Headlines - Just News headlines all the time: Jan 9, 2008

Wednesday, January 9, 2008

California Fire News

County of El Dorado - Declared local emergency

Posted: 08 Jan 2008 09:20 PM CST

El Dorado County Sheriff Office - Press Release
For Immediate Release Sgt. Jim Byers
Additional information to Warming Shelter press release on 1/7/08
As of 1500 hrs on 1/8/08 the Director of Emergency Services for El Dorado County,
Supervisor Rusty Dupray, declared the existence of a local emergency for the County of
El Dorado. The declaration was based on the existing severe winter storms, which
have brought high winds, torrential rains, flooding, and heavy snowfall, which began on
January 3rd.
These severe storms have downed trees, snapped phone and power lines, blocked
roadways, which have resulted in widespread disruption of electrical power and
communications. These conditions are expected to last through the next several days
in several areas of the county.
The emergency declaration will provide additional resources to support the extended
operation of the Warming Shelter and provide the continued availability of sand and
sand bags to the general public, that were initiated early on.
The Warming Shelter located at the Fair Grounds will remain open until further notice,
and if needed, sandbags are available at most of the larger Fire Stations.

Source: El Dorado County News Release

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Developing Story: Teams Continue Search for Missing Hiker

Posted: 08 Jan 2008 01:06 PM CST

By G.T. Houts
Tuesday, January 8, 2008

View Alert

Green Valley Lake, CA – Search and Rescue teams from Sierra Madre, San Dimas and Riverside are now involved in the extensive search for 62-year-old Dean Christy in the Green Valley Lake area. Christy has been missing since last Friday afternoon.

Teams were scheduled to begin arriving at the search area at 5:00 am today (January 8) and will be joined by a team from the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department and snow cats driven by San Bernardino County Fire personnel. Air support from the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department is also expected.

"Yesterday there were about 43 search and rescue volunteers searching the area north and east of Green Valley Lake," according to Sheriff's Department PIO Arden Wiltshire. "Plans were to continue the search through the night with a small group of about 12 team members remaining in the area, including snow cats and snowmobiles."

Scanner traffic from the Sierra Madre team at 8:19 pm Monday to the command post at the Green Valley Lake Fire Station indicated the squad was going to continue searching for the next few hours.

Two Sheriff's Department helicopters spent most of yesterday flying over the area looking for any trace of the missing hiker whose family members gathered at the command post to offer support for the various search teams.

Temperatures in the search area are still low but no new snowfall has been reported since early Monday morning.

Just before 4:00 pm Monday, scanner traffic from one of the helicopters reported there were four subjects that did not appear to be part of the rescue teams at Forest Service Roads 2n13 and 2n54.

"We want to make sure," the pilot, stated, "they are not family members out looking." The command center explained the family was still at the fire station.

Shortly after that scanner transmission, the command post was notified a non-search vehicle was stuck within the search grid and had to be assisted by members of the official search party.

Corporal Bryan Lane from the Sheriff's Department has stated several times that search and rescue teams do not need non-trained persons searching in the area where snow depths are approximately 4-feet deep.

"We don't need any additional volunteers," Lane told news media gathered at the command post, "We don't need to be looking for any additional people."

The fresh snow caused several search vehicles to get stuck and had to be assisted by the snow cats before teams could return to the command post and continue their search.

Source: Rimoftheworld.net is following story very closely.

So Cal Fire season finally ends - Jan 7 2008

Posted: 08 Jan 2008 12:04 PM CST

CAL FIRE to transition into its winter preparedness levels in Southern California on January 7, 2008.

Cooler weather and recent rains will allow CAL FIRE, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, to transition into its winter preparedness levels in Southern California on January 7, 2008.

On December 8, 2007 counties in Central California transitioned to winter preparedness, a move that CAL FIRE Unit's in Northern California began in October.

The transition to winter preparedness allows CAL FIRE to release some seasonal firefighters, reduce staffing on fire engines and close some remote wildand fire stations. However, CAL FIRE is prepared to call resources back if fire weather conditions dictate. This transition also coincides in many areas with the permitting of residential debris burning.

Due to extremely dry conditions, Southern California has become prone to year-round wildfires. Since 2005 CAL FIRE has provided year-round staffing in San Bernardino, Riverside and San Diego counties.

"CAL FIRE will maintain year-round staffing in Southern California," said Chief Ruben Grijalva, director of CAL FIRE. "Firefighters, fire engines, and firefighting aircraft will stand ready to respond to any new wildfires."

CAL FIRE is the State of California's fire department and continues to respond to all types of emergency responses including structure fires, medical aids, and traffic accidents in communities across California. For more information about CAL FIRE and Fire Season 2007 visit the CAL FIRE Web site at www.fire.ca.gov.