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Between 9:30 p.m. and 10 p.m. a house fire was reported at 1320 E. Highway 20, according to Ken Petz, a battalion chief with Northshore Fire Protection District.
Passersby spotted the fire and called for firefighters, then began putting the fire out with a garden hose, Petz said.
The landowner reportedly was away at the time of the fire, which Petz said started because of fireplace ashes that had been placed outside of the home, against one of its exterior walls.
The fire moved up into the eaves and attic, said Petz. Firefighters got to the scene quickly and hosed down the attic to stop the fire's spread.
Two engines, one each from Nice and Upper Lake, as well as a water tender, an attack unit and between 10 and 12 firefighters responded, said Petz.
Petz said thanks to the quick action of the people who reported the fire, the house's fire damage was minimal. “That was a good save.”
The fire was out about 20 minutes after firefighters arrived, Petz said.
Officials remained on scene until the owner returned home from a trip to Willits.
“We were there probably an hour and a half total,” said Petz.
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The US Geological Survey reported that 4.0 quake occurred at 12:50 p.m. It was centered one mile northeast of The Geysers and four miles west southwest from Cobb.
There were 24 reports made to the US Geological Survey from individuals who felt the quake from Kelseyville all the way to San Francisco. Ten people in Middletown reported feeling the quake.
At approximately 12:57 p.m., a 3.0 quake occurred three miles north of The Geysers and four miles west of Cobb, according to the US Geological Survey.
There were nine reports from people who felt that quake, five of them in Middletown, one in Lower Lake and other reports coming from Healdsburg, Petaluma and even San Francisco, according to the US Geological Survey.
The last time an earthquake over 3.0 in magnitude was felt in Lake County was Sept. 17, when a 3.5 quake was recorded by the US Geological Survey nine miles northeast of Hidden Valley Lake, as Lake County News previously reported.
A quake of 4.0 magnitude hasn't occurred in the county since a 4.4 magnitude quake hit The Geysers area on April 24, based on US Geological Survey records.
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
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A vehicle colliding with a power pole caused the outage, according to Pacific Gas & Electric spokesman JD Guidi.
Guidi said the outage began at 8:32 p.m. Friday after a vehicle hit and destroyed a power pole at 17179 Knollview Drive in Hidden Valley Lake.
It took PG&E crews until 12:46 p.m. Saturday to finish repairing what Guidi called “extensive damage.”
“They had to replace the pole,” said Guidi.
A total of 1,855 customers were affected, Guidi said.
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
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Local firefighters, US Forest Service and Cal Fire responded to the quarter-acre wildland fire reported at about 2:20 p.m. Friday, according to Cal Fire.
According to radio transmissions, a passing motorist spotted the fire and reported it from Highway 20 near Bartlett Springs Road.
Cal Fire sent one battalion chief, three engines, one fire crew, one bulldozer and a helicopter, the agency reported.
Cal Fire did not have information on county resources dispatched to the scene.
The fire was quickly contained by 2:40 p.m., Cal Fire reported.
Scanner traffic indicated that officials spotted two to three vehicles leaving the area of the fire, including a silver Jeep and a male subject on a motorcycle who raced by firefighters as they made their way up the hill to the fire.
Tobie Edmonds, a fire investigator with Northshore Fire Protection District, said he planned to join fire investigators for Cal Fire and the US Forest Service at the fire scene Saturday.
“We are going to go up and investigate the cause and origin,” Edmonds said Friday evening.
In recent months, Bartlett Springs has been hit by a series of fires that the Lake County Arson Task Force continues to investigate, said Edmonds.
Edmonds estimated that there have been eight fires since the summer. Earlier blazes claimed the Bartlett Springs Resort Lodge, the resort's historic gazebo and another building in the area, as Lake County News previously reported.
Regarding Friday's fire, Edmonds said he didn't expect the full Arson Task Force – which includes representative members from all of the county's fire districts and law enforcement agencies – would be called out to look at it.
Harold LaBonte contributed to this report.
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LAKEPORT – A man convicted of molesting a 10-year-old boy was sentenced to state prison on Friday.
Senior Deputy District Attorney John R. DeChaine reported that Judge Richard Martin sentenced Lakeport resident James Michael Deback, 45, to the upper term of eight years in prison for child molestation.
DeChaine said the investigation began in March, when a neighbor witnessed what was believed to be inappropriate conduct between Deback and the child.
Jail records show that Deback, a painter, was arrested on March 28.
Formal charges were filed by the Lake County District Attorney’s Office on April 2, according to DeChaine, who prosecuted the case.
On Nov. 2 Deback pleaded no contest to one felony count of committing a lewd or lascivious act with a child under the age of 14 and one misdemeanor count of annoying or molesting a minor, DeChaine reported.
Both crimes, said DeChaine, require Deback to register as a sex offender for the remainder of his life.
When Deback entered his no contest pleas on Nov. 2, he admitted a special allegation that the felony charge involved “substantial sexual conduct,” according to DeChaine.
DeChaine noted that the admission of this special allegation served to prohibit Deback from being granted probation, thereby ensuring a prison commitment.
DeChaine said the case was investigated by a team of officers, including Mark Hommer and Jim Bell of the Lakeport Police Department and Investigator Von Morshed of the Lake County District Attorney’s Office.
Both Bell and Morshed have specialized training in conducting child forensic interviews in cases involving child sexual assault, DeChaine added.
Morshed and the victim’s family members were in attendance when Deback was sentenced, DeChaine said.
The family prepared a victim impact statement which was read by Denise Johnson of the Victim-Witness Division of the District Attorney’s Office prior to Judge Martin handing down the sentence, according to DeChaine.
DeChaine said the felony county for which Deback was convicted is a violent strike in California, meaning Deback will not be eligible for parole until he serves at least 85 percent of his prison commitment.
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Lisa Anne Tragiou, 45, was arrested by California Highway Patrol Officer Dallas Richey after the crash took place just before 3 p.m. Thursday in Kelseyville, according to CHP spokesman Officer Adam Garcia.
Tragiou was driving her 1986 black Ford Ranger pickup northbound on State Street, south of Gaddy Lane, when the pickup drifted right off the roadway and clipped a telephone pole, which escaped structure damage, Garcia said.
The collision caused the pickup to travel left across the roadway, Garcia reported, where it struck a cyclone fence, continuing through the fence and over a grass lawn.
Tragiou's pickup finally struck the front steps and overhead awning of a mobile home, said Garcia. CHP logs reported that the home was in the 2000 block of N. State Street.
The home's occupants, and Tragiou and her passenger, 46-year-old Jennifer Engstrom of Kelseyville, escaped injury, Garcia reported.
Tragiou was booked into the Lake County Jail, with bail posted at $1,740. She has since posted bond and been released, according to jail records.
Garcia said Richey is investigating the incident.
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