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LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Residents of parts of the south county got the go-ahead to begin returning home after nearly a week of mandatory evacuations due to the LNU Lightning Complex.
Sheriff Brian Martin said Thursday evening that the mandatory evacuation orders for Hidden Valley Lake and a portion of the Lower Lake area have been reduced to evacuation warnings.
The sheriff’s office said the reduction from orders to warnings is for the areas east of Highway 29, north of Butts Canyon Road, south of Morgan Valley Road and west of the intersection of Morgan Valley Road and Rocky Creek Road, extending south to Butts Canyon Road.
The sheriff’s office said this includes all residences in the areas of Lower Lake, Spruce Grove Road, Hofacker Lane and Hidden Valley Lake.
Portions of the Jerusalem Valley are in the area that has been reduced from order to warning, officials said.
Earlier in the day, an evacuation warning for Spring Valley, Long Valley and Double Eagle Ranch east of Clearlake Oaks was lifted. It had been issued on Wednesday after the Hennessey fire jumped Highway 16.
The evacuation warnings for Middletown proper and other areas of the south county remain in place, Martin said.
“This decision was down to the wire,” he said during a Thursday evening community meeting.
Martin said the reduction from order to warning doesn’t ensure people returning home are safe when going into those fire-impacted areas.
The decision comes as Cal Fire reported that firefighters had a good day’s work and favorable weather conditions on the Hennessey fire, the portion of the complex burning in Lake County.
Chief Sean Kavanaugh of Cal Fire’s Incident Management Team No. 2 said the LNU Lightning Complex was up to 369,935 acres on Thursday night. That’s an increase of just under 1,100 acres during the day, one of the fire’s smallest days of growth so far. Containment edged up from 33 to 35 percent on Thursday.
Kavanaugh said the Hennessey fire’s acreage had grown to more than 312,000 acres on Thursday.
So far, nearly 1,100 structures have been destroyed and just under 300 damaged as the fire has made its way through Lake, Napa, Solano, Sonoma and Yolo counties.
Sheriff Martin said during the meeting that there has not been much damage to structures from the fire in Lake County.
Lake County Air Pollution Control Officer Doug Gearhart said air conditions were worsening on Thursday night due to shifting winds. He said the smoke and haze are expected to clear in the coming days as there are further directional changes in the winds.
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LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Firefighters working on the LNU Lightning Complex are prioritizing operations in southern Lake County, where a firing operation is part of the strategy to bring the active portion of the complex under control.
The complex grew by 8,000 acres overnight to a total of 368,868 acres, with containment remaining at 33 percent, according to Cal Fire’s Thursday report.
Cal Fire said nearly 2,300 firefighters remain assigned to the incident, burning since Aug. 17.
The number of structures destroyed throughout the complex remained at 1,080 on Thursday, with another 272 structures damaged.
The Hennessey fire – the portion of the complex burning in Lake, Napa, Solano and Yolo counties – is up to 311,222 acres and 33-percent contained, Cal Fire said.
Cal Fire mapping shows that the east side of the fire and the southern half of the west side have secure containment line. However, that leaves the northern portion of the fire in Lake County and the interior portion around Lake Berryessa still without full containment.
Chris Waters, the operations section chief for Cal Fire’s Incident Management Team 2 that is overseeing the fire, said the highest priority area on the Hennessey fire is south and east of Middletown.
He said their highest priority operation is a firing operation in that area around Middletown. There was a “pretty good air show” with aircraft working the fire on Wednesday, with Waters adding that aircraft will be at the scene again on Thursday in support of the firing operation.
On Wednesday, in the area where Cache Creek enters the Capay Valley in Yolo County, the fire crossed Highway 16 and made a run up the hill, starting to head north, Waters said.
The fire is now well-established on a plateau above Highway 16. Waters said they are developing a plan and moving resources into that area to contain it.
In Sonoma County, the complex’s fires showed no change in size or containment. The Walbridge fire west of Healdsburg has burned 55,353 acres and is 19 percent contained, and the Meyers fire north of Jenner is 2,360 acres and 97-percent containment.
On Thursday, an evacuation warning for Spring Valley, Long Valley and Double Eagle Ranch east of Clearlake Oaks was lifted. The warning had been issued on Wednesday after the Hennessey fire jumped Highway 16.
So far, no other evacuation orders or warnings for parts of southern Lake County have been lifted. Sheriff Brian Martin told Lake County News that the situation is being monitored continually and any potential changes depend on weather conditions Thursday afternoon.
As firefighters continue their work on the LNU Lightning Complex, Cal Fire Sonoma Lake Napa Unit Chief Shana Jones said Thursday that new fires across California continue to break out, including 46 new starts on Wednesday.
So far this year, 1.6 million acres have burned in California, compared to 55,000 acres at this time last year, Jones said.
She estimated that the state has another few months of peak fire season ahead.
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On Aug. 12, Presiding Superior Court Judge Michael Lunas formally asked California Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye to approve a judicial emergency order that would allow trial deadline extensions and for proceedings to be held in a location other than the Lake County Courthouse in Lakeport, as Lake County News has reported.
Court Executive Officer Krista LeVier told Lake County News that the chief justice signed the order on Aug. 14 and the court received it the weekend before last.
On Aug. 18, Lunas issued a general order to implement emergency relief stating that in cases in which the statutory deadline for court cases otherwise would expire on Aug. 19 through Sept. 17, any judge of the court may extend the time period provided under the penal code for holding a criminal trial by not more than 30 days.
LeVier said the extra time was needed in order to prepare to resume trial proceedings in accordance with the Public Health officer’s guidance.
The emergency order has impacted six cases; LeVier said that earlier this week, three of those cases entered general time waivers, which is when defendants agree that a trial date can be set beyond the 60 days prescribed in state law.
On March 16, the court suspended all jury trials in response to the pandemic, a move supported by emergency orders issued by the Judicial Council of California that extended the constitutional right to a speedy trial by 90 days, as Lake County News has reported. No trials have been conducted in Lake County since then.
The Judicial Council cleared the way for courts across the state to begin resuming trials in early June, with the Lake County Superior Court planning to start trials in early July.
The courts implemented a number of safety precautions in advance, including installing hand sanitizer stations, requiring masking and social distancing, installing signage, taping off seats in the courtrooms to ensure people are not sitting too close together, placing plexiglass around witness stands, and moving the public court records kiosk into the hall and out of the small room that houses the public window for the court clerk’s office.
For more than a month, LeVier reported that cases that had been set for trial ended up being rescheduled or otherwise resolved.
Then, earlier this month, LeVier said the courts received additional guidance from Lake County Public Health Officer Dr. Gary Pace, which included a suggestion that the courts move jury selection from the courthouse on N. Forbes Street in Lakeport, which is a cramped location even in times that don’t require social distancing.
As a result, LeVier said that the court – in consultation with Dr. Pace – is moving jury selection to the Lake County Fairgrounds on Martin Street, a short distance away.
LeVier said the court has secured the use of Phil Lewis Hall at the fairgrounds and has been working closely with Dr. Pace to ensure all appropriate precautions have been taken.
“Given the ongoing issues with the COVID pandemic, the courts have been trying to balance defendants’ constitutional right to trials with concerns about preventing the spread of the virus,” Pace said in a written statement. “We have been working together on safety plans, and I appreciate the efforts that the judges and court staff are making to protect people who need to be in the courtroom. We have put together some solid precautionary strategies, and we will reevaluate them regularly to ensure that they are adequate.”
Phil Lewis Hall is the main exhibit hall, most recently used as a skating rink, which has nearly 10,000 square feet of space.
LeVier said that during the past several weeks, the court has worked tirelessly to secure the hall and set it up to function as a courtroom.
She said the court offered its thanks to the fair and its chief executive officer, Sheli Wright, who along with her staff has been willing to assist the court in any way possible with its new arrangements.
The fairgrounds facility will allow additional physical distancing for jurors both while entering the building as well as during the jury selection process, LeVier said.
The larger site also will allow for temperature screening upon arrival. No one with a temperature of 100.4 Fahrenheit or more will be allowed to enter the building, LeVier said.
Once the trial jury is selected, LeVier said the remainder of the trial will be conducted in the courthouse.
LeVier said the following precautions will be taken at both the fairgrounds and the courthouse facility to keep everyone safe:
– All courtrooms have a supply of hand sanitizer, disinfecting wipes, disinfecting cleaning spray and gloves available.
– Touchless hand sanitizing stations are available.
– In accordance with the Governor and the Public Health Officer Orders for mandatory face coverings when indoors, all jurors, attorneys, parties, court staff and judges will be required to wear face coverings.
– The number of individuals in a courtroom at one time will be limited, to allow appropriate social distancing.
– Once seated on a jury, the jurors will deliberate in the courtroom instead of the jury deliberation room.
– An online hardship request process is available, which will allow jurors to request a hardship without physically coming to the court building.
– Individuals considered at high-risk of COVID-19 related complications may reschedule their jury service online.
– Jurors are directed not to report if they have any COVID-19 like symptoms or any contact with a COVID-19 positive case.
– Any individuals who appear to be ill will be asked to leave immediately.
“Trial by jury is foundational to our democracy and the cornerstone of our justice system,” said Judge Lunas. “The court is always appreciative of jurors who fulfill their responsibility to serve on a jury, especially those who will be called on to do so during these difficult times.”
For more information about court operations, visit the court website.
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The complex grew to 360,868 acres by nightfall, an increase of 3,822 acres, with containment remaining at 33 percent during the course of the day, Cal Fire said.
Based on damage assessments, the number of destroyed structures increased to 1,080 on Wednesday, with 272 structures reported damaged. A total of 30,500 remain threatened.
The Hennessey fire portion of the complex, burning in Lake, Napa, Solano and Yolo counties, grew to 303,155 acres and 33-percent containment during the day, Cal Fire said.
On the Sonoma County side of the incident, the Walbridge fire west of Healdsburg edged up slightly to 55,353 acres and 19-percent containment, while the Meyers fire north of Jenner remained at 2,360 acres and 97-percent containment, according to Cal Fire.
Nearly 2,300 firefighters are now assigned to the complex, along with 292 engines, 68 water tenders, 13 helicopters, 24 hand crews and 68 dozers, Cal Fire said.
Cal Fire told Lake County News that the complex is most active in its northern portion, which is in Lake County, where backburning operations have been taking place to slow the complex’s growth.
As a result, while evacuation orders and warnings have been lifted or adjusted in parts of Napa and Sonoma counties, allowing tens of thousands of people to go home, in Lake County on Wednesday all mandatory evacuations and warnings remained in place.
In addition, on Wednesday afternoon the Lake County Sheriff’s Office and Cal Fire issued a new evacuation warning for the area east of Old Long Valley Road and New Long Valley Road, extending north to the Lake-Colusa County line, north of Highway 20 and south and west of the Lake-Colusa County line.
That new warning impacting Spring Valley, Long Valley and the Double Eagle Ranch subdivision – as well as an order and a warning for parts of Yolo County – followed the fire jumping a portion of Highway 16, located a few miles outside of Lake County. Sheriff Brian Martin confirmed that the evacuation warning was issued due to that incident.
Less than a half-hour after the evacuation order was issued, a new fire near Indian Valley Reservoir was reported. Air resources were sent to that fire, which burned into the Pawnee fire scar, according to scanner traffic.
The last radio reports from the scene just before midnight put that fire’s size at 20 acres, with firefighters planning to check it on Thursday morning.
Radio reports on Wednesday evening indicated the spot fire that crossed Highway 16 was up to about 200 acres, but Cal Fire could not separately confirm later in the evening how large that spot actually was.
The Lake County Air Quality Management District said air quality due to the fires is expected to continue to be in the “unhealthy” range through Thursday.
Winds have shifted from the southwest to the west, which is helping to clear the air basin, but officials said smoke is still expected to intermittently impact the air basin until all of the regional fires are contained.
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