LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Fire Prevention Week kicked off Sunday, Oct. 7, and runs through Saturday, Oct. 13, and Cal Fire is planning open houses at its Sonoma-Lake-Napa Unit stations as part of the week’s activities.
The Cal Fire Sonoma-Lake-Napa Unit is teaming up with the National Fire Protection Association to promote this year’s Fire Prevention Week campaign: “Look. Listen. Learn. Be aware. Fire can happen anywhere.”
The campaign is working to educate the public about basic but essential ways to quickly and safely escape a home fire.
Remember these three easy things when making your home safe:
• Look for possible fire hazards in your home and eliminate them. Are your outlets overloaded? Check the circuit loads of your electrical appliances and devices and unplug when not in use. Inspect your appliance cords. If any are torn, ripped, or damaged in any way, replace them immediately. If a cord or plug ever feels hot, unplug it.
• Listen for the sound of the smoke alarm. Know that you may have only minutes to get out if a fire starts.
• Learn two ways out of every room. Exits should be easy to access and free of clutter. After leaving the home, go to your family’s designated meeting spot that was created when you set up your home fire escape plan.
Sonoma-Lake-Napa Unit Chief Shana Jones invites the public to visit a local Cal Fire station on Saturday, Oct. 13, where the community will have the opportunity step into a firefighter’s world.
Guests will view where firefighters train, work, eat and sleep when they are not responding to a local or statewide emergency incident.
Fire prevention educational materials to homeowners and families will also be available.
Participating stations are listed below.
Lake County
Station 31: 15522 Lake St., Middletown Station 34: 8948 Highway 175, Kelseyville Station 40: 140 Springs Road, Clearlake Oaks
Napa County
Station12: 7401 Solano Ave., Yountville Station 25: 1820 Monticello Road, Napa Station 26: 3535 St Helena Highway, Calistoga
Sonoma County
Station 43:12604 River Road, Guerneville Station 49: 1001 Cloverdale Blvd., Cloverdale Station 44: 960 Annapolis Road, Sea Ranch Station 41: 2210 W. College Ave., Santa Rosa Station 42: 3100 Acreage Lane, Occidental Station 46: 14000 Sonoma Highway, Glen Ellen Station 47: 655 Lohrman Lane, Petaluma
Erica Boomer. Courtesy photo. UPPER LAKE, Calif. – Upper Lake High School’s agriculture teacher has been named a California Teacher of the Year.
On Tuesday State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson announced that Erica Boomer was among the five 2019 California Teacher of the Year honorees.
Upper Lake Unified School District Superintendent Dr. Giovanni Annous was overjoyed by the news of Boomer’s award.
“I am in awe. I am so excited,” he told Lake County News after the district’s board meeting on Tuesday night.
Annous said he had heard last week that Boomer was being considered. However, as of Tuesday evening the district hadn’t received formal notification from the state.
It was during the regular Tuesday evening board meeting that staffers began receiving texts letting them know that Boomer had won.
As soon as he got back to his office on Tuesday night, he confirmed the news and sent out an email to staff and board members announcing the honors for Boomer.
“She exemplifies what we all strive to be as educators – her level of compassion and ethics, drive and education,” Annous said.
Lake County News was unable to reach Boomer on Tuesday evening.
However, in Torlakson’s announcement of the California Teacher of the Year winners, Boomer is quoted as saying, “One of the most important aspects of education is the challenge of appealing to the varying styles of learning that are unique to each student. My biggest goal is to help students reach their individual potential.”
Boomer was given the distinction along with Rosie Reid, who teaches English to ninth through twelfth grade students at Northgate High School, Mount Diablo Unified School District in Walnut Creek, Contra Costa County, and who Torlakson nominated as California’s representative for the National Teacher of the Year competition; Kim Holz, a fourth grade multi-subject teacher at Opal Robinson Elementary, Manhattan Beach Unified School District in Manhattan Beach, Los Angeles County; Michael Henges, a 12th grade government and economics teacher at Redondo Union High School, Redondo Beach Unified in Redondo Beach, Los Angeles County; and Angel Mejico, a seventh and eighth grade art teacher at El Cerrito Middle School, Corona-Norco Unified School District in Corona, Riverside County.
“These five remarkable teachers deserve thanks and admiration for their deep commitment, hard work, and creativity,” Torlakson said. “They make profound differences in their students’ lives and provide students the tools they need to succeed. They’re an inspiration and an example of the exceptional work going on in California schools.”
She is the third California Teacher of the Year awardee from Lake County, joining Alan Siegel, a history, civics, economics and media teacher at Konocti Unified School District’s Carlé Continuation High School who won the honor in 2005, and eighth grade physical science teacher Jennifer Kelly of Middletown Middle School in Middletown Unified, who was honored in 2011.
Building a program
Raised on a ranch in Lake County, Boomer was active in 4-H and attended Upper Lake High School in the late 1990s before going on to receive her Bachelor of Science degree in agricultural education at Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo.
After her graduation from college, in 2005 she was hired at Upper Lake High School, where she started the agricultural program.
Under Boomer’s leadership, the program has grown and flourished. Thanks to her advocacy, a school barn was constructed, an ag truck and stock trailer were acquired and Career Tech Education Agriscience was created.
School officials said she also created a school farm and brought in a California Partnership Academy program related to sustainable agriculture and alternative energy so that students can have hands-on, career technical education opportunities.
Boomer serves as FFA advisor, teaches agriculture, wood and metal shop, and science, and mentors new agricultural teachers.
“Her students clearly know objectives when they come into the classroom every day and are ready to work, whether it’s in the shop, at the farm, or in the lab,” the award announcement said. “Boomer creates a personal connection with students and uses humor to help them feel more comfortable and less pressure, so that they’re ready to interact with the lessons and other students. Each period of the day brings with it a different type of lesson, a lab, or activity, and then hands-on interactive lessons.”
Over the past decades, as cuts have been proposed to agricultural education, Boomer also has lobbied state officials to protect those learning opportunities.
She’s been lauded by colleagues and administrators for her efforts and her work with the community and especially with students.
“Beyond the knowledge, the best teaching practices, the rigorous standards – Erica loves her students,” said Angel Hayenga, English Department chair at Upper Lake High School. “You can hear it in their voices when they call her ‘Boom,’ and you can see it in their eyes when they look at her in wonder, cradling a baby chick in their palms.”
The California Teachers of the Year Program began in 1972 to honor outstanding teachers and encourage new teachers to enter the profession. It’s presented by California Casualty and the California Teachers of the Year Foundation.
County offices of education nominate California Teachers of the Year winners through their county-level competitions.
A state selection committee reviews candidates' applications and conducts site visits to evaluate the teachers' rapport with students, classroom environment, presentation skills, and teaching techniques.
The teachers are interviewed by the California Department of Education. The state superintendent then selects the five awardees.
Torlakson, who launched a “Make the Switch: Become a Teacher” campaign this year, said these teachers will be great ambassadors for the profession. Due to California’s teacher shortage, he said, it is important to get the word out about the rewards of being a teacher.
"Great teachers are the backbone of our education system. Teaching is a commitment to your community, your students, and most of all, a commitment to the future,” he said.
The 2019 California Teachers of the Year, finalists, and semi finalists will be honored by Torlakson at a gala to be held in Sacramento on Dec. 10.
Ahead of that, Annous said the Upper Lake Unified School District will plan to celebrate Boomer’s honor.
“We’re going to throw a big celebration. It’s something to be extremely proud of,” Annous said.
Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.
A semi rollover injured the driver on Monday, October 8, 2018, in Redwood Valley, Calif. Photo courtesy of the California Highway Patrol. NORTH COAST, Calif. – A Lakeport man was injured on Monday when the semi truck he was driving rolled over in a Redwood Valley crash.
Matthew Black, 33, suffered moderate injuries in the wreck, which occurred at about 10:40 a.m. Monday, according to the California Highway Patrol’s Ukiah Area office.
The CHP said Black was driving a 1991 Kenworth water truck in the eastbound lane of West Road in the vicinity of Road N in Redwood Valley when, for an unknown reason, he allowed the semi’s right truck tires to travel onto the right shoulder of the roadway.
Black attempted a series of steering movements in an attempt to regain control of the truck, which partially entered the westbound lane before reentering the eastbound lane, at which time it rolled onto its right side and slid onto the right shoulder of the roadway, the CHP report said.
THe CHP said the Kenworth hit a tree and two fences before coming to rest on the south shoulder of West Road on its right side, facing in a westerly direction. While the report said the truck was on its right side, photos of the scene showed it lying on its left side, the driver’s side.
The reports said the CHP, Redwood Valley Fire and Verihealth Ambulance responded to the crash.
Black, who the CHP said was wearing his seat belt, was transported to Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital for treatment.
The roadway was blocked for several hours while the big rig was recovered, according to CHP reports.
The crash’s exact cause remains under investigation, the CHP said.
Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.
A stretch of West Road in Redwood Valley, Calif., was blocked for several hours during the recovery of an overturned semi truck on Monday, October 8, 2018. Photo courtesy of the California Highway Patrol.
NORTHERN CALIFORNIA – Cal Fire said Tuesday that its investigators have determined that equipment was the cause of the Steele fire in Napa County in late July.
The fire started in dry bush in the Berryessa Highlands community just before 4:30 p.m. on July 28, Cal Fire said.
It led to evacuations, destroyed eight structures and damaged four others, and burned 135 acres, according to Cal Fire.
Officials said dozens of firefighters from several counties assisted in extinguishing the blaze, which was burning as the Ranch and River fires on the Mendocino complex in Lake and Mendocino counties was growing.
While Cal Fire Sonoma-Lake-Napa Unit investigators have determined the cause of the fire was equipment use, the agency did not specify what type of equipment when contacted by Lake County News.
Sonoma-Lake-Napa Unit Chief Shana Jones urged the public to use extreme caution while maintaining defensible space around their homes and reminds citizens that if they are found responsible for causing a fire they could face criminal or civil penalties. Remember “One Less Spark, One Less Wildfire.”
Cal Fire encourages all area residents to stay vigilant and prepare for wildfire.
NORTHERN CALIFORNIA – After a thorough investigation, Cal Fire has determined the Cascade fire, which occurred during the October 2017 Fire Siege, was started by sagging power lines coming into contact during heavy winds.
Cal Fire released its findings on Tuesday.
At the same time, it reported that it found no violations of the Public Resources Code.
Cal Fire forwarded its investigative report to the Yuba County District Attorney’s Office, which announced it would not be filing criminal charges in relation to the fire.
Pacific Gas and Electric Co. responded on Tuesday by issuing a statement emphasizing that the safety of customers, their families and the communities the company serves “is our most important job.”
The statement continued, “Without question, the loss of life, homes and businesses in these extraordinary wildfires is heartbreaking and we remain focused on helping communities recover and rebuild. As independent experts have confirmed, extreme weather, years of drought, and millions of dead trees are feeding an unprecedented risk of wildfires. In light of this, we recognize we all need to do even more to help reduce the risk of wildfires, and are committed to working together with our state and community partners to develop comprehensive safety solutions for the future.”
The Cascade fire in Yuba County started on the evening of Oct. 8 and burned a total of 9,989 acres, destroying 264 structures, and resulting in four civilian fatalities and one firefighter injury.
A high wind event in conjunction with the power line sag on two conductors caused the lines to come into contact, which created an electrical arc, Cal Fire said.
Cal Fire said the electrical arc deposited hot burning or molten material onto the ground in a receptive fuel bed causing the fire. The common term for this situation is called “line slap” and the power line in question was owned by PG&E.
On Tuesday, Yuba County District Attorney Patrick McGrath released his investigative findings, concluding “that a criminal jury would be unable to unanimously agree beyond a reasonable doubt that the evidence is sufficient to establish criminal negligence, as opposed to ordinary civil negligence, on the part of Pacific Gas and Electric as it relates to the probable cause of the Cascade Fire.”
The report continued, “Given these conclusions, prosecutors are ethically obligated not to proceed with a criminal prosecution and no criminal charges have been filed. This office reserves the right to review any additional information or evidence that may be submitted to it prior to the expiration of the criminal statute of limitations.”
In total, the October 2017 Fire Siege involved more than 170 fires and burned at least 245,000 acres in Northern California. Approximately 11,000 firefighters from 17 states and Australia helped battle the blazes.
Cal Fire investigators were dispatched to the fires last year and immediately began working to determine their origin and cause.
The agency’s investigators continue to investigate the Tubbs fire and will release the report once it is completed, Cal Fire reported.
NORTHERN CALIFORNIA – The California Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery is joining the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services to announce the completion of wildfire debris removal in Siskiyou County, with work still ongoing in Lake and Shasta counties.
Final inspections on cleared lots are under way and should be complete by mid-October.
Since August 27, 2018, crews removed more than 13,670 tons of wildfire debris from 49 private properties, including:
· 9,835 tons of ash/debris; · 1,009 tons of concrete (recycled); · 2,371 tons of contaminated soil; · 391 tons of metal (recycled).
“The completion of wildfire debris removal in Siskiyou County is a significant milestone in California’s wildfire recovery efforts,” CalRecycle Director Scott Smithline said. “CalRecycle is incredibly proud of the progress we’ve made together with our state and local partners to help these communities heal and put homeowners in a position to rebuild.”
Remaining debris removal operations
CalRecycle-managed crews continue to make progress on three additional wildfire debris removal operations on properties impacted by the Carr Fire in Shasta County as well as Lake County properties affected by the Pawnee and Mendocino Complex fires .
Officials said participating properties total 49 for the Klamathon, 968 for the Carr fire, 121 for the Mendocino Complex and 13 for the Pawnee fire.
CalRecycle also reported the following information on the incidents.
CalRecycle implements phase two of California’s Consolidated Debris Removal Program under the leadership of CalOES and local governments.
Following the removal of household hazardous waste, which is phase one, CalOES and local officials coordinate with CalRecycle to execute contracts and conduct fire-related debris removal on private properties at no out-of-pocket costs to homeowners.
Homeowners must sign and return right-of-entry forms to their local governments to participate in the state-run program.
Those who wish to conduct their own cleanup or hire private contractors to remove wildfire debris may do so, but should be aware of local safety and environmental standards and requirements.
The city of Clearlake, Calif., is building the new Dam Road Extension. Photo courtesy of the city of Clearlake. CLEARLAKE, Calif. – In coordination with the Clear Lake Chamber of Commerce, the city of Clearlake will be hosting a ribbon cutting and grand opening to celebrate the completion of the Dam Road Extension project on Friday, Oct. 12.
The celebration will take place beginning at 2:30 pm at the bottom of the new road.
“Please come out and help us celebrate the first major new road in the history of the city of Clearlake,” said City Manager Greg Folsom. “This project will connect the Avenues to one of the busiest shopping and education areas in town and will also provide another needed means of egress from the Avenues during times of emergency.”
MIDDLETOWN, Calif. – The Middletown Area Town Hall this week will host a debate between the two Lake County Superior Court candidates and discuss a number of projects proposed for the south county.
MATH will meet at 7 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 11, at the Middletown Community Center, 21256 Washington St.
Meetings are open to the community, and offer the opportunity for additional public input on items not included on the agenda.
On the agenda ia a debate between Superior Court candidates Don Anderson and Shanda Harry.
Anderson is Lake County’s district attorney and Harry is a deputy county counsel. She received the most votes in the June primary in a field that was then narrowed to her and Anderson.
Also on the agenda is a review of a Verizon Wireless proposal to co-locate a communication facility on an existing tower at 21347 State Highway 175, Middletown.
MATH also will take public comment on the plans for the Hardester’s Market rebuild and the new Dollar General.
The MATH Board includes Chair Joseph Sullivan, Vice Chair Courtney Van Leuven, Secretary Marlene Elder, and members-at member Lisa Kaplan, and alternates Mike Tabacchi and Claude Brown.
MATH – established by resolution of the Lake County Board of Supervisors on Dec. 12, 2006 – is a municipal advisory council serving the residents of Anderson Springs, Cobb, Coyote Valley (including Hidden Valley Lake), Long Valley and Middletown.
Meetings are subject to videotaping.
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Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – First 5 Honors Lake County is honoring several community members for their work on behalf of local children.
The First 5 Lake Children’s Champions for the third quarter of 2018 are Sarah Fuchs and Pam Inman at Lower Lake High School, Wendy Gattoni and Tanya Biasotti from Healthy Start, Realtor Natalie Baker, child care provider Jacqui Joyce and teen parent advocate Jordan O’Halloran from Lake Family Resource Center.
The skills that adults need to get and keep a job, care for children, manage finances and contribute in a productive way to society are many and varied. Functioning adults must be able to focus, plan, manage distractions and adjust behavior to the demands, rules and priorities at hand - on the job or in their family. They must remember key information, follow multistep directions, resist impulsivity and persevere to achieve long-term goals.
The brain development which allows for these core capabilities to be built and strengthened throughout life occurs during the first five years of a person’s life.
A lack of supportive, responsive relationships and a safe stable environment, or the presence of chronic stressors (poverty and discrimination) and adverse childhood experiences (abuse and neglect, parental mental illness and substance abuse, or family violence) can disrupt healthy brain development in children, creating lifelong negative consequences that hamper the development of core capabilities needed in adulthood.
Since not every child begins life with the same strong foundation and because risk factors for adverse childhood experiences and chronic stress are high in Lake County, First 5 Lake wants to shine a light on those in our community who are making a positive difference in the lives of our youngest citizens and inspire others to do the same.
Each quarter in 2018, the First 5 Lake Commissioners are recognizing “Children’s Champions” in our community – people who are going above and beyond to make sure that our youngest citizens are protected, nurtured, and prioritized.
Sarah Fuchs and Pam Inman were instrumental in making sure that the Lower Lake High School evacuation center was a safe haven for those displaced by the River and Ranch Fires.
Fuchs is the LLHS athletic director and an active member of the PTO. During the evacuations, she volunteered and worked tirelessly making sure that the needs of all evacuees were met, she did this with a team of student athlete volunteers that she recruited and supervised.
Meanwhile, Inman made sure children, especially the youngest children, in the shelter had fun activities to ease their minds and help pass the time. She is the “Careers with Children” teacher at LLHS and she teaches students about child development and positive parenting along with other skills that will help them not only in their future careers, but also in life.
Wendy Gattoni and Tanya Biasotti are advocates in the Healthy Start program through Lake County Office of Education.
Gattoni works closely with the schools to prioritize the needs of the most vulnerable students and goes out of her way to help meet the needs of children after hours and on weekends.
During the River and Ranch fires she rallied other volunteers to help evacuees with their laundry. On the first night of the project she and her team stayed at the laundromat until 1 a.m. washing families’ clothing and linens to ease their stress during a difficult time.
Biasotti has been going above and beyond the call of duty her whole life and she currently volunteers on a daily basis at the schools in Konocti Unified School District. As a family advocate for Healthy Start, she took it upon herself to visit the Woodland College (Clearlake Campus) Child Development Center to inquire about any needs of the families whose young children receive care at the facility.
She was able to link many families to services that they might not have been aware of or able to access outside the K-12 school system. During the evacuations, Biasotti volunteered daily from noon to 10 p.m., checking in with families regarding any medical or dental needs that children might have.
Whenever there is a need, especially during a disaster, Natalie Baker of Konocti Realty is a person who shows up out of her deep care and concern for her community. She serves out of the kindness of her heart and love for Lake County.
During the River and Ranch fire evacuations, Baker and her equally amazing friends and family members set up pop-up canopies and tables in the parking lot of Big 5 and Tractor Supply in Clearlake and began serving hot meals to anyone who needed one.
They spent their own money on food and supplies on the first day and then the community rallied behind them and began to drop off meat, bread, vegetables and other needed items on a daily basis.
Day-after-day Baker and her team served hundreds of meals and gave away donated items to people who were not being served by the evacuation shelters, easing the burden of many families needing to feed their children while being unable to get to fire-affected workplaces.
She also serves the community by volunteering as a home visitor with Mother-Wise, helping to ease the burden of Lake County moms who experience postpartum depression or other mood disorders.
Jacqui Joyce runs a child care program in her home and is a nurturing, compassionate and hard-working care provider. Earlier this year she was nominated for an Early Childhood Educator of the Year award.
She also goes above and beyond to help meet the needs of the community. During the River and Ranch fires, Joyce drove to donor’s homes, collected items and distributed them all around the Lake to people in need, making sure that families had the basic necessities of life.
Joyce wanted to ensure that children had clothing, food, and needed comfort items to help ease their fears during the prolonged fires, and she took the initiative to do what she could to make a difference.
Jordan O’Halloran is a Children’s Champion for her work with teen and young adult parents through Lake Family Resource Center.
The work that O’Halloran does is much more than a job to her and she frequently goes out of her way to make sure that teen parents and their children have everything they need to thrive.
As many of the parents she serves are still technically children themselves, they need a different level of care and coaching than older first-time parents require. She understands this and connects them with community resources, organizes social gatherings, provides needed education and advocacy, arranges transportation, and accompanies them to appointments as needed, showing them how much she cares and assuring them of their potential.
The First 5 Lake Commissioners are honored to bring these Children’s Champions and their efforts to the attention of our Lake County friends and neighbors.
Members of the community are encouraged to nominate worthy Champions for Children in Lake County, by filling out a nomination form at: www.firstfivelake.org/childrens-champions.php .
New Champions will be selected and honored each quarter.
First 5 Lake is also recruiting applicants throughout the month of October for a vacant seat on the Commission.
Using funds derived from CA Proposition 10’s voter-mandated tax on tobacco products, the First 5 Lake County Commission funds programs and services that benefit the health and development of young children and educate parents, grandparents, caregivers and teachers about the critical role they play during a child’s first five years.
Since its inception in 2000, First 5 Lake has supported thousands of families with programs and services designed to help Lake County children grow up healthy and ready to succeed in school and life. Current First 5 Lake Commissioners are Pam Klier, Denise Pomeroy, Brock Falkenberg, Tina Scott, Crystal Markytan, Susan Jen, Carly Swatosh, and Allison Panella.
The safety of pedestrians and bicyclists is the focus of a federal grant to the California Highway Patrol for the coming year.
The California Pedestrian and Bicyclist Enforcement and Education Project, or CPBEEP, grant runs from Oct. 1, 2018, through Sept. 30, 2019.
During this year-long statewide campaign, CHP officers will conduct enhanced enforcement activities and public education campaigns.
“California roadways must be safe for everyone, including those who are walking or bicycling,” CHP Commissioner Warren Stanley said. “This grant lets us channel more resources to bicycle and pedestrian safety, to help accomplish the CHP’s mission of saving lives.”
Bicycle and pedestrian fatalities account for 29 percent of all roadway fatalities in California. Data from the Statewide Integrated Traffic Records System show 1,075 bicyclists and pedestrians killed, and more than 26,095 injured on California roadways during Federal Fiscal Year 2016. This equates to nearly three bicycle and pedestrian fatalities in California each day.
The enforcement component of the grant covers all laws affecting the safety of pedestrians and bicyclists.
Among the issues to be addressed are motorists failing to yield for pedestrians, illegally passing school buses, speeding, distracted driving and California’s 3-Feet for Safety law, which requires motorists to pass bicyclists at a safe distance.
Enforcement also includes bicyclists riding in the wrong direction and failing to stop at stop signs and stop lights.
Educational efforts funded by the CPBEEP grant will promote safe behavior by pedestrians, bicyclists, and motorists.
Pedestrian and bicyclist safety materials will especially emphasize the safety of children and the elderly.
The education component also includes intensive training on bicycle and pedestrian traffic safety for officers.
Funding for this program was provided by a grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
LOWER LAKE, Calif. – A “Candidates’ Night” for Konocti Unified School District board candidates will take place on Wednesday, Oct. 10.
The event will take place from 6 to 7:30 p.m. in the Carol McClung Room at the District Office, 9430 Lake St., Lower Lake.
The Konocti Education Association and the California School Employees Association Chapter 12 will host the forum for community members to meet the candidates seeking a seat on the Konocti Unified School District Board of Trustees.
The hosts will be presenting six to 10 questions, followed by participation from audience members.
The Sulphur fire's destruction in Clearlake, Calif., on Monday, October 9, 2017. Photo by Kurt Jensen. LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – A year after the Sulphur fire began, the impacted communities continue to recover, government officials are working to restore infrastructure and dozens of residents who lost homes are suing Pacific Gas and Electric, which was faulted by a state investigation for having been responsible for the fire.
In June, Cal Fire released the results of its investigations into the cause of a dozen wildland fires across Northern California – including the Sulphur fire in Lake County – and concluded that, in all of them, electric power and distribution lines were to blame, a finding that is expected to bolster lawsuits being filed by residents across the North Coast, as Lake County News has reported.
Cal Fire said its investigators reached those conclusions about the fires in Lake, Humboldt, Butte, Sonoma and Napa counties after “extensive and thorough investigations.”
Cal Fire’s June report gave findings on the Sulphur fire in Lake County; the Redwood fire in Mendocino County; the Cherokee fire in Butte County; the 37 and Pocket fires in Sonoma County; the Blue fire in Humboldt County; the Norrbom, Adobe, Partrick, Pythian and Nuns fires in Sonoma and Napa counties; and the Atlas fire in Napa County.
“This news is a somber reminder of all the losses sustained here over the past three seasons – totaling over 1,800 homes and approximately 22 percent of our land mass. This cycle of wildfire must end, with responsible parties held accountable,” Lake County Administrative Officer Carol Huchingson told Lake County News after the finding was announced.
That finding followed Cal Fire’s May announcement that its investigators also have concluded that PG&E power equipment was to blame for the La Porte and Honey fires in Butte County, and the McCourtney and Lobo fires in Nevada County.
So far, Cal Fire has not announced a finding regarding the Tubbs fire, also part of the October North Bay fires and the most destructive in California history.
“The loss of life, homes and businesses in these extraordinary wildfires is simply heartbreaking, and we remain focused on helping communities recover and rebuild,” PG&E spokeswoman Deanne Contreras told Lake County News. “We look forward to the opportunity to carefully review the Cal Fire reports to understand the agency’s perspectives.”
She also said that PG&E continues to believe that its overall programs “met our state’s high standards.”
The company said new solutions to wildfires and the need to enhance infrastructure resiliency must be sought, and the availability and affordability of insurance coverage must be addressed as “we believe it is imperative to reform California’s unsustainable policies regarding wildfire liability.”
PG&E said it has launched the Community Wildfire Safety Program in response to the growing threats posed by wildfires and extreme weather.
The company said that program’s components include a state-of-the-art wildlife safety operations center, a weather stations network throughout high fire risk area, fire defense zones near power lines in high fire threat areas and a public safety power shutoff, a program to be used as a last resort to shut off power for safety when extreme fire danger conditions occur and to provide – when and where possible – early warning notification.
PG&E said last month that about 100 of the weather stations in the new program have been installed so far, including stations in Clearlake, Kelseyville and Middletown, and in Mendocino County on Bald Mountain, Pine Mountain and Redwood Valley, according to PG&E spokeswoman Deanna Contreras.
PG&E also took another action after the Sulphur fire but ahead of Cal Fire’s release of its findings.
In April, PG&E filed a claim against the county of Lake. In the document, the company states, “PG&E believes it may have claims against Lake County for contribution and equitable indemnity of any claim that has been or will be asserted against PG&E.”
The claim goes on to state that California state law requires individuals and companies with potential claims against public entities to present notice of those claims within a specified time, which was the reason for its action.
“Upon information and belief, these claims may stem from Lake County’s actions and inactions both before and during the Lake County Fires,” the document states, going on to name a host of possible reasons, including inadequacy of urban planning and property development approvals; water, emergency preparedness and infrastructure for which Lake County is responsible; enforcement of laws and ordinances regarding vegetation, defensible space and other ordinances designed to mitigate the effects of drought and fuel load; fire and emergency response during the fires; and other failures of Lake County to perform its duties.
The tort claim document also states, “It is clear that weather conditions are becoming more extreme and that our solutions to wildfires must evolve, too. This challenge requires us all to work together in order to be more successful. Years of drought, extreme heat and 129 million dead trees have created a ‘new normal’ for our state, and we must continue to adapt to meet these challenges. Extreme weather is increasing the number of large wildfires and the length of the wildfire season in California. We are committed to working with California communities and legislative leaders, as we collectively seek to meet the challenge of climate change and position the California economy for success.”
Cal Fire’s investigations have been referred to the appropriate county district attorney’s offices for review in eight of the 12 fires – Sulphur, Blue, Norrbom, Patrick, Pythian, Adobe, Pocket and Atlas – due to evidence of alleged violations of state law.
The Sulphur fire area. Map courtesy of Cal Fire. Tracking the Sulphur fire to its source
Cal Fire’s investigation found that the 2,207-acre Sulphur fire, which destroyed 162 structures, was caused by the failure of a PG&E owned power pole, resulting in the power lines and equipment coming in contact with the ground. It took nearly three weeks to fully contain it.
An incident report from Oct. 11 that originally was released by PG&E in redacted form and late last year released unredacted by the California Public Utilities Commission described an issue with power equipment on the night of Oct. 8.
At 11:55 p.m. Oct. 8 two power poles broke near Pomo and Sulphur Bank roads in Clearlake Oaks, according to the report.
On the evening of Oct. 10, PG&E staff reported identifying the two broken poles on the 12 kilovolt Redbud 1102 Circuit near Pomo and Sulphur Bank roads.
The report said the top section of one pole, identified as fuse cutout pole No. 1447, had broken and fallen to the ground, along with a second pole one span to the west, which had burned and also fell. No identifying number was given for the second pole in that initial report.
Cal Fire took possession of pole No. 1447 as well as the bottom portion where the break occurred above the communication conductors, the incident reports stated.
In its response to the Cal Fire conclusion about the Sulphur fire being caused by a PG&E-owned power pole, PG&E said it meets or exceeds regulatory requirements for pole integrity management, and uses a comprehensive database to manage multiple patrol and inspection schedules of our more than two million poles.
Beyond that, the company said that there was an “unprecedented confluence of weather-related conditions,” included years of drought resulting in 129 million dead trees, a record-setting wet winter that spurred the growth of vegetation that then became abundant fuel after record-setting heat during the summer months, very low humidity and very high winds.
Cal Fire’s original public statement in June did not confirm if the site named in the PG&E incident report was where the agency’s investigators concluded the Sulphur fire had begun.
However, District Attorney Don Anderson, who received a copy of Cal Fire’s investigative report, said that the report gave the location where the fire started as power pole No. 1447, located at 1350 Sulphur Bank Drive in Clearlake Oaks, the same pole named in the PG&E report.
Anderson said the Cal Fire investigative report stated that woodpeckers had gutted the center of the PG&E power pole, putting acorns inside of it and making it weak. The pole then went down and started the fire.
About three weeks before Cal Fire released its findings in June, agency officials came to Lake County and dropped off a nearly 2-inch report on the fire, along with photos, at the District Attorney’s Office, Anderson said.
“From my reading of it, there’s enough there to file,” he said. “Then it gets down to provability.”
Anderson said part of the issue in the report is the finding that PG&E wasn’t maintaining its power poles.
He said PG&E is required by state code to have a 10-foot clearing around that type of power pole. He said they normally have a hired company come out and spray around the poles. “In this case they never did,” he said, and when the pole came down, it came down straight into the vegetation and grass underneath it.
In Lake County’s case, Anderson said there may be some criminal and civil liability for PG&E. If he elects to file either criminal or civil action, Anderson said he anticipates handling the case against PG&E to require at least one full-time staffer. “They’re going to fight it with everything they’ve got, and they have an endless amount of money.”
After giving the report an initial read through, on June 1, about a week before Cal Fire’s report went public, Anderson met with districts attorney from Napa and Sonoma counties to discuss working together and reaching out to the California Attorney General’s Office for assistance due to the size of the matter.
The group followed up by sending a letter to the Attorney General’s Office requesting assistance. Anderson said the group of districts attorney working together includes Butte, Calaveras, Lake, Mendocino, Napa and Sonoma counties.
“We don’t have the manpower or the resources to do it properly,” he said. “So we’re waiting for an answer.”
While the Attorney General’s Office has acknowledged receiving the letter, as of the one-year anniversary, Anderson said the group of districts attorney are still waiting for the Attorney General’s Office to make a decision.
He said Lake County also has an agreement – which he just signed – with PG&E to prolong the statute of limitations in a filing until next April.
Anderson said of the case, “We don’t know where it’s going to take us.”
Governments take action
Government at all levels has been active in the recovery, from focusing on survivors, to pursuing litigation, working to get cleanup costs covered and overseeing the rebuild.
Concern for the people who lost their homes is a chief concern for Congressman Mike Thompson, whose district – which includes portions of Lake and Sonoma counties, as well as Napa and Solano counties – was hit hard by the fires.
“I’m going to be pretty insistent that the folks who lost their property and homes in this terrible fire are the ones that we're looking out for,” he said, adding, “They’re my No. 1 priority.”
He continued, “There's a lot of speculation that this is going to end up just pushing everybody's rates up and I want to make absolutely, positively certain that that doesn't happen that way.”
Thompson said that those who work in public policy need to ensure that the people they represent are taken care of in the matter.
People are going to feel the pains from the fires for a long time, Thompson said. “It's not even close to being over.”
Meantime, a number of counties and jurisdictions have been considering or already have filed lawsuits against PG&E over the fires.
Napa, Sonoma and Mendocino counties have filed separate lawsuits against PG&E for the 2017 wildfires.
The county of Lake has signaled its intention to follow suit. The Board of Supervisors held a number of closed session discussions over the course of several months earlier this year about the possibility of initiating litigation against the utility company.
On June 12, four days after Cal Fire released its findings of the cause of the Sulphur fire, the Board of Supervisors voted to initiate litigation against PG&E.
“When terrible and preventable events happen, like the Sulphur Fire, we have to hold the parties at fault accountable for their actions. That doesn’t change, whether the party is an individual citizen or a large utility company,” District 2 Supervisor Jeff Smith, who lost his own home in the Sulphur fire, said in a statement issued following the vote.
At the same meeting, the board chose to initiate litigation and join in the Northern California consortium’s legal action against opioid manufacturers and distributors in California.
In both cases, the county hired the law firm Baron & Budd to represent it.
John Fiske of Baron & Budd said that by the time the county of Lake hired his firm, it already was representing the counties of Mendocino, Napa and Sonoma, and the city of Santa Rosa in legal action against PG&E in response to the North Bay fires, and is representing entities in the Thomas and Butte fires.
Lake County joined what Fiske called a kind of consolidated working group, where cases will be filed locally before being transferred into a Judicial Council Coordinated Proceeding, which will be handled in the San Francisco County Superior Court.
“That leaves open the door to the possibility for having the case eventually tried in that jurisdiction,” he said of Lake County.
He said the proceedings involve 18 fires, dozens of insurance companies, many public entities and thousands of victims, thus the effort to try to coordinate them. He said it gives the California court system a way to handle the related cases in an efficient and effective way.
“In terms of wildfire cases, I think this is the most complex,” he said.
Fiske said the firm has its own investigators working on the cases, and that so far Cal Fire has confirmed what they already know, that PG&E is to blame for the fires.
Pointing out that PG&E is in a big fight in both the court system and in the legislature to avoid liability, Fiske said that when you see that so many of the fires are being referred for criminal investigation, he said that’s “pretty telling” of a systemic failure at an administrative and corporate level.
“We just hope that PG&E aligns its policies with reality,” he said, and focuses on prevention, helps victims focus on rebuilding lives and communities going forward.
Lake County News was unable to confirm with either Baron & Budd or Lake County officials this past week if litigation has yet been filed.
However, a Judicial Council of California civil case coordination proceeding log did not show a Lake County case filed as of Oct. 2.
For the city of Clearlake, where most of the fire’s damage to homes and other structures occurred, City Manager Greg Folsom said they received a lot of grant-funded labor to work on fire mitigation projects throughout the city.
“These workers have really cleaned up the brush on the side of the road in many parts of the city, including within the burn areas. We also received some money from FEMA to repair some of the residential roads in the burn area, but it is not a lot of money,” he said. “That will be a project for next year.”
Folsom said they’ve had eight or nine applications for rebuilding, with one of them, on Calaveras Drive, already completed, another one off Lakeshore and Monterey drives is nearly complete, and still one more off San Joaquin Avenue that appears nearly completed also. “Others are working on plans. I have heard that some want to rebuild but that insurance was not sufficient,” he said.
He said one of the most significant efforts regarding the fires was that put forth by Sen. Mike McGuire – as well as Assemblywoman Aguiar-Curry, Sen. Bill Dodd, and Assemblyman Jim Wood – was working with Clearlake other municipalities and the Governor’s Office to get the “local share” of the disaster clean up costs waived.
Folsom said that was a $300,000 to $400,000 savings to the city.
“Had Sen. McGuire not led the charge to work with us all to get that waived, the impact on the local budgets would have been another disaster for Clearlake and Santa Rosa and the surrounding counties,” Folsom said.
The Sulphur fire, along with several other local fires and the floods of last year, also is the focus of a continuing proclamation of local emergency that the Board of Supervisors has continued to renew every two weeks.
Sulphur fire survivors seek remedies
Lake County attorney Jesse Chrisp, whose firm represents 60 Sulphur fire survivors who lost homes and other structures in the fire, told Lake County News that the experts he has hired to study the incident concluded the location on Pomo and Sulphur Bank roads mentioned in the Cal Fire investigative report is where the fire did, in fact, begin.
He said those experts had determined that the cause of the fire was breaking of power lines at that site.
Chrisp said his firm is only representing Sulphur fire claimants, with other firms working on behalf of other fire survivors around the region.
“We’re taking interest only in that fire because it’s in our backyard,” he said.
Chrisp said he knew Cal Fire was going to be handing down this decision. His firm began filing the claims after Cal Fire released its findings in June and has continued adding plaintiffs in the months since.
One of the hold ups in the cases, Chrisp said, has been that Cal Fire has not yet released its findings for the Tubbs fire, the most destructive of the North Bay fires, and the worst in California, with 22 dead, and more than 5,600 structures and 36,800 acres burned.
However, “It looks like it’s a very solid cause for negligence against PG&E just for the Sulphur fire,” said Chrisp, noting that Cal Fire found there were numerous safety protocols and maintenance that hadn’t been followed. “Our claims in the Sulphur fire are very strong.”
Now, Chrisp’s experts – contractors, builders, engineers and arborists – are working on followup reports for the litigation.
He noted that the filing fees for the case are $1,400 per case, when filing fees are normally about $495. “Civil litigation nowadays is very expensive.”
Chrisp said he thought it was safe to say that it’s at least a year out before anyone starts talking about settlements or dollar amounts. “It’s possible it’s quicker and it’s possible it’s longer,” he said, noting that a lot of it depends on the findings for the Tubbs fire.
He said PG&E has been trying to get strict liability in the form of inverse condemnation taken away. “For our community, that would be devastating,” he said, adding he’s written to his member of Congress and a trial lawyers association to fight against it.
While Chrisp said they knew they are on very solid ground with their cases, “We wanted to make sure that Cal Fire’s decision was made.”
Once suits are filed, however, the process is far from over, he cautioned.
“These are long fights,” he said, adding, “This is not a thing that will be resolved in the next year. It will take years in my estimation.”
Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.
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