CA-TCU: CAL FIRE Declares start of fire season

 The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE), Tuolumne-Calaveras Unit (TCU) announces the opening of the 2012 fire season within the state responsibility areas of Calaveras County, Tuolumne County, Eastern Stanislaus County and Eastern San Joaquin County.

The declaration of fire season allows TCU to start the process of opening and staffing fire stations on a 24-hour basis to help protect California’s wild lands. The Columbia Air Base is also open and staffed with a helicopter. Unit Chief Brian Kirk stated “Burn time hours will remain open so citizens can continue working on their defensible space.” Burn permits are required. Weather conditions will continue to be monitored on a daily basis and when it becomes necessary burn time hours will be restricted or burning will be suspended.

Each year there is a potential for devastating fires which could have been prevented. Is your home ready for wildfire? Visit us at www.readyforwildfire.org for tips on how to make your home safe this fire season.

 Chief Kirk encourages citizens to consider alternatives to burning by recycling, composting or chipping your defensible space debris. By protecting your home, you protect your neighbors’ home as well as the community we live in.

California Fire News 2012 

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LACFD - 2012 Valor Awards on May 21

Los Angeles County Fire Department
 HONORS EXTRAORDINARY ACTIONS

  Los Angeles – May 16, 2012 – Almost 57 years after he was killed in an “explosion of fire” while trying to save fellow firefighters during the Hacienda Brush Fire in 1955, Los Angeles County Fire Captain Glenn Rockey will be posthumously awarded the Medal of Valor by Fire Chief Daryl L. Osby.  Rockey will be among 25 members of the Los Angeles County Fire Department and 16 citizen heroes honored at the 2012 Valor Awards on May 21, at 7 p.m., at the Pasadena Convention Center. 

As a special tribute, Randolph Mantooth and Kevin Tighe, best known to audiences as Los Angeles County Fire Department Paramedics Johnny Gage and Roy DeSoto in the beloved 1970s television show “Emergency!,” will attend the award ceremony as special guests.

 Highlights of this year’s awards program include the crew of West Hollywood Fire Station 7 for assisting the City of Los Angeles Fire Department during a house fire and bravely working to free veteran LAFD Firefighter Paramedic Glen Allen from entrapment inside the collapsed home, suffering major injuries in their attempts.  In other emergency incidents, ordinary citizens who stepped up in extraordinary moments of bravery to assist firefighters or perform rescues themselves are also being honored.  Many of these heroes are teenagers who took quick actions and rescued victims from the ocean, a backyard pool, a remote motorbike trail, and also during the highly publicized stabbing of a South East High School student last September.

The award categories, which include Unit Citation, Certificate of Valor, and the celebrated Medal of Valor, will be presented for 20 separate incidents.  According to Fire Chief Osby, “The Medal of Valor is the highest honor bestowed upon a member of Department.  It is given to those members who have exhibited courage above and beyond the call of duty, risking their own lives to save another under conditions that place them at extreme personal risk.  I am proud to announce that five members of our organization will go home with this prestigious award next Monday night.”

The Los Angeles County Fire Department is an international leader of the fire service and one of the largest emergency service agencies in the world, providing fire protection and life safety services to more than four million people living and working in the County’s 2,300-square-mile area, and around the globe whenever needed. Visit www.fire.lacounty.gov, or find them on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.

 On September 2 1955, Los Angeles County Fire Captain Glenn E. Rockey was killed on this La Habra Heights hillside during the Hacienda Fire, which also took the young lives of five members of the Los Angeles County ProbationForestry Camp 5-1, and severely burned seven others.  Fire investigators mark the spots where some of the men were killed. (Los Angeles County Fire Department Historical Archives)

 California Fire News 2012

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YNP: Yosemite Park Prescribed burn tonight

Wawona Northwest Prescribed Fire

Scheduled for Tuesday Evening, May 15, 2012

Yosemite National Park fire managers are planning the 846 acre, Wawona Northwest Prescribed Fire, to begin on the evening of May 15, 2012.  An air quality variance has been requested for marginal air conditions for Tuesday’s ignition.  Improving air dispersion is predicted to begin Wednesday and continue through the end of the week, allowing good smoke dispersion.  Please Note – these are predictions only, and if stagnant air develops or persists over the Sierra Nevada region, fire managers will postpone the prescribed fire.   

An objective of the project is to conduct ecosystem restoration by applying fire to this fire adapted landscape. Prior to the exclusion of fire over 100 years ago, fire was a natural process that played an integral role in shaping the landscape of Yosemite each year.  Densities of shade tolerant tree species, such as white fir and incense cedar, and forest litter and duff have accumulated to unnatural and unaccepted levels in the absence of fire.  Through the application of fire, a more natural vegetation composition can be achieved that would likely support a surface fire, but less likely to support crown fire.  

Another important objective of the prescribed fire is for the direct protection to the community of Wawona from an unwanted wildfire.  This project will take advantage of the 2007 Jack Fire perimeter and reduce hazardous fuel loading in the Wawona Wildland Urban Interface area.  Burning this segment will form a barrier to the community of Wawona from the spread of unwanted wildfire approaching from Turner Ridge to the north and partially from the South Fork Merced River drainage to the northwest.   This project ties together multiple and historical research, natural and prescribed fires, and mechanical thinning.  

Community members and visitors have seen equipment and crews moving into the area as they prepare the fire perimeter for fire ignition and operations.  A test fire, blackline, will be conducted near the top of the ridge to determine if overall prescribed fire objectives can be met.  The blackline is critical to the success of the project by reducing the overall risk to firefighters for an escape along the steep, and difficult, eastern fire line.

Smoke will be present during the prescribed fire, particularly during the early morning hours.  Fire managers are working with Mariposa and Tuolumne Counties, San Joaquin Valley, and Great Basin Air Pollution Control Districts (APCDs), daily to time the project to coincide with favorable weather that will facilitate good air quality, and move and disperse smoke into the atmosphere away from the community.  A burn permit will be issued to the park by Mariposa County APCD, and air quality measuring devices are being moved to local communities.  It is suggested that community members that are sensitive to smoke close windows and doors and/or they may wish to leave the area during active ignition of the project.

This fire segment is identified in the 2004 Yosemite Fire Management Plan/Environmental Impact Statement and re included in the Multi-year Strategic Fuels Management Plan.  The goals and objectives for this project conform to the park’s General Management Plan and Vegetation Management Plan.

More updates will be published through the duration of the prescribed fire project.
For additional Information:

• Yosemite Fire Information and Education Office: gary_wuchner@nps.gov -  (209) 375-9574 or 372-0480
• Yosemite Fire Management Website: http://www.nps.gov/yose/parkmgmt/rx-fire-projects.htm
• Yosemite Air Quality Web Page:  http://www.nps.gov/yose/naturescience/aqmonitoring.htm
• Yosemite Fire Twitter:  http://twitter.com#!/YosemiteFire
• Yosemite Fire Facebook:  http://www.facebook.com/pages/Yosemite-Wildland-Fire/124632964255395

California Fire News 2012 

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NWS: RED FLAG WARNING THUNDERSTORMS / DRY FUELS FIRE ZONE 284

 NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MEDFORD HAS ISSUED A RED FLAG WARNING FOR SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS WITH DRY FUELS FOR FIRE ZONE 284 WHICH IS IN EFFECT FROM 6 AM TO 11 PM PDT MONDAY.  SISKIYOU COUNTY FROM THE CASCADE MOUNTAINS EAST AND SOUTH TO MTSHASTA.

RED FLAG WARNING FOR DRY LIGHTNING

 THE FIRE WEATHER WATCH IS NO LONGER IN EFFECT. 


 AFFECTED AREA: FIRE WEATHER ZONES 284. FROM THE CASCADE MOUNTAINS EAST AND SOUTH TO MTSHASTA
 TIMING: ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS COULD BEGIN AS EARLY AS MONDAY MORNING. THUNDERSTORM COVERAGE IS EXPECTED TO INCREASE TO SCATTERED MONDAY AFTERNOON THROUGH MONDAY EVENING.
 RAINFALL POTENTIAL: THUNDERSTORMS WILL PRODUCE LITTLE OR NO RAINFALL INITIALLY. HOWEVER AROUND A TENTH OF AN INCH OF RAIN IS POSSIBLE UNDERNEATH THE CORES OF THUNDERSTORMS BY MONDAY EVENING. 
 IMPACTS: IN ADDITION TO LIGHTNING POSSIBLY STARTING FIRES IN DRIER LOCATIONS GUSTY AND ERRATIC WINDS ARE LIKELY NEAR THE STORMS.
 THIS WILL INCREASE THE POTENTIAL FOR FIRE SPREAD IF FIRE STARTS OCCUR. 

Instruction:
A RED FLAG WARNING MEANS THAT CRITICAL FIRE WEATHER CONDITIONS  ARE EITHER OCCURRING NOW OR WILL SHORTLY. THESE CONDITIONS WILL CREATE THE POTENTIAL FOR EXPLOSIVE FIRE GROWTH.

Area:  SISKIYOU COUNTY FROM THE CASCADE MOUNTAINS EAST AND SOUTH TO MTSHASTA

Affected Counties or parts of: Modoc, Siskiyou

Sent: 2012-05-13T14:52:11-07:00

California Fire News 2011 
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Red Flag Warning: Owens valley parts of Inyo, San Bernardino Counties

 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN LAS VEGAS HAS ISSUED A RED FLAG WARNING FOR STRONG WINDS AND LOW RELATIVE HUMIDITY WHICH IS IN EFFECT FROM NOON TO 8 PM PDT MONDAY.

A LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM MOVING ACROSS NORTHERN CALIFORNIA MONDAY WILL BRING GUSTY SOUTH WINDS TO THE OWENS VALLEY AND ESMERALDA COUNTY.

Discussion: AS THE LOW MOVES INTO NORTHERN NEVADA TUESDAY... WINDS WILL LIKELY BECOME FAIRLY STRONG ACROSS NORTHWEST ARIZONA.

  AFFECTED AREAS: 
CALIFORNIA: FIRE WEATHER ZONE 226 OWENS VALLEY/SOUTHERN INYO FOREST. 
NEVADA: FIRE WEATHER ZONE 460 ESMERALDA AND NYE COUNTY DESERTS/CNC DISPATCH.

TIMING: WINDS WILL INCREASE MONDAY MORNING AND WILL BE STRONG THROUGHOUT MONDAY AFTERNOON AND EARLY EVENING BEFORE DIMINISHING BY 8 PM.

WINDS: SOUTH 20 TO 30 MPH WITH GUSTS NEAR 40 MPH.

HUMIDITY: 5 TO 10 PERCENT MUCH OF THE DAY.

IMPACT: COMBINATION OF GUSTY WINDS AND LOW RELATIVE HUMIDITY COMBINED WITH DRY FUELS WILL CREATE CONDITIONS THAT ARE FAVORABLE FOR EXTREME FIRE BEHAVIOR.

Instruction:
A RED FLAG WARNING MEANS THAT CRITICAL FIRE WEATHER CONDITIONS ARE EITHER OCCURRING OR ARE IMMINENT. A COMBINATION OF STRONG WINDS... LOW RELATIVE HUMIDITY... AND WARM TEMPERATURES WILL CREATE EXTREME FIRE GROWTH POTENTIAL.

Area: OWENS VALLEY/SOUTHERN INYO FOREST-ESMERALDA AND NYE COUNTY DESERTS/CNC DISPATCH-

Affected Counties or parts of: Inyo, San Bernardino

Sent: 2012-05-13T14:30:06-07:00

California Fire News 2012 

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Fire Weather Watch: Dry Lightning - Modoc, Siskiyou Counties

Fire Weather Watch remains in effect from Monday morning through late Monday night for scattered thunderstorms for fire zone 285 in northeast California

AFFECTED AREA: FIRE ZONE 285 
TIMING: THUNDERSTORMS COULD BEGIN AS ISOLATED STORMS EARLY MONDAY MORNING. THUNDERSTORM COVERAGE IS EXPECTED TO INCREASE TO SCATTERED BY EARLY MONDAY AFTERNOON THROUGH MONDAY EVENING. 
RAINFALL POTENTIAL: THE THUNDERSTORMS WILL PRODUCE LITTLE OR NO RAINFALL AT THE BEGINNING. HOWEVER UP TO A TENTH OF AN INCH OF RAIN IS POSSIBLE UNDERNEATH THE CORE OF THE STORM BY MONDAY EVENING. 
IMPACTS: IN ADDITION TO LIGHTNING COVERAGE GUSTY AND ERRATICWINDS ARE LIKELY NEAR THE STORMS. 


Instruction:
A FIRE WEATHER WATCH MEANS THAT CRITICAL FIRE WEATHER CONDITIONS ARE FORECAST TO OCCUR. LISTEN FOR LATER FORECASTS AND POSSIBLE RED FLAG WARNINGS.


Area: MODOC COUNTY EXCEPT FOR THE SURPRISE VALLEY-


Affected Counties or parts of: Modoc, Siskiyou


Sent: 2012-05-12T14:34:41-07:00

California Fire News 2012 

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CZU 2008 Summit Fire Trial Delayed

Channing Parker Verden
 Los Gatos contractor accused of
starting the May 22, 2008 Summit fire 

Summit Fire Trial Date Still Pending
Public defender representing Los Gatos contractor accused of starting massive inferno in May of 2008 is asking for six months to prepare, prosecutor says he'll object to such delay.

The trial for the Los Gatos contractor accused of starting the May 22, 2008 Summit fire could take several months to begin due to the appointment of a public defender who's unfamiliar with the complicated case and is asking for extra time to prepare.

Channing Parker Verden's trial setting hearing on May 9 got postponed one more week until May 16 since Santa Clara County Deputy District Attorney David Boyd could not appear at that time.

"They've informed me that they would like six months before they'll even tell the court when they're ready," Boyd said Friday. "We'll know their final decision next Wednesday ... but we're not going to agree to that."

Santa Clara County Deputy Public Defender Javier Rios is now representing Verden. On Friday he said he intended to ask Superior Court Judge Rise Jones Pichon for more time to carefully review the case to be ready for trial.

Rios said the case is complicated with many witnesses, reports to study and photographs to examine. "I want to make sure that I'm doing everything I can to prepare the case for my client," he said.

Verden's previous attorney, Michael Hingle, withdrew from the case in February due to what Boyd said was the defendant's inability to pay for counsel.

Verden, who has been present during the hearings, is said to be heavily burdened by the charges brought against him stemming from Cal Fire investigators allegations that he left burning piles of debris at a home located at 31000 Summit Road owned by Los Gatos resident Andrew Napell, causing the fire.

Cal Fire has said the Summit fire burned 4,270 acres, began at 5:17 a.m., destroyed 35 residences, 64 outbuildings, caused 16 injuries and cost more than $16 million to fight.

A Google map on Cal Fire's website shows how the inferno engulfed many mountainous areas in Los Gatos and came dangerously close to Highway 17, 10 miles roughly from the center of town, according to Cal Fire spokesman Daniel Berlant.

Boyd said Verden has been charged with unlawfully causing a fire that causes an inhabited structure or property to burn, an allegation of causing multiple structures to burn and a misdemeanor health and safety code violation alleging negligently causing a fire.

If convicted, Verden could be sentenced to up to seven years in prison or receive probation or no jail time, Boyd said.

It's possible, however, that Verden could receive probation, Boyd said.

Source: Article at Los Gatos Patch: Link

California Fire News 2012 

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CAL FIRE Hollister Air Attack Base is now staffed

CAL FIRE Hollister Air Attack Base ready

New Air Attack Officer takes command

S2T air tanker in action. / Photo credit U.S. Forest Service

In a sure sign that fire season is here the CAL FIRE Hollister Air Attack Base is now staffed with an air tanker and an air tactical reconnaissance and coordination airplane.

Two S2T air tankers will be assigned to Hollister ready to drop fire retardant on any wildfires breaking out statewide, CAL FIRE said in a news release.

As of Monday one air tanker and the air tactical plane were ready to go. The twin-engine, highly maneuverable S2Ts are former U.S. Navy patrol planes that have a capacity to carry 1,200 gallons of retardant.

With longer, warmer days and drier conditions fire danger starts to increase, said CAL FIRE. “The recent rains, while beneficial, did not make up for months of below average precipitation in the San Benito and Monterey County areas where we are in moderate drought condition,” said the news release.

The Hollister base is under the command of newly-appointed Battalion Chief Josh Nettles. Nettles, who took over on April 30, has been in the fire service since 1998. He is a certified Air Tactical Group Supervisor and has a private pilot’s license.

CAL FIRE has operated an air attack base at the Hollister Municipal Airport for 50 years. The base has living quarters, a retardant mixing base, control tower and mechanical shop.

New fires in California can be reached within 20 minutes with 23 air tankers placed strategically around the state, CAL FIRE said.
Source: The Californian - Link

California Fire News 2012 

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Sierra LaMar case: Red VW linked to missing teen found

A red Volkswagen Jetta with a black hood is associated with the disappearance of Sierra LaMar, the 15-year-old South Bay girl who has been missing since March, Has been recovered by the Santa Clara County sheriff's office.

 Updated Breaking News: Santa Clara County Sheriff's Office have located the red Volkswagon Jetta that investigators believe is associated in the disappearance of missing Morgan Hill teen Sierra Lamar.

The sheriff's office would not say when or where the vehicle was found, or the circumstances that led to its discovery.

"It's still an open investigation," Sgt. Jose Cardoza said. "They don't want to compromise the investigation."

Investigators are still asking to speak with anyone who may have seen the VW Jetta or had contact with the occupants in south County around the time Sierra disappeared on the morning of March 16. She was last seen at her home in unincorporated Morgan Hill, located near Palm and Dougherty avenues.

"They need information from people who saw it just before, during or after," Cardoza said. "They need people to come forward."

Authorities were seeking a car similar to this red 1990s Volkswagen Jetta, but with a black hood.

Courtesy Santa Clara County Sheriff

Anyone with information can contact sheriff's investigators at 408-808-4500, the anonymous tip line at 408-808-4431 or email tips@sheriff.sccgov.org.

California Fire News 2012 

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Sierra Lamar Case: Suspect car Red 1990s Volkswagen Jetta, Black Hood

Sierra LaMar case: Red VW linked to missing teen

A red Volkswagen Jetta with a black hood is associated with the disappearance of Sierra LaMar, the 15-year-old South Bay girl who has been missing since March, Santa Clara County sheriff's investigators said Monday. Sierra is 5 feet 2 inches tall with a thin build, dark hair and an olive complexion.

*Update*: Santa Clara County Sheriff's Office have located the red Volkswagon Jetta that investigators believe is associated in the disappearance of missing Morgan Hill teen Sierra Lamar.

The sheriff's office would not say when or where the vehicle was found, or the circumstances that led to its discovery.

"It's still an open investigation," Sgt. Jose Cardoza said. "They don't want to compromise the investigation."

Investigators are still asking to speak with anyone who may have seen the VW Jetta or had contact with the occupants in south County around the time Sierra disappeared on the morning of March 16. She was last seen at her home in unincorporated Morgan Hill, located near Palm and Dougherty avenues.

"They need information from people who saw it just before, during or after," Cardoza said. "They need people to come forward."

Authorities are seeking a car similar to this red 1990s Volkswagen Jetta, but with a black hood.

Courtesy Santa Clara County Sheriff

Authorities released a photo of a red 1990s, four-door Jetta, which they said resembles the one they are looking for. Unlike the car in the photo, the one being sought has a black hood, investigators said.

Sheriff's Sgt. Jose Cardoza said investigators had focused on the car from witnesses' descriptions and by viewing surveillance video from homes, businesses and buses in Sierra's neighborhood.

The Jetta was seen in the general area of where Sierra lives near Morgan Hill and where her belongings were found after she vanished, said Cardoza, who declined to elaborate.

Her mother, Marlene LaMar, said she last saw Sierra at home about 6 a.m. March 16 before the girl was to leave to catch a bus to school at nearby Palm and Dougherty avenues.

A day later, search teams found her cell phone off the side of the road near Santa Teresa Boulevard and Scheller Avenue, in the opposite direction of the bus stop. The day after that, they found her Juicy Couture-brand purse near Santa Teresa and Laguna Avenue, a short distance from where her phone was found.

Inside were a neatly folded pair of pants, undergarments and gray San Jose Sharks sweatshirt her family believes she may have been wearing the day she disappeared, authorities said.

Also found near the bag were Sierra's schoolbooks, Sheriff Laurie Smith said. The purse and books were "wedged between a building and a big cactus" or bush, Smith said.

Dive teams have searched several reservoirs as well as smaller percolation ponds in the Morgan Hill area.

The sheriff's office also said Monday that an empty handcuff box and used condoms found within 2 miles of the teenager's home were not related to Sierra's disappearance. Investigators had initially thought there might be a connection when the items were found March 29.

How to help
Anyone with information on Sierra LaMar is asked to call sheriff's investigators at (408) 808-4500 or an anonymous tip line at (408) 808-4431, or text (408) 421-6760. People can also e-mail the sheriff's office at tips@sheriff.sccgov.org, or find more information on the Facebook page Find Sierra LaMar.

 Source: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2012/05/07/BADD1OEFRN.DTL#ixzz1uGRzX41T 

California Fire News 2012 

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