highway 16 in Colusa County, according to Cal Fire.
Officials reported that the fire had grown to 1,200 acres with 30-percent containment. Full containment is expected Friday. The cause is still under investigation.
Stacie McCambridge of Cal Fire's Sonoma-Lake-Napa Unit, which is in charge of handling the fire, said one minor injury has been reported. In that case, a firefighter suffered a 2-inch by 1-inch burn to the face, and was being evaluated by a medic Tuesday evening. An abandoned trailer also burned in the fire.
The fire broke out Monday night and has been burning in steep terrain featuring brush, oak and grass, said Tammy Rossi of Cal Fire. She noted it's been a long time since that area burned.
On Tuesday, the battle from the air continued, with six helicopters and seven air tankers hitting the blaze with water and retardant drops, with a DC-10 also ordered, Rossi said.
In the afternoon, the fire jumped containment lines and went over Cache Creek, where it began burning on the creek's north side, according to reports from the scene.
Shortly before 7 p.m. reports indicated that firefighters were working on six hot spots, and that the fire had made several runs at the dozer line but the helicopters were able to knock it back.
Rossi said the fire was moving to the east toward Baldy Mountain, and was burning on Bureau of Land Management property, as well as land owned by the Payne Ranch, which also is the location of a firefighter camp.
Resources reported on scene late Tuesday included 680 Cal Fire personnel plus another 29 firefighters from local government agencies, BLM, Williams Fire and the California Department of Corrections.
In addition, there were 32 engines, 24 fire crews, five helicopters, 10 bull dozers, nine water tenders on scene.
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“We had incredibly good weather, lots of great activities and fantastic support from throughout Lake County,” said fair Chief Executive Officer Richard Persons. “Everyone had a good time and we got lots of very positive comments. The staff and volunteers are all tired, but planning has already started for another great run in 2010.”
Persons said they're still crunching the numbers, but it appears the fair was about even in total gate revenues and up in other areas, like the carnival and food sales.
He said preliminary carnival numbers indicated an increase of nearly 12 percent in ride revenues, largely driven by the free hour of admission offered on Friday evening.
“That one free hour brought in 3,087 people, and admission ticket sales the rest of the night were nearly average for a Friday, so everything else on the fairgrounds benefited from that bump in attendance,” he said. “Saturday saw nearly a 10-percent jump in ticket sales at the gate.”
The Lake County Fair does not release specific gate attendance figures, but Persons explained that he expected the final total attendance numbers to be up slightly, with many people taking advantage of discounted tickets that were available in the weeks prior to the event.
Once again, the junior livestock program was a main attraction for fairgoers, with the number of animals entered in the 4-H and FFA contests about even with 2008, he said.
Persons said there was a shift from the market animal contests into the breeding animal contests, which Persons said is good for the long-term health of the programs.
“Breeding animal projects require a longer term, more intensive commitment from the kids, which in turn encourages more involvement from their siblings and friends, and all of that leads to better knowledge and understanding of animal husbandry and agriculture in general,” said Persons.
Other animal attractions included miniature farm animals provided by Oops Ranch, an open goat show, and draft horse wagon rides from Eleven Roses Ranch.
This year's attractions in the main grandstand included an invitational sheep dog trials, the traditional demolition derby, mud bog races and the California State Finals of the WGAS Tuff Truck Races. The main grandstand arena was sponsored by Robinson Rancheria Resort and Casino.
“The motorized entertainment continues to pack the seats at Lake County Fair,” said Persons, adding “the sheep dog trials struggled to find an audience, which is too bad really. It's a fascinating and intense sport, and we'll be discussing the possibility of 2010 show, but it'll take some more intensive promotion if we go that way again.”
Local acts and attractions were the rule at the 2009 Lake County Fair, he said.
Entertainment on the Theatre Main Stage included local acts like the Hip Replacements, Side of Blues, the Mark Weston Band, Bill Noteman and the Rockets, the Bottle Rock Blues and Rhythm Band, and the Lake County Amateur Talent Competition.
The Enhance H2O Stage hosted Mike Wilhelm and Jim Williams playing solo guitar, the Carter and Chambers Duo, and the Kustom Cuts playing rockabilly.
Special appearances by magician Ken Garr, and Mickey the Clown were complemented by the performances by Chaz Marquette the juggling unicyclist.
“We want to thank all of the fairgoers, participants and sponsors of this year’s event,” said fair board president Janeane Bogner of Clearlake Oaks. “This event is truly a celebration of life in Lake County, and it takes participation from everyone to make it a success.”
The Oasis Fire, reported just after 6 p.m. Monday, is located near Highway 20 six miles west of Highway 16 in the Cache Creek Wilderness Area in Colusa County, according to Cal Fire.
The 700-acre fire was reported to be 15 percent contained, Cal Fire said Tuesday afternoon.
But reports from the scene Tuesday indicated that firefighters were having challenges, as the fire began to make runs in the morning that resulted in it jumping from the south side to the north side of Cache Creek and escaping containment lines.
Aircraft were being called in from Redding and Ukiah to help fight the blaze, officials reported.
At about 1:30 p.m. reports from the scene indicated that the fire was “progressing aggressively” on the south side of Cache Creek.
Cal Fire was requesting a California Highway Patrol reconnaissance flight to help with the effort, but availability was an issue, so other local government agencies with aircraft were being sought.
More updates on the situation will be posted as information becomes available.
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