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| California DWR Releases Delta Risk Assessment Posted: 21 Mar 2009 12:40 AM PDT  Phase 1 Report Examines Flood Potential Seismic risk, high water conditions, sea level rise and land subsidence threaten levee integrity. A seismic event is the single greatest risk to levee integrity in the Delta Region. If a major earthquake occurs, levees would fail and as many as 20 islands could be flooded simultaneously. This would result in economic costs and impacts of $15 billion or more. All economic costs and impacts presented in this summary are expressed in 2005 dollars. The Department of Water Resources' Delta Risk Management Strategy (DRMS) Phase 1 report assesses major risks to Delta levees from floods, seepage, subsidence and earthquakes. Delta levees protect important urban, environmental, agricultural and recreational resources as well as the Delta's critical water supply function. The Delta provides water to as many as 25 million Californians and about 3 million acres of agricultural land. DRMS Phase 1 report findings will be used to develop a set of strategies to manage levee failure risks in the Delta and to improve the management of state funding that supports levee maintenance and improvement. The full Phase 1 report is available at http://www.water.ca.gov/floodmgmt/dsmo/sab/drmsp/
The Delta is one of Phase 2 of the DRMS project will evaluate long-term risk-reduction options for Delta and Suisun Marsh levees. Phase 2 will present a set of actions that can be taken to reduce the risks and consequences of levee failures and is expected to be available for public review in fall 2009. The Delta is a source of drinking water for about two out of every three Californians...There are approximately 1,115 miles of levees protecting 700,000 acres of lowland in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. In the Suisun Marsh, there are approximately 230 miles of levees protecting over 50,000 acres of marsh land.Source info: http://www.water.ca.gov/floodmgmt/dsmo/sab/drmsp/docs/drms_execsum_ph1_final_low.pdf  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Esperanza Fire: U.S. Forest Service preparing to release the results of investigation Posted: 20 Mar 2009 10:44 PM PDT  Investigation into Esperanza Fire nears completion By BEN GOAD Washington Bureau Special Section: Esperanza Fire WASHINGTON - More than two years after flames trapped and killed five U.S. Forest Service firefighters on a Riverside County hillside, federal officials are preparing to release the findings of an investigation into what led to the deaths. Their report, which could lead to criminal charges against firefighters or command officials who battled the Esperanza Fire, comes on the heels of the conviction of Raymond Lee Oyler, the arsonist now facing the death penalty for setting the blaze. In congressional testimony last week, U.S. Agriculture Department Inspector General Phyllis Fong, whose office conducted the investigation, said she expects to issue the report by the end of the month. The investigation has focused on the actions and decisions made by fire personnel as they attacked the swirling 43,000-acre blaze near Cabazon in October of 2006. The crew of Forest Service Engine 57 arrived at the fire in support of Cal Fire, the lead agency on the fire. Ninety-foot flames overran the crew as they fought to save a lone, unoccupied home in the small community of Twin Pines. Forest Service and Cal Fire officials declined to comment on the report before its release. Two previous federal investigations -- one conducted jointly by the Forest Service and Cal Fire, the other by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration -- questioned firefighters' decision to stay and fight the flames. Firefighter union officials said they hoped the new findings would focus on preventing a repeat of the tragedy rather than placing blame. "There's still that concern that someone is going to get drug through the dirt," said Casey Judd, manager for the Federal Wildland Fire Service Association. "If we're going to learn something, that's great. If we're going to try to find someone to blame, it's not so great." The probe was required by a 2002 law mandating the office investigate deaths of federal firefighters who are killed in burnovers or entrapments. Similar investigations led to charges against two fire commanders in the deaths of federal firefighters in Washington State and Idaho. The law was created after the 2001 Thirtymile Fire, which killed four firefighters in Washington. U.S. Forest Service supervisor Ellreese N. Daniels was indicted on charges of involuntary manslaughter and lying to investigators. After the 2003 Cramer Fire in Idaho, in which two firefighters died, the U.S. attorney's office filed charges against that fire's incident commander, Alan Hackett, who was found to have been negligent in his management of the blaze. However, Cal Fire's jurisdiction over the Esperanza Fire is a key difference from the previous two cases and one that presented a unique challenge to federal investigators, Fong told members of the House Appropriation Committee during a March 11 briefing. "The fire occurred on non-Federal land, and (the Forest Service) was assisting in the suppression effort as part of a cooperative agreement with the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, an entity for which OIG has no oversight jurisdiction," Fong said, though she did not elaborate. Judd and Bob Wolf, president of the CDF Firefighters, the state firefighters union, each maintained that the two agencies have a positive working relationship and bristled at the suggestion that they would not share information about the events leading up to the deaths. "All we're concerned about is that the truth be told," Wolf said. Killed in the fire were Engine 57 Capt. Mark Loutzenhiser, 43, of Idyllwild; Jason McKay, 27, of Apple Valley; Jess McLean, 27, of Beaumont; Pablo Cerda, 23, of Fountain Valley; and Daniel Hoover-Najera, 20, of San Jacinto. Oyler, 38, of Beaumont was convicted earlier this month on five counts of murder for setting the blaze. On Wednesday, his jury recommended capital punishment. A judge will make a final decision on his fate during a sentencing hearing scheduled for June. Source: PE.COM - Article Link  |
| LCSO SAR: JOY - 13-hour search, 1alien abduction Posted: 20 Mar 2009 07:36 PM PDT  A 13-hour search for two women who went missing from the Harbin Hot Springs Resort community Sunday afternoon ended Wednesday morning when Heidi Marlene Fichthorn, 50, emerged from the woods, according to a press release from the Lake County Sheriff's Office.Fichthorn had scrapes and bruises after spending two days lost in the woods when she caught a ride back to the resort from where she emerged just north of Harbin Springs Road. Fichthorn and Anna Marie Jones, 70, both Harbin Hot Springs residents, had set out for a two-hour hike Sunday at approximately 1 p.m., according to the resort's security manager Omer Nizri. "Apparently, they got lost and it got foggy it was raining that night," Nizri said. The women were separated. Fichthorn was reported missing when she didn't show up for work Monday afternoon, according to Nizri. He said security teams launched an investigation and a search, learning that Fichthorn was last seen with Jones. Nizri said another of the resort's residents went looking for Jones, known in the community as "Omi," and found her Tuesday on Big Canyon Road, six miles north of Harbin Springs Road. Nizri said she had suffered severe scrapes on her hands from a fall and was disoriented. "She wasn't making sense; she was talking about alien abduction," Nizri said. Jones was taken to St. Helena Hospital, Clearlake and released the same day after treatment. "I was surprised that both of them were in such good shape," Nizri said.  The LCSO launched a search and rescue operation Tuesday night after learning Fichthorn was still lost in the woods, coordinating 75 volunteers and searching the wooded areas north of Harbin Springs Road into Wednesday morning. According to the LCSO press release, REACH provided air support out of Lampson Field in Lakeport when day broke, and the California Highway Patrol (CHP) and the Sonoma County Sheriff's Department sent helicopters to aid in the search.Search and rescue personnel from Lake Contra Costa, Mendocino, Sonoma and Sacramento counties assisted. , also assisted in the search. The community in Harbin Hot Springs consists of between 150 and 200 homes, according to Nizri, and sits on more than 1,200 acres. Source: http://naturalplane.blogspot.com - Link  |
| SAR: Plane possibly down: Corona Municipal Airport Posted: 20 Mar 2009 01:19 PM PDT CORONA, Calif. (KABC) -- A search is underway for a small plane that took off from the Corona Municipal Airport on Friday. A single-engine Piper Cherokee took off at 8:40 a.m. The pilot and passenger were planning to fly to Lake Havasu. The weather in Corona was foggy at the time of departure. Witnesses said they heard an engine overhead, but the engine suddenly cut out. Info source: abclocal.go.com - Link  |
| Vernal Equinox 2009: First Day of Spring Posted: 20 Mar 2009 12:45 PM PDT The vernal equinox occurs when the center of the sun crosses the Equator.  In the Northern Hemisphere spring officially begins at 4:44 a.m. PT on Friday, March 20, 2009—the vernal equinox, or spring equinox But don't be fooled by the old rumor that on the vernal equinox the length of day is exactly equal to the length of night. The true days of day-night equality always fall before the vernal equinox and after the autumnal, or fall, equinox, according to Geoff Chester, a public affairs specialist with the U.S. Naval Observatory in Washington, D.C. "Exactly when it happens depends on where you are located on the surface of the Earth," he said. By the time the center of the sun passes over the Equator—the official definition of equinox—the day will be slightly longer than the night everywhere on Earth. The difference is a matter of geometry, atmosphere, and language. Vernal Equinox Special Nonetheless
The length of day and night may not be equal on the vernal equinox, but that doesn't make the first day of spring any less special. The fall and spring equinoxes, for starters, are the only two times during the year when the sun rises due east and sets due west, according to Alan MacRobert, a senior editor with Sky & Telescope magazine. The equinoxes are also the only days of the year when a person standing on the Equator can see the sun passing directly overhead. On the Northern Hemisphere's vernal equinox day, a person at the North Pole would see the sun skimming across the horizon, beginning six months of uninterrupted daylight. A person at the South Pole would also see the sun skim the horizon, but it would signal the start of six months of darkness. Info Source: nationalgeographic.com - Link  |
| Iron 44: Copter 766 crash - Five Lawsuits Posted: 20 Mar 2009 12:26 PM PDT ----------------------------------------------Lawsuits against helicopter maker, others, in deadly firefighter crash grow to five by Stuart Tomlinson, The Oregonian Monday March 16, 2009, 5:31 PM  Photo of the Carson helicopter that was carrying 13 people away from the Buckhorn site in Trinity County when it crashed and burst into flames August 5, 2008.Photo credit: The family of a firefighter killed in a fiery helicopter crash last summer today filed a wrongful death, negligence and product liability lawsuit against an Oregon-based helicopter company and three other companies. The suit seeks $12.5 million for the estate 19-year-old Edrik Gomez. Gomez died a month before his junior year at Southern Oregon University in Ashland, where he had a double major in political science and communication.  Edrik Gomez, 19.The Aug. 5 crash is considered the deadliest air tragedy of working firefighters in U.S. history, killing nine men, including seven contract firefighters with Grayback Forestry of Merlin. In addition to Carson Helicopters Inc. of Grants Pass, the suit names the maker of the S-61 helicopter, Sikorsky Aircraft Corp., and its parent company, United Technologies Corp.; the maker of the engine, General Electric; and a maintenance firm, Columbia Helicopters of Aurora. The suit was filed in Multnomah County Circuit Court, and joins a growing list of lawsuits filed by the victim's families, including the estates of Matthew Hammer, 23, of Grants Pass and Bryan Rich, 29, of Medford; Scott Charlson, a 25-year-old Southern Oregon University student from Phoenix, Oregon; and 30-year-old Shawn Blazer of Medford. The helicopter went down moments after lifting off a hillside in the Shasta-Trinity National Forest. A preliminary report by the National Transportation Safety Board determined the helicopter lost power to its main rotor as it took off. In an interview a month after the crash, one of four survivors, Michael Brown, 20, of Rogue River, said that the helicopter felt sluggish as it lifted off. Then, he heard a sickening thump and watched as the main rotor smashed into tree limbs. Sikorsky S-61s have gone down four other times in the past 15 years under similar circumstances, leading some safety officials in the United States and Canada to raise questions about a part in their clutch system called the freewheel unit. Sikorsky -- and defendants that included either the engine maker or transmission maker -- have settled out of court at least five lawsuits related to such crashes, but have never admitted fault. The NTSB expects a final report on the crash to be issued some time around Thanksgiving, said lead investigator Jim Struhsaker. Source: www.oregonlive.com - Link |
| OCFA - Major structure explosion - Two dead, Two injured Posted: 20 Mar 2009 12:32 PM PDT Explosion at Rancho Santa Margarita manufacturer killed 2 workers. By RANCHO SANTA MARGARITA – An explosion at a manufacturing plant that killed two people and injured two other employees Thursday night is believed to have been caused by an industrial process water heater, offiicials said today. The explosion rocked an industrial part of the city Thursday night, cracking the concrete walls of the building and waking up firefighters from a station across the street. Firefighters from station 45 at first believed a truck had crashed into a building because of the commotion, said Capt. Greg McKeown of the Orange County Fire Authority. The firefighters ran outside just after 11:30 p.m. and saw that an explosion had occurred at Solus Industrial Innovatoion, 30152 Aventura Ave., McKeown said. "They heard the explosion, came out of the station, immediately went into action," McKeown said. The blast damaged the industrial building, including its façade and back wall, which bulged out from the force of the explosion. The blast from the water heater, in the rear of the building where six employees were working at the time, pushed equipment into the walls of the building. Four employees were outside of the building when firefighters approached. They said that two people were still inside the plant, McKeown said. "There was no fire," McKeown said. "There's a lot of damage to the building." Firefighters went inside the building and found two people dead, he said. Two employees were taken to Mission Hospital in Mission Viejo to be treated for minor injuries. Two other workers refused medical treatment. Authorities are currently at the scene investigating the cause of the blast, but it is believed it was caused by a large industrial process electric water heater, McKeown said. The blast was strong enough to make two holes in the ceiling. McKeown said the two people killed appeared to have suffered severe trauma and no burns. When firefighters went inside, they found roofing material scattered on the ground, insulation hanging and several broken pipes. "There's a lot of damage inside," he said. The force broke several fire sprinkler pipes as well, igniting the fire alarm. Firefighters with the Fire Authority's Hazmat team searched the area, but found no hazardous materials that would be of an immediate concern, McKeown said. City officials expressed sorrow about the events.
"My heart goes out to the families of those who lost their lives," Beall said. Deputies have blocked traffic in the area on Aventura Avenue for both sides of traffic, said Lt. Ted Boyne of the Orange County Sheriff's Department. Traffic is blocked from Gilberto to Tomas. According to an online profile, the company makes conveyor chains and sprockets. Source: www.ocregister.com - Link Late Night Explosion Kills 2 near Los Angeles Two people were killed and two others wounded in a late-night explosion on Thursday at a plastics plant in Orange County near Los Angeles, authorities said on Friday. The Orange County Fire Department (OCFD) said arson investigators were looking into the explosion Thursday night which occurred near an OCFD station, said Fire Capt. Greg McKeown. He said several firefighters heard the boom which "sounded like a large truck had run into something." At least six workers were inside the building at the time of the explosion, and four were standing outside when firefighters arrived, McKeown said. Firefighters recovered the bodies of two men at the back of the building, where the explosion was centered, and the two men were pronounced dead at the scene, McKeown said. At least two others were taken to a hospital with minor injuries, he said. Authorities blamed the explosion on an electrical water heater, which they said erupted with such force that it shot straight up through the business' roof and then fell back inside the building to the ground. Source: hhh - LinkOCFA Home: Link  |
| Boony Doon to get Cal Fire engine year-round Posted: 20 Mar 2009 08:01 AM PDT The Santa Cruz County Fire Department will spend $60,100 to move an engine company to Bonny Doon for year-round fire protection.  HOME BASE: It will cost the county about $60,000 to locate a Cal Fire engine at the McDermott Station, current home to the Bonny Doon Volunteer Fire Team. Lucjan Szewczyk/Press-Banner Most of the sum will pay to install modular buildings next to the community's McDermott Station in an effort to minimize the impact on Bonny Doon volunteer firefighters, who use the station at Empire Grade and Felton Empire roads as their headquarters. A building to house the Cal Fire engine comes at an estimated cost of $40,500, while a modular office building will cost $2,100 and repairs to a house on the property that will serve as sleeping quarters will cost between $7,000 and $9,000. The figures were contained in a staff report to county supervisors, who authorized the move at a Feb. 10 meeting. Funds will come from the existing County Fire budget. Supervisors accepted a staff recommendation to use the McDermott Station instead of two other possible sites despite objections from Bonny Doon volunteers. Price was a major consideration, as moving to the other Bonny Doon station on Martin Road would have cost $274,000, and using Cal Fire's training center on Empire Grade Road would have cost $236,600, staffers reported. However, the volunteers have pointed out that most of their driver-operators already live near McDermott and respond there, and volunteer morale could suffer because they would be considered second-tier responders. The move is expected to take place before the beginning of the summer fire season. Source: pressbanner.com - Link  |
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