California Fire News

RRU - FIREFIGHTERS PUT OUT CALL FOR TOYS

Posted: 18 Dec 2007 07:58 PM CST

Riverside County firefighters are short on gifts for the annual Spark of Love Toy Drive.

Toys are collected at fire stations and distributed through local groups and schools — but, according to the department, few toys have been donated this year.

But there's still time to help. Through Dec. 24, all CAL FIRE and Riverside County fire stations will accept new, unwrapped toys, sports equipment and gifts for kids and teens.

For a list of fire stations, click here.

To donate online, click here.

News: Fire chief arrested, accused of DUI, Child cruelty

Posted: 18 Dec 2007 07:51 PM CST

Rincon Reservation fire chief arrested, accused of DUI
By Kristina Davis UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
VISTA – The fire chief for the Rincon Reservation Fire Department was arrested Monday morning and accused of drunk driving after he crashed and rolled his command vehicle while taking his children to school, authorities said Tuesday.
Gerad F. Rodriguez, 47, was booked into Vista jail on suspicion of driving under the influence and child cruelty. He was released seven hours later after posting $12,500 in bail, according to the Sheriff's Department.
The District Attorney's Office has not yet filed charges in the case.
Rodriguez was driving his department-issued sports utility vehicle west on state Route 76 near Pauma Valley Road at 8:50 a.m. when he swerved and the vehicle rolled over, said California Highway Patrol Officer Tom Kerns. Rodriguez suffered minor injuries. His four young children, ranging in ages 4 to 12, were unhurt.
After completing a field sobriety test, Rodriguez was arrested on suspicion of driving with a blood alcohol content above the legal limit of .08 percent.
The Rincon Indian band council will look into the incident sometime this week, Rincon spokeswoman Nikki Symington said Tuesday. "After reviewing the police reports and talking to him, they will decide if there will be disciplinary action and what that might be," Symington said. "In the interim, Gerad has put himself on administrative leave."
Attempts to reach Rodriguez Tuesday were unsuccessful.
Rodriguez, a Rincon tribal member, has worked part-time as fire chief since 2006, when the new fire station opened on Valley Center Road.
He is also currently employed as a firefighter/paramedic with the San Diego Fire-Rescue Department, where he was worked for the past 21 years. He is assigned to Station 40 in Rancho Peñasquitos, said San Diego fire department spokesman Maurice Luque. He declined to discuss whether the city would take disciplinary action against Rodriguez, saying it was a personnel matter.

Source: Article

News: Possible new aerial firefighting facility in Hemet

Posted: 18 Dec 2007 08:07 PM CST

Editor: Basically a complete remodel of existing facilities at Hemet-Ryan Air Attack Base

Supervisors consider new aerial firefighting facility in Hemet

RIVERSIDE – The Riverside County Board of Supervisors is expected to consider Tuesday a proposed joint agreement between the county and state to construct a new aerial firefighting facility in Hemet.

The Hemet-Ryan Air Attack Base project would involve demolishing existing structures at the 12-acre tanker base on Hemet-Ryan airfield and replacing them with bigger, more efficient facilities, according to the county's Economic Development Agency.

"The project includes a new hangar for observation aircraft and helicopters, a two-story air operations facility, a dormitory and dining hall, a three-bay fire apparatus building, protective weather canopy for the venerable S-2 air tankers, and a fire retardant mixing plant with a capacity of 40,000 gallons," said EDA spokesman Tom Freeman.

Riverside County Fire Capt. Pat Tomlinson, the base supervisor, said the proposed 5,800-square-foot dormitory has been needed for a long time, noting that during operations, many firefighters stationed at the base go elsewhere to sleep because the triple-wide trailer now in use lacks sufficient space.

The estimated cost of site demolition and construction is expected to be just under $24 million, according to the EDA.

The board approved allocating $2.5 million in Redevelopment Agency funds in June. The state intends to cover the balance, the EDA said.

According to Freeman, a joint agreement was necessary because the project involves the California Department of Forestry, or Cal Fire, with which the county contracts for fire protection services.

"Economic Development Agency team members, along with Cal Fire personnel, will work jointly to develop, design and construct the new facilities," he said.

Pilots and aircraft at the base provide aerial firefighting coverage for more than 830,000 acres in Riverside and surrounding counties.

"This project is one of the most significant undertakings the agency (EDA) has worked on in many years, and we are going to make sure we provide Cal Fire and its fleet of air tankers and firefighting crews with the best air attack facilities in the state," said Robin Zimpfer, EDA assistant executive officer.

The proposed design planner for the new base is Sacramento-based Dean Unger Architecture and Environmental Planning, according to Freeman.

Provided the board approves the agreement today, he said, demolition of current base facilities will get under way in 18 months. Construction would proceed simultaneously, with a projected completion date sometime in early 2011, Freeman said.

Temporary facilities would be set up adjacent to the airfield to allow fire attack operations to proceed unimpeded, he said.

Source article at: signonsandiego.com

History: The Christmas Flood of 1964.

Posted: 18 Dec 2007 08:02 PM CST

Come Hell or High Water

The Christmas Flood of 1964. I was four years old. But, my fleeting glimpses of memory are still very vivid today.

As I understand it, we had a pretty good snowfall up in the higher elevations followed by something they called the "Pineapple Express", a tropical weather situation that brought a lot of warm rains. It rained and rained and rained and rained. The warm rains melted the snows and it all came flooding down. Every river, every creek, every stream, every mountain spring was running at full volume.

My dad, at the time, was working at the Carolina-Cal plywood mill at the confluence of the main fork and the south fork of the Trinity in Salyer. We had an irrigation pump in the river that we used for watering the garden and orchard. My mom called up to the mill and had the supervisor pass a note to my dad that the river was rising very fast and that we might lose our pump. At the same time, most families were calling the mill to get the men to come home. They let everyone go home and shut down the shift.

We lived about two miles down river from the mill. Driving home, my dad had to ford several new creeks that had formed. State Route 299 was in danger of washing out. He found out later that he got out of the mill site just in time and other men didn't and were trapped. The road had completely washed away.

My dad made it home and attempted to climb down the bank to rescue the pump, but it was too late. The river was rising before his very eyes. Later, he told me it was one of the scariest situations he had ever witnessed. And this was coming from a wildland firefighter.

He came up the hill and gathered us up with blankets, clothing, any food we could grab and put us into the two cars we owned. We drove up onto a higher flat and spent a couple of nights in the cars. Two parents, four boys and the dog.

During the day we would watch entire log decks, houses, house trailers, propane tanks and all manner of debris flow past our house. We were lucky, it only came to within 50 feet of our house. But, remember, it had risen some 150 feet up the bank before it crested.

Most roads were washed out. That was where most of the damage occured. The river pretty much stayed within the banks. The Trinity River canyons, as you know, are pretty steep and not until some of the flats around Hoopa does it start running into fields. But, the water streaming from the hills washed out roads all over the place. One section washed out into the Trinity River and dammed it up for about 1/2 hour and everyone thought that would cause great damage, but it cleared itself.

In the following days, we walked over muddy roads into town, a trip of about two miles up over the washouts. Getting to Willow Creek , we found out that half of the town had been demolished by a huge mudslide. Now cristened "Mount Slipmore" the hill above town rumbled down and pushed through one side of the town. Most of the bridges had washed out. The airport was destroyed. There was no coming or going. No electricity. No running water.....nothing. In the dead of winter.

My dad went exploring east on Highway 299 up until the first washout and that was where he spotted an older couple from Santa Barbara who were traveling through the area and had become stranded. We took them into our house and let them stay in a little cabin on the property. They were there for about a month. No one could get in or out of the Klamath-Trinity region. Helicopters and planes were flying in relief supplies to all of the areas.

Let me tell you, the towns pulled together. Neighbor helped neighbor. All of the loggers with Cats (bulldozers) were working feverishly to get a road open to get supplies in. The entire north state was a disaster area.

In our area, only two or three people died. One man in a truck that was caught in a landslide and a boat had capsized trying to get people across the river.

I know this sounds macabre, but I've always said, what we need to pull this county together is a good flood. You oldtimers know exactly what I mean. All squabbling is set aside. Every able person works together. But, I would be curious to see how the environmentalist professionals would handle such a situation today. Would they treat it like a forest fire and say, let it burn, that's natures way.....or would they forego that thought and allow heavy equipment in to divert creeks and establish temporary bridges and what not to protect and rebuild the community. It would be interesting to see that play out.

An interesting side note. Retirees into the Trinity Valley area have built these georgeous retirement homes and summer homes along the flats of the Trinity River. When you see where they have built them, you notice just up the bank some 50 feet above their homes is the 1964 high water mark. "We must build with river frontage" Fools.

We had a good high water in 1973 and again in 1981 or 1982, but we haven't seen anything like the 1964 flood in a long time. It's was called the Thousand Year Flood for a reason.

More information on the Great flood of 1964 which affected Northern California , Oregon, Southern Washington, most of Idaho, and Northern California.

Oregon State.edu - Destruction in Oregon due to weather was greater in this December than in any previous month or storm in the State's recorded history

Humguide senior news - Jessie Wheeler grew up in Bridgeville on the Van Duzen River. She was living in Ferndale at the time of the '64 flood, Firsthand account and more

Salem History net - Christmas Week Flood Brings Major Flooding in Salem Oregon
December, 1964

Virtual Guidebook - Picture of the 1964 Flood Marker 35' at the former city of Weott
South Fork of the Eel River, Humboldt County, California -

In December of 1964 several days of very heavy rain, on top of an early snowpack in the higher mountains, created the greatest flood in the history of the north coast. The Russian, Eel, Klamath, and Rogue Rivers all rose to unprecedented heights. Dozens of small towns were inundated, and several were completely swept away. One of these was Weott, halfway down the Avenue of the Giants on the South Fork of the Eel River.

The old town of Weott consisted of a dozen commercial buildings and twice as many houses along a three block stretch of the old highway. The flood marker here (the top of the pole) shows how high the waters rose on Christmas Eve, 1964, some 35 feet above the downtown sidewalks. Only one house has been rebuilt on the old site -- the town moved uphill far enough to be above any possible flood waters. The '64 flood is referred to as a "thousand year flood", meaning that an event of that magnitude is only expected to occur once in a thousand years.

SAR News: 2:20 p.m: Paradise family still missing in high country

Posted: 18 Dec 2007 11:58 PM CST

INSKIP — Search and rescue teams are scouring the area above Inskip today for a Paradise man and his three children who failed to return Sunday night from a trip to the Philbrook area.

Frederick Dominguez, 38; his 18-year-old son, Christopher Dominguez; daughter Alexis Dominguez, 15; and son Josh Dominguez,12, were reported missing at about 6:20 p.m. Monday by Lisa Sams of Paradise. Sams is Frederick Dominguez's ex-wife and shares custody of the children.

She said they went to the area about 3 p.m. Sunday, following church. They only intended to stay long enough to cut a Christmas tree. She said she wasn't aware on Sunday that they hadn't returned.

At about 9:50 p.m. Monday, searchers discovered the Dominguez vehicle on the Skyway, just a mile north of Inskip.

It was described as a distinctive raised, yellow Chevrolet Silverado that a lot of people around Paradise would recognize.

Officials said it was carefully parked in a turnout area, not locked, and didn't appear to be disabled.

Searchers found no sign of the missing people at the vehicle.

"Any tracks or other signs that may have given us a direction of travel had already been covered by snow," said search and rescue official Scott Steele.

Heavy snow fell throughout the night and had accumulated to about 18 inches by 10 a.m. today.

Search coordinator Matt Pearce said cabins near the Skyway between Inskip and the location of the truck were checked, but nothing was found.

By 11 a.m. today, some search crews that had been out all night were relieved to eat and get rest, but Pearce said they would be back in the afternoon.

With mutual aid coming from San Francisco, Lodi, Glenn County and Contra Costa County, Pearce said seven teams and 21 personnel were actively searching an area above Inskip known as Gold Hill.

Two of the teams had dogs with them, Pearce said.

Frederick Dominguez' co-workers from Hunter's Pest Control in Paradise also arrived throughout the morning to assist in the search, joining several family members from the ridge and Marysville area, who gathered in Inskip seeking information about their missing loved ones.

Pearce said visibility in the area prevented any kind of search from the air, and noted that conditions including snow and low overcast were expected to persist throughout the day.

The missing people carried cellular phones, but Pearce said calls placed to those numbers haven't gone through.

Sams said her children and ex-husband were wearing coats, but probably weren't prepared for extremely cold weather.

She said her son, Chris, has had extensive camping experience and is familiar with basic survival skills.

The children's father moved to Paradise recently from the Los Angeles area so he could be closer to his family, Sams said.

Pearce said the hunt for the missing family members is possibly the largest official search and rescue operation in Butte County history.

Anyone with information about the missing individuals can call the Paradise Police Department at 872-6241.

Search and rescue authorities report that further would-be volunteer searchers are not needed. Weather conditions in the search area are so severe, there is a concern that volunteers would themselves become lost or stuck. The Skyway is closed above Stirling City to all but official rescue volunteers.

Source: Article

Ranch Wildland Fire - 58,401 acres - 100% contained

Posted: 18 Dec 2007 12:05 PM CST

Ranch Wildland Fire

INCIDENT UPDATED

This incident is 100% contained.

Summary

December 17, 2007 Update

The Ranch Fire has reached 100% containment. However, areas in and around the Ranch Fire and the Zaca Fire, will remain closed until further notice.

For more information about the Ranch Fire, or areas that will remain closed, please call Los Padres National Forest Headquarters at: 805-968-6640, or Angeles National Forest Headquarters at: 626-574-5200.

Basic Information

Incident Type	Wildland Fire
Cause	Under Investigation
Date of Origin	10/20/2007 at 2142 hrs.
Location	West of Castaic, CA; North and East of Fillmore,CA
Incident Commander	Not available

Current Situation

Total Personnel	Not available
Size	58,401 acres
Percent Contained	100%
Fuels Involved	Heavy chaparral and oak woodland.
Significant Events	Not available

Outlook

Planned Actions	Not available
Projected Movement	No fire movement anticipated.
Growth Potential	Very low.
Terrain Difficulty	The difficulty of the terrain is extreme, due to steep slopes and inaccessible terrain.
Containment Target	Fire has been fully contained; no estimate for control.
Remarks	Not available