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Forest spokesperson Phebe Brown reported Wednesday that the fires – now about 20-percent contained – are estimated to be fully contained by June 30. Of the 54 reported fires, 12 are contained, six are controlled and nine are in patrol status.
Brown said six fires are staffed and 13 have no personnel on them currently, with three of the fires burning together.
The majority of the acreage burning is on the Upper Lake Ranger District, said Brown.
The largest of the fires is the Back, located southwest of Lake Pillsbury, which has burned 1,800 acres and is 42-percent contained, said Brown. Also in Lake County is the Big Fire, west of Lake Pillsbury, which has scorched 850 acres and has zero containment.
Other major fires across the forest are the Monkey Rock Fire in the Yuki Wilderness, at 50 acres with 0-percent containment, and the Mill Fire, which has burned 40 acres and also has no current containment level, according to Brown.
Brown reported that two structures were destroyed in the Big Fire in Lake County. Another 40 structures are threatened across the entire forest. No evacuations are in place.
The fires are burning in 6-foot chaparral, oak woodlands, grass, timber and mixed conifer across the forest's three ranger districts in Lake, Mendocino and Tehama counties, Brown reported.
Resources committed to the fires currently include 410 personnel, among them 10 fire crews, from the US Forest Service, Cal Fire, US Fish and Wildlife, Bureau of Indian Affairs and private contractors, according to Brown.
On scene are 28 engines, three bulldozers, seven water tenders, five helicopters and fire support personnel, Brown reported. An Interagency Incident Management Team arrived Wednesday to assist in managing the fires on the Upper Lake District.
No injuries have been reported, according to Brown.
There is no current cost estimate for fighting the fire.
Due to the fire, Brown said Elk Mountain Road (M-1) at the Bear Creek Road (M-10) junction and near Soda Creek has been closed by Lake County due to fire activity associated with the Back
Incident.
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
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The Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT) Relief Act of 2008 (HR 6275) keeps millions of Americans from being hit by a tax originally designed to only affect the very wealthy.
“American families are already strained by rising gas, food and health care prices, and don’t deserve to be caught in a tax originally meant for the rich,” said Congressman Mike Thompson. “The last thing these families need is a larger tax burden, and I am very pleased that we were able to stop the tax increase without adding to our national debt.”
The legislation provides one-year relief from the AMT without adding to the deficit by closing loopholes in the tax code, encouraging tax compliance and repealing excessive government subsidies given to oil companies.
“I believe we need to permanently fix the AMT problem, but that’s going to require a broader effort to simplify our tax code and improve fairness,” added Thompson. “I’m very hopeful that the next president will be willing to make that happen in a fiscally responsible way.”
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KONOCTI CONSERVATION CAMP – The Walker Fire made another huge leap in size late Tuesday, reaching an estimated 14,000 acres as firefighters attempted to set backfires to keep it away from homes and Highway 20.
Dan Sendek, division chief for safety and training at Cal Fire's Sonoma-Lake-Napa Unit's Delta Camp in Suisun City, said the fire – burning since Sunday – had reached 14,000 acres by 7 p.m., with only 5-percent containment.
Cal Fire is estimating the fire – located in mostly remote wildlands about 14 miles east of Clearlake Oaks – could eventually burn as much as 35,000 acres. No timeframe for containment has been given.
According to Cal Fire a total of 35 homes are threatened, 25 of them in the Double Eagle Ranch Subdivision, which was evacuated Sunday.
On Tuesday, two helicopters worked on dropping water on the fire, said Sendek, but air operations were not as extensive as they were on Monday, when Cal Fire sent in a DC-10 air tanker to drop retardant.
Firefighters lit backfires during the night and into the afternoon along Walker Ridge, said Sendek, in an attempt to stop the fire's advance toward Highway 20, which could force a closure.
The effort was "not terribly successful" due to too much humidity, Sendek said.
Incident Command Team Three is guiding the effort, said Sendek. It's one of 10 such teams in the state, four of which currently are in Northern California.
Operations are now headquartered at Konocti Conservation Camp, located off of Highway 29 between Kelseyville and Lower Lake.
By Tuesday evening, a total of 240 firefighters were on scene at the camp, said Sendek. The doubling since yesterday in the size of the firefighting force was largely due to the release of about half of the 500 or so firefighters at the Wild Fire, which burned more than 4,000 acres in Solano and Napa counties.
The Walker and Wild fires are now referred to as the Walker Complex, said Sendek, and both are being managed jointly from the camp.
A major goal was getting more firefighters on the incident in order to give some rest to the local and state fire crews who have been on the Walker Fire since Sunday. Initial responders had included all local fire districts along with Cal Fire.
"They'll work until they drop,” said Sendek. “We just don't want that to happen."
More firefighters are expected to arrive in the coming days, said Sendek, as they're released from other fire assignments.
"The expectation is, no one is going home," he said. "If they go anywhere, they're coming here."
Firefighters come from around the state
Strike teams from around the state were pulling into the camp Tuesday afternoon and evening, where they were waiting to find out their assignments for the Wednesday.
Frank Rohan, a battalion chief with the Kings County Fire Department and a leader of a strike team composed of engines from the Office of Emergency Services, and Captain Brian Torosian of the Clovis Fire Department were among those pulling into camp Tuesday from the Wild Fire. Their five-engine strike team also included members from the Bakersfield, Porterville and Fresno County fire departments.
Lake County was just another stop for the men in what has been months of firefighting. Rohan had been at the Summit Fire in Santa Cruz, and Torosian at the Humboldt in Butte County.
"People are being sent everywhere right now," said Rohan.
If there's anything they're noticing, it's that Northern California is having more trouble earlier in the season.
"Most of the action has been happening here this summer," said Rohan, rather than in the drier Southern California climates.
Engineer Bill Williams, a strike team member from Bakersfield Fire Department, said they're also seeing "more erratic fire behavior" on the fire lines. That includes trees, bushes and other vegetation that don't usually burn this time of year going up in flame.
Captain Pat Papasergia of Bakersfield Fire said sudden oak death also had proved to be a problem, with healthy looking trees suddenly collapsing in the fire areas.
Along with the firefighters arriving from the Wild Fire came a firefighter encampment that workers were in the process of setting up Tuesday evening in the little valley where the conservation camp sits.
There was a portable kitchen, a large tent area for meals, banks of portable toilets, dumpsters and other necessities put in place. Crews were busy weed whacking to clear a defensible space around the perimeter. Smoke from the region's fires hung thick in the air, turning the sun into a giant, blood-red ball.
As many as 800 firefighters could arrive at the camp in the days ahead, said Sendek, as more firefighters are released from other incidents.
Six inmate crews also have been sent to join the effort, said Sendek. The Walker Fire is not currently in the state's top three fires, which is where California National Guard members activated by the governor are headed.
In an effort to track the exact size of the fire, Kimberley Sone, a Cal Fire assistant state forest manager stationed at Boggs Mountain, said she'll walk the fire line on Wednesday, carrying a GPS device which will track the Walker Fire's precise dimensions.
With a big fire like the Walker, winds that come up can cause “long range spotting,” Sone explained. That means the wind picks up parts of the fire and carries them long distances, creating spot fires away from the fire's main body. Resources then need to be sent to deal with those spot fires individually.
On Tuesday Cal Fire reported that 842 lightning fires were burning throughout the state. The Associated Press reported the fires resulted from more than 8,000 strikes in the storm last weekend.
“You just can't plan for that,” Sendek said.
He added, “I'm sure there are still fires out there people haven't found.”
Sendek said the fires have hit before the Sonoma-Lake-Napa Unit's peak summer staffing levels, which don't begin until July 1.
There are no cost estimates yet on how much the firefighting effort will cost.
More help may be on the way. The Associated Press reported Tuesday that Oregon is sending 2,400 firefighters to aid in the battle against California's wildland fires.
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
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With 1,971 votes cast for seven candidates for four positions on the board, the race was very close with only nine votes between fourth and fifth place.
“This was the highest turnout ever,” said outgoing First Vice President Sid Donnell. “We had well over 500 ballots in this election. I think the highest we had before was 412 in 1998.”
There is a possibility of 2,810 ballots that could be cast; the quorum requirement is 10 percent of this or 281 ballots.
The results are:
Donna Moeller, 324; appointed
Walter Zuercher, 312; appointed
Patricia Howell, 286; appointed
Anthony Gniadek, 280; appointed
James Irwin, 271
Darrell Watkins, 252
Denise Frane, 246
The new board’s term will start on July 1 and the first public meeting will be on July 22 at the association office. They will replace Alan Siegal, Sid Donnell and Sandra Orchard.
The election is not without its controversy. There was a misprint on the ballot's instruction and a followup letter was sent out in an attempt to clarify the error.
Some are claiming that this makes the ballot invalid. Lois Townsend was very vocal during the count, stating that it was an illegal election.
Several residents have been expressing their dissatisfaction with the actions of the association and advocating for it to be disbanded. There has been a letter-writing campaign to one of the local newspapers expressing their opinions. Anthony Gniadek and Darrell Watkins ran on the platform that the association be dissolved.
When asked why the association didn’t respond to the allegations the response was that they wanted to take the high road and not get involved in the controversy.
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LAKEPORT – Through the haze of a smoke-filled day a veteran was laid to rest on Tuesday.
George Oliver Elder had no known living relatives and a handful of friends, mostly his neighbors. However, this man and his service to his country were not forgotten.
The Military Funeral Honors Team of Lake County assembled at Hartley Cemetery to pay tribute to one of their own. No one from the team had ever made Elder’s acquaintance. That was of no concern as he was one of their brothers. George Elder served honorably in the Air Force from 1957 to 1961, ensuring him a place in the hearts of his comrades and fellow veterans.
Riding motorcycles and flying flags, members of the Patriot Guard Riders made their way down the road at Hartley Cemetery to Veterans Circle, Elder’s final resting place. A group of Elder’s neighbors and patriots supporting troops and veterans gathered for the ceremony.
The funeral honors team fired the traditional three-round volley and the bugler’s rendition of “Taps” rang hauntingly through the cemetery.
Woody Hughes, chaplain for the team, spoke and a two-person honor guard from the United States Air Force provided flag duties, carefully folding and presenting an American flag representative of Elder’s service.
Terre Logsdon, Elder’s neighbor, received the flag from the USAF honor guard. The flag was then provided to the Avenue of Flags, a community memorial to veterans. Elder’s flag will fly alongside hundreds of veteran flags on Memorial Day and Veterans Day every year.
George Oliver Elder was not forgotten.
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