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- Written by: Elizabeth Larson
NORTHERN CALIFORNIA – A new complex of wildland fires reported outside of Maxwell Sunday afternoon rapidly scorched thousands of acres.
The Sites Complex includes five fires burning in the area of Sites Lodoga Road west of Maxwell in neighboring Colusa County, according to Cal Fire.
Shortly after 7 p.m. Sunday Cal Fire reported that the complex – first reported at 3:45 p.m. – had grown to an estimated 350 acres, with 10 percent containment.
Less than an hour later, the size of the fire was put at 2,500 acres, with the same containment level.
Cal Fire’s Sonoma-Lake-Napa Unit responded with ground and air crews throughout the afternoon.
Reports from the scene indicated the fire was burning in brush and moving up hillsides, with structures threatened.
Cal Fire said Sunday evening that 150 personnel and 28 engines were involved in the firefighting effort on the Sites Complex, along with six fire crews, six air tankers, two helicopters and five dozers.
Smoke from the fire could be seen along the hilltops separating Lake County from Colusa County, where firefighters were still at work on the Mill Fire, which had begun the previous day in the Mendocino National Forest.
More information on the Sites Complex will be posted as it becomes available.
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- Written by: Lake County News reports
UPPER LAKE, Calif. – Lake County Sheriff’s officials are searching for an inmate worker who walked away from a work crew on Saturday.
Alden Vincent Miller, 50, of Upper Lake was reported missing from the crew Saturday afternoon, according to a Sunday report from Capt. Chris Macedo.
At approximately 3:52 p.m. Saturday Lake County Sheriff’s deputies were dispatched to the Lake County Department of Public Services yard located on Mendenhall Drive in Upper Lake to take a report of an inmate worker who had walked away, Macedo said.
He reported that deputies were able to confirm that Miller had walked away from his work detail.
Miller was a sentenced inmate at the Hill Road Correctional Facility and had been in custody on a drug related charge, according to Macedo.
Macedo said Miller and several other inmates were assigned to work at the Department of Public Services yard as part of their sentence.
Miller and the other inmates were picked up by Department of Public Services personnel and transported to the Public Services Yard to perform various duties assigned by the department’s staff, Macedo said.
At approximately 3:20 p.m. Saturday, a Department of Public Services employee was unloading a truck and noticed that Miller was missing, Macedo said.
The department staffer gathered the rest of the inmate workers in an attempt to find out where Miller was before calling the Lake County Sheriff’s Office to report Miller as missing, according to Macedo.
Macedo said the Public Services employee found Miller’s inmate work shirt and hat near the corner of First and Sabini streets in Upper Lake, which is near the county yard where Miller was assigned to work.
Deputies immediately responded to the area and searched for Miller. Macedo said deputies searched Upper Lake and the surrounding area with negative results. Lake County Sheriff’s Office Central Dispatch broadcast a “be on the lookout” for Miller.
Deputies interviewed the rest of the inmate crew and none of them were able to provide any information as to the whereabouts or reasons Miller walked away, Macedo said.
If anybody observes Miller or has information as to his whereabouts, they are encouraged to call the Lake County Sheriff’s Office at 707-263-2690.
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- Written by: Lake County News reports
MENDOCINO NATIONAL FOREST, Calif. – A fire that began burning Saturday on the Mendocino National Forest was reported to have reached approximately 350 acres by Sunday morning.
The Mill Fire was spotted at 3 p.m. Saturday near Mill Valley Campground in Colusa County, forest officials reported.
By Sunday morning firefighters had reached 40 percent containment on the fire, according to forest spokesperson Tamara Schmidt.
Schmidt said full containment is expected by Friday, July 13.
A Type 3 Incident Team is currently working on the fire with more resources coming in Sunday, Schmidt said.
The cause of the fire is currently under investigation. Forest officials are not currently aware of any injuries associated with this fire.
Mill Valley, Mill Creek and Letts Lake campgrounds have been evacuated, as well as the Board Camp summer home tract. Approximately 25 structures are threatened, including the campgrounds, according to Schmidt.
Evacuees with recreational equipment remaining at the campgrounds should contact the Stonyford Work Center at 530-963-3128 to make arrangements to reclaim their gear.
The M10 Road between Letts Lake and Fouts Springs, leading to Stonyford, is currently inaccessible. Visitors are being asked to avoid the Fouts Springs and Davis Flat area due to increased fire traffic. This includes off-highway vehicle (OHV) trail systems in the area.
For more information, please contact the Mendocino National Forest at 530-934-3316, the Stonyford Work Center at 530-963-3128, or visit www.fs.usda.gov/mendocino .
- Details
- Written by: Elizabeth Larson
NORTHERN CALIFORNIA – A 4.3-magnitude quake was reported near the coastal town of Fort Bragg in Mendocino County early Sunday morning.
The US Geological Survey said the quake occurred at 5:05 a.m. two miles north northwest of Fort Bragg and 40 miles northwest of Ukiah. It was recorded at the earth’s surface.
A survey shake map showed the quake’s intensity at its center was rated as “strong.”
By 11:30 a.m. Sunday the US Geological Survey had received 322 shake reports from 21 zip codes from around Mendocino and Humboldt counties, and other parts of the Northern California.
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