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LAKE COUNTY – A man who fire investigators allege set numerous fires in the last year, primarily in the Bartlett Springs area, has been arrested.
Norman Ralph Henderson, 61, of Clearlake was arrested Friday afternoon for allegedly setting a string of arson fires between April 25, 2007, and this past April 10, according to Deputy District Attorney Richard Hinchcliff.
Henderson is being charged with 10 counts of arson, Hinchcliff said. Lake County Sheriff's Investigator Corey Paulich, and Lake County Arson Task Force Investigators Brice Trask and Chris Vallerga made the arrest Friday afternoon.
The felony charges, according to Hinchcliff, allege that Henderson intentionally set 10 fires in the year-long time period, including two recreational vehicles in the city of Clearlake, and eight fires along Bartlett Springs Road between Lucerne and Indian Valley Reservoir.
The fires officials are charging Henderson with setting in the Bartlett Springs Road area include two vacation residences that were a total loss, three structures in the Bartlet Springs Resort area including the Bartlett Springs water bottling facility, a cabin owned by the Yolo County Flood Control District and two wildland/brush fires.
The old Bartlett Springs Resort lodge, which resort caretaker Zane Gray had rebuilt in 1989, was the first of the buildings to be burned last year, said Northshore Fire Chief Jim Robbins. That building, as Lake County News reported, burned July 28.
The next building was a transfer station that the old Vittel bottling company had use to fill trucks, said Robbins.
Then, on Sept. 11, 2007, the Bartlett Springs gazebo, which Gray also had restored, was set ablaze. At the time, county officials had been looking at trying to move the gazebo down to the site of the future Ely Stage Stop Museum.
Robbins said it angered him that firefighters had saved the structures in the 1996 Fork Fire, only to have them so senselessly destroyed.
The most recent fire, which took place April 10, was a privately owned cabin, said Robbins.
Arson investigators were having a hard time pinning down leads, especially because the Bartlett Springs area is so remote, said Robbins.
While they had received some vehicle descriptions and made tentative vehicle stops on people coming down the hill, they were frustrated in their attempts to make any definite connections to the case, said Robbins, adding that anyone in the area would have a 17-mile head start on first responders.
It was an incident in another county that helped break the case, said Robbins.
Henderson came to the attention of local fire investigators after he was arrested in Colusa County late last month for setting ablaze a roadside fruit and vegetable stand near Williams, as Lake County News has reported.
Colusa County Sheriff's Sgt. Kevin Erdelt told Lake County News that Henderson admitted to being a convicted arsonist in cases that took place in Nevada. The Woodland Daily Democrat also reported that Henderson had been convicted of arson in Butte County about 40 years ago.
Robbins said Williams Fire Chief Jeff Gilbert had a hunch about Henderson after he was questioned by Colusa County officials about the fruit stand fire.
Gilbert called Robbins the next day and said, “We may have your guy,” Robbins recalled.
The Lake County Arson Task Force – a group of qualified arson investigators from area fire districts, the sheriff's office and district attorney's office – picked up the case from there, said Robbins.
Robbins said he was grateful to the arson task force and the sheriff's office for their hard work to crack the case.
He said the arrest will help the residents and landowners in the Bartlett Springs area feel more at ease after a year of fearing for their homes and property.
Robbins estimated that the last time they had a serial arsonist on the Northshore was in the 1980s, and the man – who was convicted of setting a series of grass fires – went to prison for a long time.
“It's hard to get 'em, but once you get them they admit to it, because they're pretty proud of what they're doing,” said Robbins.
Arson Task Force member Brice Trask, who also is a station caption with Lake County Fire Protection District, said many of the local strike team members that worked on the Fork Fire in 1996 are now on the task force.
After having worked so hard to save the buildings, Trask said it meant a lot to the Arson Task Force to catch the arsonist responsible for taking out most of what remained of the historical resort.
“It's kind of ironic that we come back and catch the guy that burned it down,” Trask said.
Henderson is in custody of the Lake County Jail in Lakeport, with bail set at $100,000.
Hinchcliff said Henderson is scheduled to be arraigned on the arson charges early next week.
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
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Lt. Mike Hermann of the Clearlake Police Department reported that School Resource Officer Carl Miller arrested one student Wednesday and three others on Thursday for possession and sales of controlled substances.
Hermann said the students are alleged to have brought prescription medication – specifically, muscle relaxers – to campus and were selling the pills for $1 each.
The four students were all males, ages 15 and 16, said Hermann.
The first was arrested Wednesday after being found in possession of the pills and under the influence, Hermann said. The student was later issued a citation and released due to his condition at the time.
Later during the day, three female students also were found to be under the influence of the pills, and two of them were transported to the hospital for drug overdoses, according to Hermann's report.
During the investigation, Miller identified the three other male students who were also involved in the sales and distribution of the pills, said Hermann. The three students were subsequently arrested Thursday and transported to Juvenile Hall.
Hermann said police believe that one of the students is responsible for bringing approximately 50 pills to school and splitting them with the other subjects who assisted in selling them.
Miller determined that approximately 32 pills had been sold to students at the school within the last several days, said Hermann.
Cases like those discovered at Lower Lake High appear to be on the rise nationwide.
A 2007 report from the Partnership for a Drug-Free America stated that a disturbing nationwide trend is seeing more teenagers abusing prescription drugs.
The partnership's studies have shown that more teens abuse prescription drugs than any other illicit drug, with the exception of marijuana.
One in five teens – or 4.5 million teenagers across the US – reported abusing a prescription pain medication, with the same number reporting abuse of a prescription stimulant or tranquilizer. In addition, one in 10 reported abuse cough and cold medicines, some of them containing the active ingredient dextromethorphan, according to the report.
The research also showed that only about one-third of parents discuss the dangers of prescription drug abuse with their teenagers.
A Web site for teens, www.checkyourself.com/, supported by the Partnership for a Drug-Free America, offers resources to help educate young people about drug and alcohol abuse.
Hermann said the investigation into the prescription drug sales at Lower Lake High School is continuing. Anyone with information about the case is asked to contact Miller at 994-8251.
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
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Gay Guidotti, the company's customer service representative in Lucerne, explains the charges itemized on bills:
5/8-inch service charge, $61.80 – “readiness to serve,” which includes the delivery system.
X CCF* at $5.1628 per CCF – one CCF equals 100 feet or 748 gallons. The rate was settled on as an incentive to conservation and an alternative to a higher fixed service charge.
5/8-inch service surcharge – SDWBA 9.20 repayment of a 1980s bond through the Safe Water Drinking Bond Act for improvements to the system. At the time, the system was owned and operated by Robert and Nadine Strauss of Lucerne.
CPUC fee, $1.10 – supports statewide work of the California Public Utilities Commission.
Other charges or credits, $0.95 – various small, approved, charges built in to the last negotiated settlement.
Rate Support Fund Assistance, -$34.00 – a discount for everyone in the Lucerne District, supported by a one-cent surcharge throughout the California Water Service districts.
Low Income Rate Assistance, -$20.00 – a discount for low income ratepayers who have enrolled in the LIRA plan. Cal Water reports 28 percent of Lucerne ratepayers are enrolled. Applications for the program are available at the company office, 6304 East Hwy 20, Lucerne.
Contact Sophie Annan Jensen at
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The families of three CHP officers were joined Thursday by Business, Transportation and Housing Agency Secretary Dale Bonner and CHP Commissioner Joe Farrow to place a wreath at the CHP Academy’s Memorial Fountain.
"The officers who have fallen upheld tradition in such a way that we can all be proud," said Secretary Bonner. "The prayers and gratitude of Californians are with the families of all of the brave officers we honor here today."
The CHP Academy Memorial Fountain bears plaques engraved with the names of each of the Department’s 213 officers killed in the line of duty since its formation 79 years ago.
This year, the names of the following three CHP officers were added to the fountain:
Officer Robert F. Dickey who was killed June 10, 2007, in an automobile collision on I-8 while on patrol in Imperial County. Officer Dickey was a five-year veteran and worked out of the CHP’s Winterhaven Area office. He is survived by his wife and son.
Officer Douglas S. Russell who was struck and killed while deploying a spike strip to stop a vehicle involved in a pursuit on Highway 50, July 31, 2007. The 22-year veteran worked out of the CHP’s Placerville Area office and is survived by his wife.
Officer John Miller who was killed in an automobile collision Nov. 16, 2007, while searching for a reported drunk driver. Officer Miller had served with the CHP for one year and was assigned to the Dublin Area office. He is survived by his wife and two children.
"We live under the protection of brave men and women who risk their lives every day in an effort to make California one of the safest states in the country," Commissioner Farrow said.
Flags at CHP offices throughout the state also will be flown at half-staff from May 11 through May 17 in observance of National Police Week.
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