DISASTER California, Calaveras and Amador Counties: Butte Fire Evacuation Details
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kittyluvr
Veteran Member
I'm home. The kitties were just fine. They still had food and water left. The little rascals hid for the first hour or so. We had to clean out the refrigerator and freezer. On the news PGE stated they think a live tree touched the power line and caused the fire.
Be well, thank you for your suggestion with cat carriers.
Thank you all for you thoughts and prayers.
Be well, thank you for your suggestion with cat carriers.
Thank you all for you thoughts and prayers.
Be Well
may all be well
HOORAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Thank you, God, for your mercy.
((((((HUGS)))))
And pats for the kitties.
Melodi
Disaster Cat
Oh that is fantastic news! If you can stay home with the kitties great, if not try to lure them in the carriers (for now) by placing really nice tuna fish or something inside and then locking them in - don't pull this trick if you are staying because then they will associate the carriers with tricks and lock ups.
But if you are staying you can just feed them near the carriers, put cat pillows, cat nip and kitties toys inside them (maybe cover with a towel) so they are friendly "cat caves" that the cats will see as secure places in the future.
You did good, oh and if you are ever faced with running again and not able to get an animal out of the house; make sure the toilet lids are up - cats and dogs will drink from them (yuck I know) but it can be life saving if they get lock up for a longer period of time than intended. That along with getting (or making) a few of the long-term dry food feeders (you can use the ones for chickens, the metal ones work with cat food just fine, plastic works OK but the cats tend to knock them over and take the top off) - but they have long-term waterers too (again chicken ones work just fine, they don't have to be fancy ones just for cats).
Most hold a week or two's worth of food and water; dry food can last for weeks if not exposed directly to air, so it may be a way for the future.
For now, delighted that your kitties are safe and your house is too!
But if you are staying you can just feed them near the carriers, put cat pillows, cat nip and kitties toys inside them (maybe cover with a towel) so they are friendly "cat caves" that the cats will see as secure places in the future.
You did good, oh and if you are ever faced with running again and not able to get an animal out of the house; make sure the toilet lids are up - cats and dogs will drink from them (yuck I know) but it can be life saving if they get lock up for a longer period of time than intended. That along with getting (or making) a few of the long-term dry food feeders (you can use the ones for chickens, the metal ones work with cat food just fine, plastic works OK but the cats tend to knock them over and take the top off) - but they have long-term waterers too (again chicken ones work just fine, they don't have to be fancy ones just for cats).
Most hold a week or two's worth of food and water; dry food can last for weeks if not exposed directly to air, so it may be a way for the future.
For now, delighted that your kitties are safe and your house is too!
Melodi
Disaster Cat
Posting this in case someone local wants to call, verify and then call the press on Lake County if needed; unless there is a very good reason to prevent these animal rescue folks from helping out this is heartless and cruel. Wanting to put down animals just to make room for more evacuees when there is an animal rescue that can and will take them for now and is working to reunite families with pets; sounds like someone with an agenda or on a power trip.
Of course, there may be other reasons (like a ban on anyone in certain high danger areas) but this work has been going on during the Valley fire, it isn't like this group doesn't have experience; this may also have affected Kittluvr's situation, I'm not sure which county she is in but it sounds possible -
From the facebook fire facebook group:
OMG...Bad news. Lake County has refused the help of PAS, Petaluma Animal Services who has been evacuating and rescuing animals up in the fire zone since yesterday. Now they want to keep control of it themselves so PAS cant help. Everyone, please if you can get media to ask them the questions of why they are doing this??? They were going to euthanize 28 animals to make space for more evacuees until the groups came to take them and now they dont want them around?
Call Lake county Animal Care and Control. 707-263-0278. Speak Nicely or you'll get nowhere. Contact the Lake County Supervisors Lakeport and Clearlake is Supervisor Anthony Distict 4. 707-263-2368
— feeling emotional.
Of course, there may be other reasons (like a ban on anyone in certain high danger areas) but this work has been going on during the Valley fire, it isn't like this group doesn't have experience; this may also have affected Kittluvr's situation, I'm not sure which county she is in but it sounds possible -
From the facebook fire facebook group:
OMG...Bad news. Lake County has refused the help of PAS, Petaluma Animal Services who has been evacuating and rescuing animals up in the fire zone since yesterday. Now they want to keep control of it themselves so PAS cant help. Everyone, please if you can get media to ask them the questions of why they are doing this??? They were going to euthanize 28 animals to make space for more evacuees until the groups came to take them and now they dont want them around?
Call Lake county Animal Care and Control. 707-263-0278. Speak Nicely or you'll get nowhere. Contact the Lake County Supervisors Lakeport and Clearlake is Supervisor Anthony Distict 4. 707-263-2368
— feeling emotional.
marsh
On TB every waking moment
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2015/09/1...ost-popular+(Internal+-+Most+Popular+Content)
Federal land management to blame for out-of-control fires, say critics
Wildfires are continuing to plague drought-stricken California and federal funding to fight them has dried up like parched El Dorado County farmland, leading critics to say the real problem lies nearly 3,000 miles away, in Washington.
For the year, more than 6 million acres -- an area the size of New Jersey -- have been burned, according to the National Interagency Fire Center. For the first time, the U.S. Forest Service will spend more than half its budget, some $1.2 billion, on fighting fires on the vast acreage it manages from the nation’s capital.
There is a better way, according to some experts, who believe more private ownership of land would divert the responsibility and cost from taxpayers.
“The federal government has shown itself to be a poor steward of its massive land holdings,” said Chris Edwards, director of tax policy studies at public policy think tank the CATO Institute. “The issues with Western lands are far too complex and sensitive for far-away politicians and bureaucrats in Washington to be able to solve.”
"If private owners fail they go bankrupt. If Forest Service managers fail, at worst they are transferred to another forest.”
- Robert Smith, Competitive Enterprise Institute
With 190 million acres of land under its control, the Forest Service is ill-equipped to manage land to prevent fires or protect property once blazes break out, said Robert Smith, distinguished fellow at the Competitive Enterprise Institute’s Center for Energy and Environment.
“Private owners cannot afford to let their forests die of disease, insect infestations or wildfire,” Smith said. “They are on the job 24 hours a day, unlike 9-5 government bureaucrats. If private owners fail they go bankrupt. If Forest Service managers fail, at worst they are transferred to another forest.”
In total, the U.S. government owns about 640 million acres of land, predominantly in the drought-riddled western states. Some 85 percent of Nevada; 70 percent of Alaska and roughly half of Arizona, California and Utah are federal lands.
While the drought is having a damaging effect on much of the land, it is the Forest Service’s national forests and grasslands that are most affected by wildfires.
Smith in part blames the influence of radical environmentalists for blocking the Forest Service from managing woodlands by removing old or dead trees most vulnerable to fire. Critics also say the government’s refusal to open up roadways through forestland makes fighting fires unnecessarily difficult.
Environmentalists groups and the government claim the increase in fires is due to global warming, caused by the use of fossil fuels. The Forest Service contends that the threat has made the average wildfire season is now 78 days longer than it was four decades ago.
But whether it is global warming or the sum total of decades of mismanagement, all experts seem to agree forest fires are getting worse – and costing more.
Vilsack says the agency has no choice but to take money earmarked for other programs and use it to fight fires. (AP)
“We can’t avoid wildfires and wildfire has always been part of the western landscape,” Ray Rasker, executive director of Headwaters Economics, a nonpartisan development and land management research group focused on the West, told FoxNews.com. “Right now, the Forest Service spends so much money fighting wildfires – with 90 percent of it going to defend homes – it has to borrow from other accounts. And every year, it gets worse.”
Twenty years ago, firefighting made up just 16 percent of the U.S. Forest Service’s annual budget. This past fiscal year, an unprecedented 52 percent of funds went to fighting fires and, if left unchecked, the figure will rise to two-thirds by 2025.
The agency says it has no choice but to take funds from other programs and services, such as forest restoration and management, which would actually help prevent fires as well as aid protection and recovery from them. While other disasters -- such as tornadoes and hurricanes -- can leverage emergency funding, the Forest Service must stay within current budget allocations and take money from elsewhere in the agency to fund firefighting.
“[The Forest Service is] not in a position to do the restoration and resiliency work that’s important and necessary, not just to keep our forests healthy, but also to reduce the risk of these intense, enormous fires that we are now fighting,” said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, whose department oversees the Forest Service.
In some cases, fighting fires may be not only futile, but unwise, according to Timothy Ingalsbee, executive director of Firefighters United for Safety, Ethics and Ecology. He said some fires serve a valid purpose and should be left to burn.
“We need to be stopping fires from spreading toward human assets like homes, and steering fires into backcountry wild lands that we want to burn in order to reduce fuel loads or restore fire-dependent species habitat,” he said. “Most of the small fires that we are able to put out are ones that we need to work with.”
Some critics say government ownership of land is part of the problem. (AP)
But Ingalsbee is dubious of claims that turning land over to the private sector would result in better management.
“Much more aggressive fire suppression occurs on public lands, in fact, to prevent wildfires from spreading onto private lands which are unprepared and unsustainable given wildfire,” he said.
Janine Blaeloch, director of the Seattle-based Western Land Project, which seeks to protect the environment the interest of the public in land ownership, agrees.
“Private ownership is always going to lead to maximum exploitation of resources for profit,” she said. “If you value preservation of functioning ecosystems and wildlife habitat, only public land will provide that in any significant way.”
_________________________
Note: The National Forest were withdrawn from the "public lands" (by legal definition - lands that had been surveyed and were open to settlement under the Homestead Acts,) for the purpose of providing a national supply of timber and for producing flows from upper watersheds to feed valley agriculture. It was not created for ecosystem preservation or wildlife interests. It no longer serves these purposes. Overstocked forests are not harvested and intervene in the water cycle, decreasing flow. It was much later that additional purposes of multiple use and sustained yield were added, but restrictions on use imposed through environmental lawsuits result in a failure on that mandate as well.
Federal land management to blame for out-of-control fires, say critics
Wildfires are continuing to plague drought-stricken California and federal funding to fight them has dried up like parched El Dorado County farmland, leading critics to say the real problem lies nearly 3,000 miles away, in Washington.
For the year, more than 6 million acres -- an area the size of New Jersey -- have been burned, according to the National Interagency Fire Center. For the first time, the U.S. Forest Service will spend more than half its budget, some $1.2 billion, on fighting fires on the vast acreage it manages from the nation’s capital.
There is a better way, according to some experts, who believe more private ownership of land would divert the responsibility and cost from taxpayers.
“The federal government has shown itself to be a poor steward of its massive land holdings,” said Chris Edwards, director of tax policy studies at public policy think tank the CATO Institute. “The issues with Western lands are far too complex and sensitive for far-away politicians and bureaucrats in Washington to be able to solve.”
"If private owners fail they go bankrupt. If Forest Service managers fail, at worst they are transferred to another forest.”
- Robert Smith, Competitive Enterprise Institute
With 190 million acres of land under its control, the Forest Service is ill-equipped to manage land to prevent fires or protect property once blazes break out, said Robert Smith, distinguished fellow at the Competitive Enterprise Institute’s Center for Energy and Environment.
“Private owners cannot afford to let their forests die of disease, insect infestations or wildfire,” Smith said. “They are on the job 24 hours a day, unlike 9-5 government bureaucrats. If private owners fail they go bankrupt. If Forest Service managers fail, at worst they are transferred to another forest.”
In total, the U.S. government owns about 640 million acres of land, predominantly in the drought-riddled western states. Some 85 percent of Nevada; 70 percent of Alaska and roughly half of Arizona, California and Utah are federal lands.
While the drought is having a damaging effect on much of the land, it is the Forest Service’s national forests and grasslands that are most affected by wildfires.
Smith in part blames the influence of radical environmentalists for blocking the Forest Service from managing woodlands by removing old or dead trees most vulnerable to fire. Critics also say the government’s refusal to open up roadways through forestland makes fighting fires unnecessarily difficult.
Environmentalists groups and the government claim the increase in fires is due to global warming, caused by the use of fossil fuels. The Forest Service contends that the threat has made the average wildfire season is now 78 days longer than it was four decades ago.
But whether it is global warming or the sum total of decades of mismanagement, all experts seem to agree forest fires are getting worse – and costing more.
Vilsack says the agency has no choice but to take money earmarked for other programs and use it to fight fires. (AP)
“We can’t avoid wildfires and wildfire has always been part of the western landscape,” Ray Rasker, executive director of Headwaters Economics, a nonpartisan development and land management research group focused on the West, told FoxNews.com. “Right now, the Forest Service spends so much money fighting wildfires – with 90 percent of it going to defend homes – it has to borrow from other accounts. And every year, it gets worse.”
Twenty years ago, firefighting made up just 16 percent of the U.S. Forest Service’s annual budget. This past fiscal year, an unprecedented 52 percent of funds went to fighting fires and, if left unchecked, the figure will rise to two-thirds by 2025.
The agency says it has no choice but to take funds from other programs and services, such as forest restoration and management, which would actually help prevent fires as well as aid protection and recovery from them. While other disasters -- such as tornadoes and hurricanes -- can leverage emergency funding, the Forest Service must stay within current budget allocations and take money from elsewhere in the agency to fund firefighting.
“[The Forest Service is] not in a position to do the restoration and resiliency work that’s important and necessary, not just to keep our forests healthy, but also to reduce the risk of these intense, enormous fires that we are now fighting,” said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, whose department oversees the Forest Service.
In some cases, fighting fires may be not only futile, but unwise, according to Timothy Ingalsbee, executive director of Firefighters United for Safety, Ethics and Ecology. He said some fires serve a valid purpose and should be left to burn.
“We need to be stopping fires from spreading toward human assets like homes, and steering fires into backcountry wild lands that we want to burn in order to reduce fuel loads or restore fire-dependent species habitat,” he said. “Most of the small fires that we are able to put out are ones that we need to work with.”
Some critics say government ownership of land is part of the problem. (AP)
But Ingalsbee is dubious of claims that turning land over to the private sector would result in better management.
“Much more aggressive fire suppression occurs on public lands, in fact, to prevent wildfires from spreading onto private lands which are unprepared and unsustainable given wildfire,” he said.
Janine Blaeloch, director of the Seattle-based Western Land Project, which seeks to protect the environment the interest of the public in land ownership, agrees.
“Private ownership is always going to lead to maximum exploitation of resources for profit,” she said. “If you value preservation of functioning ecosystems and wildlife habitat, only public land will provide that in any significant way.”
_________________________
Note: The National Forest were withdrawn from the "public lands" (by legal definition - lands that had been surveyed and were open to settlement under the Homestead Acts,) for the purpose of providing a national supply of timber and for producing flows from upper watersheds to feed valley agriculture. It was not created for ecosystem preservation or wildlife interests. It no longer serves these purposes. Overstocked forests are not harvested and intervene in the water cycle, decreasing flow. It was much later that additional purposes of multiple use and sustained yield were added, but restrictions on use imposed through environmental lawsuits result in a failure on that mandate as well.
Be Well
may all be well
Great article, marsh. I will get this to DH and maybe he will pass this on to others in the department. Also the article about the different kinds of managedment in experimental 250 acre plots, and how fire affected them, I showed him. He's going to use that information. Not that his little department can make any changes in how the FS manages things around here, but knowledge is key.
marsh
On TB every waking moment
http://www.idahostatesman.com/2015/09/17/3991021_two-more-bodies-found-in-california.html?rh=1
Retired journalist, composer among 5 dead in Northern California fires
By Tony Bizjak, Hudson Sangree and Bill Lindelof
blindelof@sacbee.comSeptember 17, 2015
California Wildfires
One was a music composer and teacher. Another was a former newspaper reporter who still listened to his police scanners. One was a retired teacher with multiple sclerosis, but still vibrant. Another, a ham radio enthusiast and San Francisco Giants fan who recently posted he was fighting off gophers in his vegetable garden.
In total, five people are known to have perished in the twin infernos that swept for miles through hilly acres in Northern California this past week, one centered in Calaveras County, the other in Lake County.
Helped by cool weather, firefighters continued to encircle the two blazes Thursday, as investigators looked into potential causes.
The Valley fire was listed as 35 percent contained after burning more than 73,700 acres and at least 585 residences. Lake County sheriff’s officials said the fire – already listed as the ninth-most destructive in state history in terms of houses burned – was first reported Saturday afternoon as a shed fire near the town of Cobb.
The 9-day-old Butte fire, which has scorched 70,760 acres and destroyed at least 365 homes, was 55 percent contained Thursday evening. Cal Fire spokesman Daniel Berlant said his agency is investigating with the Pacific Gas and Electric Co. the possibility that the fire ignited when a tree branch hit a power line.
Search crews with cadaver dogs continue to comb for victims amid the fires’ damage and ashes.
“Knowing how fast these fires moved, and how much destruction they left, it would not surprise me if more bodies are found,” Berlant said. “We are praying there are no more.”
Lake County Sheriff Brian Martin on Thursday night addressed about 500 people, most of them evacuees, at the Napa County Fairgrounds, warning that the firefight is not yet done, and grim discoveries likely remain to be found. “I hate to say it, but I expect to find more (bodies),” he said.
The fairgrounds are serving as a main evacuation center. There are tents, tables heaped with used clothing, biker clubs barbecuing hot dogs for the evacuees, an RV from the Department of Veterans Affairs, an American Red Cross outlet and a mobile veterinary clinic.
The five individuals reported dead shared one commonality: Either they failed to heed officials’ warnings to evacuate or may not have received warning, leaving them unaware until too late the danger that was descending on them.
Two of the victims were found in one community, Anderson Springs, a subdivision of 200 homes nestled in the wooded hills near Middletown, in Lake County. Those homes were consumed Saturday night when fire swept down a mountainside so fast that few saw it coming. All but nine houses were destroyed, Anderson Springs resident Peggy Rose said.
The community gained Internet notoriety this week, thanks to one resident’s profanity-punctuated video of his family’s nighttime car ride from their home in Anderson Springs through a hellish landscape of flames – a graphic depiction of the horror of waiting until the last minute to escape.
Cal Fire officials say one of the dead, discovered Wednesday near Anderson Springs, is believed to be Leonard Neft, 69, a former San Jose Mercury News police beat reporter whose family has lived for generations in the Cobb area of Lake County.
Neft talked on the phone Saturday with his wife, who lives separately in Sacramento. He told her he had received an automated phone call that afternoon from county officials warning about the fire but was uncertain about whether he should leave. Neft finally decided to leave that evening, but it was too late. His burned car was found later.
A former neighbor called Neft the unofficial “mayor of Anderson Springs,” a friendly, fitness-oriented person who bought groceries for the disabled woman next door, let neighborhood kids play on his swing set and enthusiastically shared his ideas about healthy foods with neighbors.
“I can imagine that Len would have waited as long as he could to get out,” said Becky Levi, who moved away from the area a few years ago. “He would not have wanted to leave.
“We had ridden out fires before, where we watched the fire on the mountain and it didn’t come down to us. We always felt Anderson Springs was a safe haven. It is shocking it is gone.”
On Thursday, Neft’s house was a pile of rubble and twisted metal. The swing set, however, still stood.
Nearby in the same subdivision, Barbara McWilliams, 72, a retired schoolteacher who was disabled, also was uncertain that Saturday afternoon whether to leave, friends told various new media. She did not have a car, but figured someone would give her a lift if need be.
Lake County officials could not be reached to comment on their evacuation efforts in Anderson Springs. However, in a press statement Thursday, a Sheriff’s Office spokesman said the department received a call at 7:12 p.m from a concerned person who knew McWilliams, saying she believed the woman was still in her home. Rescuers attempted to get to McWilliams’ house at 7:29 p.m., according to the release, but the area was in flames.
“The resident was apparently unable to self-evacuate and responders were unable to make it to her home before the fire engulfed the structure,” the statement said. “After the fire subsided enough for crews to respond, personnel arrived at the burned down residence on Hot Springs Road to find the remains of a deceased person.”
Peggy Rose, 67, who has lived in Anderson Springs for six years, said she did not receive a call to evacuate, nor did she see anyone in the neighborhood issuing warnings. She was warned by a neighbor that the fire was on its way. She doesn’t blame officials.
“The resources were stretched so thin and the fire moved so incredibly fast,” she said. “You don’t expect some authority somewhere to take care of things. As a community, we’re quite capable of organizing for ourselves. We made an effort to make that official, but it was hit or miss.”
Cal Fire’s Berlant said the speed of the Valley fire that first day was dramatic, and evacuations were at times chaotic. In some cases, people refused to leave their homes.
Berlant said Cal Fire and local authorities will conduct an “after action” review “where we don’t second-guess. We look at what worked, what didn’t, and what improvements can be made.”
A third body found Wednesday morning in the Hidden Valley area of Lake County “is presumed to be those of Bruce Beven Burns, who was reported missing on Sept. 15,” Cal Fire officials said in the press statement. Burns’ sister-in-law, Shirley Burns, told San Francisco television station KRON that Burns, 65, was burly, bearded and gentle, like a teddy bear. He sold items at a Clear Lake flea market and lived in a trailer at the family’s metal recycling yard.
In Calaveras County, officials have identified two fire fatalities, Mark McCloud, 66, of the Mountain Ranch area, east of the town of San Andreas, and Owen Goldsmith, 82, a music composer and teacher who lived in the M-24 Ranch subdivision a few miles away.
Sgt. Anthony Eberhardt of the Calaveras County Sheriff’s Office said both lived in areas where mandatory evacuation calls were issued. Evacuations typically involve various means, including reverse-911 calls and people knocking door-to-door, Eberhardt said. The officer said he did not know whether Goldsmith and McCloud were personally contacted about the evacuation order or why they were still in the area when the fire came through.
Although the Sheriff’s Office received reports of other missing people, Eberhardt said the majority of them had been located at shelters or evacuation centers.
McCloud was a relative newcomer to the foothills. He described himself on Internet sites as a native of Wisconsin, and a worker in the semiconductor industry, with an interest in ham radio, tinkering, music, astronomy, astrophotography and the Giants.
“I have been up in this neck of the woods going on 8 years now and it is great,” he wrote on a ham radio site. “Lots of wildlife, trees and a whole lot of room.
“I’m keeping myself busy with antenna projects and my main thing for the summer is the vegetable garden. I’ve expanded it to double its size and, in doing so, have realized a gopher problem. So I am installing wire cages for all my vegetables.”
Goldsmith, described on Internet music sites as a Texas native, was a full-time music writer who graduated magna *** laude from San Francisco State University in 1959. He studied in Vienna and Venice, taught choirs, orchestra and music theory at high schools and wrote more than 80 compositions, according to the Alfred Music website.
Goldsmith lived in a secluded house at the bottom of a mountain off a windy and steep unpaved road, several miles from the nearest town, Mountain Ranch. The house once commanded views of the surrounding leafy valley, but on Thursday, the only view in sight was that of charred tree trunks and smoldering grass.
Goldsmith’s house was completely torched and only a few metal pieces, two burned-out cars and a concrete retaining wall remained. The only dash of color was a ribbon of yellow police tape. The fire spared other homes in the area, including two luxury houses perched above a hill.
PG&E officials posted a statement on the company’s website Thursday saying the utility is cooperating with the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection in finding the source of the Butte fire – which may involve one of its power lines.
“While we don’t have all the facts yet, a live tree may have contacted a PG&E line in the vicinity of the ignition point,” said Barry Anderson, PG&E vice president of emergency preparedness and operations. “We don’t know if a tree making contact with our line caused the fire. That will be the subject of the Cal Fire investigation, and these types of investigations take time.”
Anderson said in a statement that the utility is reviewing inspection and patrol data for the past two years for the area near the tree, a location he did not specify. That data will be shared with Cal Fire investigators.
Read more here: http://www.idahostatesman.com/2015/...s-found-in-california.html?rh=1#storylink=cpy
Retired journalist, composer among 5 dead in Northern California fires
By Tony Bizjak, Hudson Sangree and Bill Lindelof
blindelof@sacbee.comSeptember 17, 2015
California Wildfires
One was a music composer and teacher. Another was a former newspaper reporter who still listened to his police scanners. One was a retired teacher with multiple sclerosis, but still vibrant. Another, a ham radio enthusiast and San Francisco Giants fan who recently posted he was fighting off gophers in his vegetable garden.
In total, five people are known to have perished in the twin infernos that swept for miles through hilly acres in Northern California this past week, one centered in Calaveras County, the other in Lake County.
Helped by cool weather, firefighters continued to encircle the two blazes Thursday, as investigators looked into potential causes.
The Valley fire was listed as 35 percent contained after burning more than 73,700 acres and at least 585 residences. Lake County sheriff’s officials said the fire – already listed as the ninth-most destructive in state history in terms of houses burned – was first reported Saturday afternoon as a shed fire near the town of Cobb.
The 9-day-old Butte fire, which has scorched 70,760 acres and destroyed at least 365 homes, was 55 percent contained Thursday evening. Cal Fire spokesman Daniel Berlant said his agency is investigating with the Pacific Gas and Electric Co. the possibility that the fire ignited when a tree branch hit a power line.
Search crews with cadaver dogs continue to comb for victims amid the fires’ damage and ashes.
“Knowing how fast these fires moved, and how much destruction they left, it would not surprise me if more bodies are found,” Berlant said. “We are praying there are no more.”
Lake County Sheriff Brian Martin on Thursday night addressed about 500 people, most of them evacuees, at the Napa County Fairgrounds, warning that the firefight is not yet done, and grim discoveries likely remain to be found. “I hate to say it, but I expect to find more (bodies),” he said.
The fairgrounds are serving as a main evacuation center. There are tents, tables heaped with used clothing, biker clubs barbecuing hot dogs for the evacuees, an RV from the Department of Veterans Affairs, an American Red Cross outlet and a mobile veterinary clinic.
The five individuals reported dead shared one commonality: Either they failed to heed officials’ warnings to evacuate or may not have received warning, leaving them unaware until too late the danger that was descending on them.
Two of the victims were found in one community, Anderson Springs, a subdivision of 200 homes nestled in the wooded hills near Middletown, in Lake County. Those homes were consumed Saturday night when fire swept down a mountainside so fast that few saw it coming. All but nine houses were destroyed, Anderson Springs resident Peggy Rose said.
The community gained Internet notoriety this week, thanks to one resident’s profanity-punctuated video of his family’s nighttime car ride from their home in Anderson Springs through a hellish landscape of flames – a graphic depiction of the horror of waiting until the last minute to escape.
Cal Fire officials say one of the dead, discovered Wednesday near Anderson Springs, is believed to be Leonard Neft, 69, a former San Jose Mercury News police beat reporter whose family has lived for generations in the Cobb area of Lake County.
Neft talked on the phone Saturday with his wife, who lives separately in Sacramento. He told her he had received an automated phone call that afternoon from county officials warning about the fire but was uncertain about whether he should leave. Neft finally decided to leave that evening, but it was too late. His burned car was found later.
A former neighbor called Neft the unofficial “mayor of Anderson Springs,” a friendly, fitness-oriented person who bought groceries for the disabled woman next door, let neighborhood kids play on his swing set and enthusiastically shared his ideas about healthy foods with neighbors.
“I can imagine that Len would have waited as long as he could to get out,” said Becky Levi, who moved away from the area a few years ago. “He would not have wanted to leave.
“We had ridden out fires before, where we watched the fire on the mountain and it didn’t come down to us. We always felt Anderson Springs was a safe haven. It is shocking it is gone.”
On Thursday, Neft’s house was a pile of rubble and twisted metal. The swing set, however, still stood.
Nearby in the same subdivision, Barbara McWilliams, 72, a retired schoolteacher who was disabled, also was uncertain that Saturday afternoon whether to leave, friends told various new media. She did not have a car, but figured someone would give her a lift if need be.
Lake County officials could not be reached to comment on their evacuation efforts in Anderson Springs. However, in a press statement Thursday, a Sheriff’s Office spokesman said the department received a call at 7:12 p.m from a concerned person who knew McWilliams, saying she believed the woman was still in her home. Rescuers attempted to get to McWilliams’ house at 7:29 p.m., according to the release, but the area was in flames.
“The resident was apparently unable to self-evacuate and responders were unable to make it to her home before the fire engulfed the structure,” the statement said. “After the fire subsided enough for crews to respond, personnel arrived at the burned down residence on Hot Springs Road to find the remains of a deceased person.”
Peggy Rose, 67, who has lived in Anderson Springs for six years, said she did not receive a call to evacuate, nor did she see anyone in the neighborhood issuing warnings. She was warned by a neighbor that the fire was on its way. She doesn’t blame officials.
“The resources were stretched so thin and the fire moved so incredibly fast,” she said. “You don’t expect some authority somewhere to take care of things. As a community, we’re quite capable of organizing for ourselves. We made an effort to make that official, but it was hit or miss.”
Cal Fire’s Berlant said the speed of the Valley fire that first day was dramatic, and evacuations were at times chaotic. In some cases, people refused to leave their homes.
Berlant said Cal Fire and local authorities will conduct an “after action” review “where we don’t second-guess. We look at what worked, what didn’t, and what improvements can be made.”
A third body found Wednesday morning in the Hidden Valley area of Lake County “is presumed to be those of Bruce Beven Burns, who was reported missing on Sept. 15,” Cal Fire officials said in the press statement. Burns’ sister-in-law, Shirley Burns, told San Francisco television station KRON that Burns, 65, was burly, bearded and gentle, like a teddy bear. He sold items at a Clear Lake flea market and lived in a trailer at the family’s metal recycling yard.
In Calaveras County, officials have identified two fire fatalities, Mark McCloud, 66, of the Mountain Ranch area, east of the town of San Andreas, and Owen Goldsmith, 82, a music composer and teacher who lived in the M-24 Ranch subdivision a few miles away.
Sgt. Anthony Eberhardt of the Calaveras County Sheriff’s Office said both lived in areas where mandatory evacuation calls were issued. Evacuations typically involve various means, including reverse-911 calls and people knocking door-to-door, Eberhardt said. The officer said he did not know whether Goldsmith and McCloud were personally contacted about the evacuation order or why they were still in the area when the fire came through.
Although the Sheriff’s Office received reports of other missing people, Eberhardt said the majority of them had been located at shelters or evacuation centers.
McCloud was a relative newcomer to the foothills. He described himself on Internet sites as a native of Wisconsin, and a worker in the semiconductor industry, with an interest in ham radio, tinkering, music, astronomy, astrophotography and the Giants.
“I have been up in this neck of the woods going on 8 years now and it is great,” he wrote on a ham radio site. “Lots of wildlife, trees and a whole lot of room.
“I’m keeping myself busy with antenna projects and my main thing for the summer is the vegetable garden. I’ve expanded it to double its size and, in doing so, have realized a gopher problem. So I am installing wire cages for all my vegetables.”
Goldsmith, described on Internet music sites as a Texas native, was a full-time music writer who graduated magna *** laude from San Francisco State University in 1959. He studied in Vienna and Venice, taught choirs, orchestra and music theory at high schools and wrote more than 80 compositions, according to the Alfred Music website.
Goldsmith lived in a secluded house at the bottom of a mountain off a windy and steep unpaved road, several miles from the nearest town, Mountain Ranch. The house once commanded views of the surrounding leafy valley, but on Thursday, the only view in sight was that of charred tree trunks and smoldering grass.
Goldsmith’s house was completely torched and only a few metal pieces, two burned-out cars and a concrete retaining wall remained. The only dash of color was a ribbon of yellow police tape. The fire spared other homes in the area, including two luxury houses perched above a hill.
PG&E officials posted a statement on the company’s website Thursday saying the utility is cooperating with the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection in finding the source of the Butte fire – which may involve one of its power lines.
“While we don’t have all the facts yet, a live tree may have contacted a PG&E line in the vicinity of the ignition point,” said Barry Anderson, PG&E vice president of emergency preparedness and operations. “We don’t know if a tree making contact with our line caused the fire. That will be the subject of the Cal Fire investigation, and these types of investigations take time.”
Anderson said in a statement that the utility is reviewing inspection and patrol data for the past two years for the area near the tree, a location he did not specify. That data will be shared with Cal Fire investigators.
Read more here: http://www.idahostatesman.com/2015/...s-found-in-california.html?rh=1#storylink=cpy
Be Well
may all be well
In our neighborhood - about 100 houses, I think - there is a tenuous neighborhood watch group which started a telephone tree with several captains who have lists to call. It is out of date and the N.W. got taken over by a nutcase and so has very little participation. It's a good idea. though. Even streets having such a system, to make sure everyone knows to get out. When there was a fire close by here a bit over a month ago, a neighbor ran up to my door (250 ft from road) to alert me, otherwise I would not have known I had to leave that instant. It was too fast for the sheriff deputy to get to everyone. I wonder about cars with bull horns?
kittyluvr
Veteran Member
We did NOT receive reverse 911 phone calls on our land lines to evacuate. I was listening to the scanner and made the decision to leave based on what I heard. I called my neighbors, one of which called me on Wednesday night (the day we returned from evacuation) to thank me for letting them know what was going on.
The Butte fire is 67% contained and has not grown in a couple days. To date 511 homes have destroyed by the fire along with 333 outbuildings and 47 structures damaged.
It has been a lot of work cleaning out the refrigerator and freezer. The county had the local garbage company put out small dumpsters in various locations in the evacuated areas to dispose of food waste and are emptied daily.
My advice to everyone always keep you gas tank full. Because of the fire, power was disrupted for a large area and fights broke out at gas stations with generators for gas in our rural area. Also, make sure to have emergency cash on hand; no power, ATM's and cards do not work. Don't forget to check/update your go bags at least annually. If you are like me and don't think too clearly when scared/stressed, have a prioritized list of items to take with you in case of evacuation.
I am so glad to be home.
The Butte fire is 67% contained and has not grown in a couple days. To date 511 homes have destroyed by the fire along with 333 outbuildings and 47 structures damaged.
It has been a lot of work cleaning out the refrigerator and freezer. The county had the local garbage company put out small dumpsters in various locations in the evacuated areas to dispose of food waste and are emptied daily.
My advice to everyone always keep you gas tank full. Because of the fire, power was disrupted for a large area and fights broke out at gas stations with generators for gas in our rural area. Also, make sure to have emergency cash on hand; no power, ATM's and cards do not work. Don't forget to check/update your go bags at least annually. If you are like me and don't think too clearly when scared/stressed, have a prioritized list of items to take with you in case of evacuation.
I am so glad to be home.
marsh
On TB every waking moment
Petaluma Animal Services
Hard day today for our officers- Officer Scott did a lot of searches, mostly recovery. This fire was cruel and had no limits, it seems. Then, he came upon a miracle. Through burned up hellish landscapes where no life could exist, he finds a field, with a pond - and about 20 horses. They're banged up, but alive! He carries hay and grain so he left what he had, and radioed for hay, grain and trailers stat. Something to celebrate, as these guys are going to make it. #ValleyFire #PetalumaAnimalShelter #OfficerMarkScott
Hard day today for our officers- Officer Scott did a lot of searches, mostly recovery. This fire was cruel and had no limits, it seems. Then, he came upon a miracle. Through burned up hellish landscapes where no life could exist, he finds a field, with a pond - and about 20 horses. They're banged up, but alive! He carries hay and grain so he left what he had, and radioed for hay, grain and trailers stat. Something to celebrate, as these guys are going to make it. #ValleyFire #PetalumaAnimalShelter #OfficerMarkScott
marsh
On TB every waking moment
Drone flight over the 75,000+ acre Valley Fire
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7YEMf6W9frs
___________________________
http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-nasa-burn-scars-valley-fire-20150924-story.html
lames from California’s third-most destructive wildfire on record not only consumed hundreds of homes but also left deep burn scars that can be seen from space.
New NASA infrared satellite images of the 76,067-acre fire show large swaths of burned woodlands in Lake, Napa and Sonoma counties, charred by intense, fast-moving flames. The town of Middletown is surrounded by acres of scorched land, the images show.
Suicide caused fire that destroyed 11 homes in Monterey County, officials say
Suicide caused fire that destroyed 11 homes in Monterey County, officials say
Years of aggressive firefighting, drought and few prescribed fires left the forest overrun with brush and timber, according to NASA.
See the most-read stories this hour >>
“So when a weather system delivered abnormally hot temperatures and gusty winds to Napa, Sonoma, and Lake counties in northern California, the forests were primed to burn intensely,” NASA said.
As the death toll rises in California’s destructive wildfires, firefighters are moving closer to fully containing raging flames that have consumed thousands of homes.
The Valley fire started Sept. 12 in southern Lake County and burned toward several towns, forcing thousands of resident to flees. The blaze destroyed 1,910 structures. Four people were killed.
Authorities have continued searching for Robert Edward Litchman, 61, of Lower Lake, whose home was destroyed by the fire. Lake County sheriff’s officials said Litchman refused to evacuate and was last seen standing in his driveway waving at vehicles as others fled the area.
cComments
An unnamed source from NASA says the Valley Fire burned a "forest overrun with brush and timber" as a result of "aggressive firefighting, drought, and few prescribed burns?" Such a claim is based on often-repeated, but baseless assumptions applied to nearly every wildfire in...
naturalist1
at 9:16 AM September 26, 2015
Add a comment See all comments
1
Only two other fires have destroyed more structures than the Valley fire: the Tunnel fire in 1991 and the Cedar fire in 2003.
More than 2,800 firefighters are working to stamp out hot spots within the blaze, which is 85% contained, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.
“Rehabilitation is underway to restore the natural landscape that may have been altered during initial firefighting efforts,” Cal Fire said.
Burning in Amador and Calaveras counties, the Butte fire has blackened 70,868 acres and destroyed nearly 820 structures and killed two people.
More than two weeks after the blaze started, Cal Fire announced on Thursday that all evacuation orders had finally been lifted and that the fire was nearly 90% contained.
Interested in the stories shaping California? Sign up for the free Essential California newsletter >>
Farther south along the coast, the Tassajara fire, which was 94% contained, was sparked by someone committing suicide Saturday afternoon. Fanned by strong winds, flames moved quickly through 1,086 acres and destroyed 12 homes.
The three fires are among nine blazes burning in California. Although firefighters have begun to gain an upper hand on several fires, warm temperatures this week could increase the danger again.
Temperatures are expected jump in Northern California and could reach triple digits by the weekend in Southern California.
“Even though fall officially started yesterday, the risk of wildfires has not ended,” Cal Fire said. “In fact, historically California experiences its largest and most damaging wildfires during the fall months.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7YEMf6W9frs
___________________________
http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-nasa-burn-scars-valley-fire-20150924-story.html
lames from California’s third-most destructive wildfire on record not only consumed hundreds of homes but also left deep burn scars that can be seen from space.
New NASA infrared satellite images of the 76,067-acre fire show large swaths of burned woodlands in Lake, Napa and Sonoma counties, charred by intense, fast-moving flames. The town of Middletown is surrounded by acres of scorched land, the images show.
Suicide caused fire that destroyed 11 homes in Monterey County, officials say
Suicide caused fire that destroyed 11 homes in Monterey County, officials say
Years of aggressive firefighting, drought and few prescribed fires left the forest overrun with brush and timber, according to NASA.
See the most-read stories this hour >>
“So when a weather system delivered abnormally hot temperatures and gusty winds to Napa, Sonoma, and Lake counties in northern California, the forests were primed to burn intensely,” NASA said.
As the death toll rises in California’s destructive wildfires, firefighters are moving closer to fully containing raging flames that have consumed thousands of homes.
The Valley fire started Sept. 12 in southern Lake County and burned toward several towns, forcing thousands of resident to flees. The blaze destroyed 1,910 structures. Four people were killed.
Authorities have continued searching for Robert Edward Litchman, 61, of Lower Lake, whose home was destroyed by the fire. Lake County sheriff’s officials said Litchman refused to evacuate and was last seen standing in his driveway waving at vehicles as others fled the area.
cComments
An unnamed source from NASA says the Valley Fire burned a "forest overrun with brush and timber" as a result of "aggressive firefighting, drought, and few prescribed burns?" Such a claim is based on often-repeated, but baseless assumptions applied to nearly every wildfire in...
naturalist1
at 9:16 AM September 26, 2015
Add a comment See all comments
1
Only two other fires have destroyed more structures than the Valley fire: the Tunnel fire in 1991 and the Cedar fire in 2003.
More than 2,800 firefighters are working to stamp out hot spots within the blaze, which is 85% contained, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.
“Rehabilitation is underway to restore the natural landscape that may have been altered during initial firefighting efforts,” Cal Fire said.
Burning in Amador and Calaveras counties, the Butte fire has blackened 70,868 acres and destroyed nearly 820 structures and killed two people.
More than two weeks after the blaze started, Cal Fire announced on Thursday that all evacuation orders had finally been lifted and that the fire was nearly 90% contained.
Interested in the stories shaping California? Sign up for the free Essential California newsletter >>
Farther south along the coast, the Tassajara fire, which was 94% contained, was sparked by someone committing suicide Saturday afternoon. Fanned by strong winds, flames moved quickly through 1,086 acres and destroyed 12 homes.
The three fires are among nine blazes burning in California. Although firefighters have begun to gain an upper hand on several fires, warm temperatures this week could increase the danger again.
Temperatures are expected jump in Northern California and could reach triple digits by the weekend in Southern California.
“Even though fall officially started yesterday, the risk of wildfires has not ended,” Cal Fire said. “In fact, historically California experiences its largest and most damaging wildfires during the fall months.”
Last edited:
The Butte Fire traveled Southeast, pushed by daily winds in that direction. It was stopped at the intersection where our house is located a very short distance uphill, the Southeast boundary of the 100 square mile fire. Cal Fire staged in our front yard, bulldozers cleared fire trails all over our 5 acres, they chainsawed bushes, laid hoses and were going to backfire through our trees but the wind changed. They saved the tiny town at the foot of our hill by backfiring behind it instead. We previously owned a home in M-24 where Owen Goldsmith died - and all but 3 of the homes surrounding ours burned to the ground. The hills are covered with black sticks where there used to be abundant trees and vegetation. Goldsmith refused to leave, altho neighbors and police tried to persuade him. Nearly 500 homes lost in a county where 60% of the population receives food stamps (mostly elderly retirees, many without insurance). It was TEOTWAWKI for all those individuals and families - and very nearly for us as well. We evacuated with only the most irreplaceable things, no clothes or necessities.
We serendipitously met the Incident Commander and Strike Team Supervisor who saved our house and got to shake their hands and hear their stories.
The bright side of this terrible devastation is that I have never seen such a heartfelt, self-sacrificing, all-out community response. Strangers showed up with livestock trailers, crates, etc. and saved thousands of animals from mice and fish to llamas, horses and cows - and everything in between. The outpouring of support has been phenomenal and the gratitude for firefighters (of whom there were at one point nearly 7,000) has also been amazing. Crowds would line up at shift change (8-10 am), lining the streets in Angels Camp each morning, and cheer them as they went by either returning or going out. Out of 40 county firefighters, 11 lost their own homes to the fire. These are mountain people, and their values are the moral backbone of America. I hope they will not scatter, but get their FEMA trailers to stay with us until they can rebuild.
We serendipitously met the Incident Commander and Strike Team Supervisor who saved our house and got to shake their hands and hear their stories.
The bright side of this terrible devastation is that I have never seen such a heartfelt, self-sacrificing, all-out community response. Strangers showed up with livestock trailers, crates, etc. and saved thousands of animals from mice and fish to llamas, horses and cows - and everything in between. The outpouring of support has been phenomenal and the gratitude for firefighters (of whom there were at one point nearly 7,000) has also been amazing. Crowds would line up at shift change (8-10 am), lining the streets in Angels Camp each morning, and cheer them as they went by either returning or going out. Out of 40 county firefighters, 11 lost their own homes to the fire. These are mountain people, and their values are the moral backbone of America. I hope they will not scatter, but get their FEMA trailers to stay with us until they can rebuild.
Melodi
Disaster Cat
This took place at the remains of our friend's house - the photographer did the story and posted it along with the photos, she has now updated to include the name of the owners etc on her facebook page.
https://www.facebook.com/haji.warf/...1073741876.100001624193286&type=3&pnref=story
September 22, 2015: Firefighters Rescue Koi!
September 22 ·
COBB, CA -- A local Lake County photographer, Nathan DeHart, sent me a photo of a koi pond, somewhere on Gifford Springs Road in Cobb, CA. Despite the home having burned in the Valley Fire, the fish were alive. Nathan did not know the specific address.
The next day, I went in search to investigate their condition. After half an hour and feeling exasperated, I flagged down a crew commander in a pickup from Folsom. Without hesitation, he volunteered to help me.
While continuing to drive around in a loop and on the gravel side streets, we spotted a local man, who had ignored the mandatory evacuation and had stayed behind. He suggested we try down at the entrance of the loop, for that was the only building he could think of having a stone chimney, as was visible in Nathan’s photo.
While I cautiously navigated a turn around in the tight corners of the burned out neighborhood, the crew commander went ahead of me. After a few minutes, I headed down Gifford Springs Road alone.
Suddenly, to the right appeared the koi pond, with conspicuous cherubs attending its dark pool. Abruptly coming to a stop and jumping out of the truck, I rushed to the side of the murky basin and peered in. Yes! The koi were alive, indeed!
The blackened water level was low, with debris and chunks of charcoal, floating on the surface.
As I frantically calculated the ways to bring up a hundred gallons of clean water to replenish the pond, I heard the distinctive rumble of a heavy vehicle, coming up the hill. I ran out to the street to find the familiar red hood of a CALFIRE engine, turning the corner.
Flagging it down, I hurriedly explained the desperate situation to the firefighters, who quickly agreed to help. As luck would have it, this crew from Shasta had cleaned their tank that morning of the foam used to douse fires and had refilled it with clean water at a hydrant.
Hastily unreeling their hose and dragging it to the pond, the firefighters unleashed into it what had to be a life-saving shower of water. Unfortunately, one white koi did not make it and was floating, belly up, in the corner.
Finding whatever would work as a screen, the heroic men in yellow proceeded to skim the surface of the coal-laden water and removed much of the floating debris.
Within minutes, the Folsom commander, as well as two more engines, arrived to assist. Upon seeing the dismal conditions of the water, he decided it would be best to call animal control to arrange for a rescue.
In the meantime, the pond had been oxygenated by the flow from the hose and had been topped off. Against the odds, the overflow pipes, though burned, still worked to indicate when the pond was at capacity.
With serendipity playing a hand, the koi were saved!
Firefighters are willing to save all manner of lives, apparently, and I cannot praise them enough. Thank you, Shasta crew!
#ValleyFire
https://www.facebook.com/haji.warf/...1073741876.100001624193286&type=3&pnref=story
September 22, 2015: Firefighters Rescue Koi!
September 22 ·
COBB, CA -- A local Lake County photographer, Nathan DeHart, sent me a photo of a koi pond, somewhere on Gifford Springs Road in Cobb, CA. Despite the home having burned in the Valley Fire, the fish were alive. Nathan did not know the specific address.
The next day, I went in search to investigate their condition. After half an hour and feeling exasperated, I flagged down a crew commander in a pickup from Folsom. Without hesitation, he volunteered to help me.
While continuing to drive around in a loop and on the gravel side streets, we spotted a local man, who had ignored the mandatory evacuation and had stayed behind. He suggested we try down at the entrance of the loop, for that was the only building he could think of having a stone chimney, as was visible in Nathan’s photo.
While I cautiously navigated a turn around in the tight corners of the burned out neighborhood, the crew commander went ahead of me. After a few minutes, I headed down Gifford Springs Road alone.
Suddenly, to the right appeared the koi pond, with conspicuous cherubs attending its dark pool. Abruptly coming to a stop and jumping out of the truck, I rushed to the side of the murky basin and peered in. Yes! The koi were alive, indeed!
The blackened water level was low, with debris and chunks of charcoal, floating on the surface.
As I frantically calculated the ways to bring up a hundred gallons of clean water to replenish the pond, I heard the distinctive rumble of a heavy vehicle, coming up the hill. I ran out to the street to find the familiar red hood of a CALFIRE engine, turning the corner.
Flagging it down, I hurriedly explained the desperate situation to the firefighters, who quickly agreed to help. As luck would have it, this crew from Shasta had cleaned their tank that morning of the foam used to douse fires and had refilled it with clean water at a hydrant.
Hastily unreeling their hose and dragging it to the pond, the firefighters unleashed into it what had to be a life-saving shower of water. Unfortunately, one white koi did not make it and was floating, belly up, in the corner.
Finding whatever would work as a screen, the heroic men in yellow proceeded to skim the surface of the coal-laden water and removed much of the floating debris.
Within minutes, the Folsom commander, as well as two more engines, arrived to assist. Upon seeing the dismal conditions of the water, he decided it would be best to call animal control to arrange for a rescue.
In the meantime, the pond had been oxygenated by the flow from the hose and had been topped off. Against the odds, the overflow pipes, though burned, still worked to indicate when the pond was at capacity.
With serendipity playing a hand, the koi were saved!
Firefighters are willing to save all manner of lives, apparently, and I cannot praise them enough. Thank you, Shasta crew!
#ValleyFire
kittyluvr
Veteran Member
Here is a video taken from a helicopter on Sept 29th of most of the Butte Fire area. It is 27 minutes long.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gAd30jx992o&feature=share
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gAd30jx992o&feature=share
Watched this earlier today. Our beautiful county is like a charred corpse in many places and yellowed from the intense heat in others, so even more dried out during this drought. I'm guessing kittyluvr must also live nearby. Kittyluvr, don't know if you've seen it, but there is a Facebook group, Motherlode Community Connections, where people are exchanging information and staying connected to the overall efforts being made within the community.
kittyluvr
Veteran Member
Watched this earlier today. Our beautiful county is like a charred corpse in many places and yellowed from the intense heat in others, so even more dried out during this drought. I'm guessing kittyluvr must also live nearby. Kittyluvr, don't know if you've seen it, but there is a Facebook group, Motherlode Community Connections, where people are exchanging information and staying connected to the overall efforts being made within the community.
Hi Snoozin, I live in the West Point/Wilseyville area. Can I see the content on the Motherlode Community Connections facebook page without a facebook account? Maybe this rain we hopefully will be receiving tonight will put this fire out once and for all. I refuse to unpack our utility trailer until this fire is out, just in case.
Be Well
may all be well
That's what I've been waiting to hear. Since there were no thunderstorms, they have to be human caused. Accident, negligence, or arson, are the only options.
kittyluvr
Veteran Member
Cal Fire determines PGE is liable for the Butte Fire in Calaveras County
Update: 3:50 p.m.: CAL Fire responds to questions relating to PG&E’s cooperation in the fire investigation and its overall accountability in sparking the deadly Butte Fire.
Sharing his agency’s perspective, CAL Fire spokesperson Daniel Berlant states, “We work closely with all the utility companies, here in California, including PG&E, to do our best, especially during the winter months on education of the laws that are required of utility companies to maintain clearance around their trees.”
During the Butte Fire Berlant allows that PG&E was able to provide the documentation needed on the inspection history, which helped the agency continue its investigation. But, he adds, “It is our responsibility — no matter who the party or business is — that if we determine that somebody is negligent, it is our job to recover taxpayer dollars, and in this case, it is over $90 million that was needed to fight this fire. So it is the responsibility of PG&E to pay back those costs.”
Berlant considers the outcome a cautionary reminder. “Whether it is a utility company or a private business, or even residents, we have to take steps to prevent sparking fires, because really, one less spark means one less wildfire,” he maintains.
Continuing in that vein Berlant grimly points out, “Throughout the Sierra, and especially across Tuolumne, Calaveras counties — and all the way down the Sierra Nevada — we have over 29 million trees that have died, due to the drought or the bark beetle. No amount of rain is going to bring those trees back. So now, going into our fifth year of drought, even though we have had some rainfall, the conditions are still very high when it comes to wildfire danger, so we all need to be prepared and not become complacent.”
CAL Fire remains active in the Butte Fire scar, working to maintain erosion controls and monitoring regrowth. Belant also reports that it has also staffed up and is busily coordinating with local governments, public utilities and landowners to tackle the rapidly escalating tree mortality emergency. As previously reported here, resources are still developing for private landowners requiring tree removal assistance. Berlant advises private landowners to contact their local fire safe council or CAL Fire unit with any questions or requests for advice. In addition to wildfire prevention information and resources, CAL Fire has introduced outreach materials on dealing with dead and dying trees due to the drought and bark beetle infestation. Click here for more details.
Original Post 11:35 a.m.: Calaveras County, CA — Over seven months after it ignited, CAL Fire has released a 30-page report detailing what sparked the deadly Butte Fire.
CAL Fire Spokesperson Daniel Berlant reports that the fire was sparked by a tree that came into contact with a Pacific Gas and Electric Company powerline.
According to CAL Fire, “Investigators were dispatched as part of the initial response to the Butte Fire and immediately began working to determine the origin and cause of the fire. The ensuing investigation uncovered evidence that contact between a tree and a PG&E powerline near Butte Mountain Road in Amador County sparked the fire on September 9, 2015.”
CAL Fire adds, “Under California’s Health and Safety Code, CAL Fire has the ability to seek recovery of costs incurred battling wildfires that are determined to be sparked due to negligence or violations of the law. CAL Fire will seek to recover firefighting costs in excess of $90 million from PG&E.”
You can find the full detailed report by clicking here. CAL Fire has forwarded a copy of the final report to the District Attorneys in Calaveras and Amador counties for review.
Two residents lost their lives in the Butte Fire and around 900 structures were destroyed.
http://www.mymotherlode.com/news/lo...-caused-by-tree-contacting-pge-powerline.html
Update: 3:50 p.m.: CAL Fire responds to questions relating to PG&E’s cooperation in the fire investigation and its overall accountability in sparking the deadly Butte Fire.
Sharing his agency’s perspective, CAL Fire spokesperson Daniel Berlant states, “We work closely with all the utility companies, here in California, including PG&E, to do our best, especially during the winter months on education of the laws that are required of utility companies to maintain clearance around their trees.”
During the Butte Fire Berlant allows that PG&E was able to provide the documentation needed on the inspection history, which helped the agency continue its investigation. But, he adds, “It is our responsibility — no matter who the party or business is — that if we determine that somebody is negligent, it is our job to recover taxpayer dollars, and in this case, it is over $90 million that was needed to fight this fire. So it is the responsibility of PG&E to pay back those costs.”
Berlant considers the outcome a cautionary reminder. “Whether it is a utility company or a private business, or even residents, we have to take steps to prevent sparking fires, because really, one less spark means one less wildfire,” he maintains.
Continuing in that vein Berlant grimly points out, “Throughout the Sierra, and especially across Tuolumne, Calaveras counties — and all the way down the Sierra Nevada — we have over 29 million trees that have died, due to the drought or the bark beetle. No amount of rain is going to bring those trees back. So now, going into our fifth year of drought, even though we have had some rainfall, the conditions are still very high when it comes to wildfire danger, so we all need to be prepared and not become complacent.”
CAL Fire remains active in the Butte Fire scar, working to maintain erosion controls and monitoring regrowth. Belant also reports that it has also staffed up and is busily coordinating with local governments, public utilities and landowners to tackle the rapidly escalating tree mortality emergency. As previously reported here, resources are still developing for private landowners requiring tree removal assistance. Berlant advises private landowners to contact their local fire safe council or CAL Fire unit with any questions or requests for advice. In addition to wildfire prevention information and resources, CAL Fire has introduced outreach materials on dealing with dead and dying trees due to the drought and bark beetle infestation. Click here for more details.
Original Post 11:35 a.m.: Calaveras County, CA — Over seven months after it ignited, CAL Fire has released a 30-page report detailing what sparked the deadly Butte Fire.
CAL Fire Spokesperson Daniel Berlant reports that the fire was sparked by a tree that came into contact with a Pacific Gas and Electric Company powerline.
According to CAL Fire, “Investigators were dispatched as part of the initial response to the Butte Fire and immediately began working to determine the origin and cause of the fire. The ensuing investigation uncovered evidence that contact between a tree and a PG&E powerline near Butte Mountain Road in Amador County sparked the fire on September 9, 2015.”
CAL Fire adds, “Under California’s Health and Safety Code, CAL Fire has the ability to seek recovery of costs incurred battling wildfires that are determined to be sparked due to negligence or violations of the law. CAL Fire will seek to recover firefighting costs in excess of $90 million from PG&E.”
You can find the full detailed report by clicking here. CAL Fire has forwarded a copy of the final report to the District Attorneys in Calaveras and Amador counties for review.
Two residents lost their lives in the Butte Fire and around 900 structures were destroyed.
http://www.mymotherlode.com/news/lo...-caused-by-tree-contacting-pge-powerline.html
Be Well
may all be well
Interesting. I wonder if they'll pay; if they do, they better not raise rates for customers!
BTW the fire I had to evacuate from was caused by the local saw mill, a very stupid employee who dumped hot ashes with cinders in them on a dry grass area and then went to take lunch. On a hot, very dry and very windy day. And no supervisor supervised properly. They owe locally $1 million and I think more to other departments, not sure of the totals. So are they paying? Nope. They're closing down, laid off everyone, to avoid paying the bill and also to avoid paying back a low interest loan from the US gov. The owners of the sawmill are vile scum, and for other reasons as well.
BTW the fire I had to evacuate from was caused by the local saw mill, a very stupid employee who dumped hot ashes with cinders in them on a dry grass area and then went to take lunch. On a hot, very dry and very windy day. And no supervisor supervised properly. They owe locally $1 million and I think more to other departments, not sure of the totals. So are they paying? Nope. They're closing down, laid off everyone, to avoid paying the bill and also to avoid paying back a low interest loan from the US gov. The owners of the sawmill are vile scum, and for other reasons as well.
PG&E has stepped up ahead of a final court determination of liability to provide up to $50,000 to uninsured homeowners who were burned out. Those checks have been arriving for a few weeks now. I am working many hours a week with the long-term recovery team which has the mission of rebuilding homes for uninsured or under-insured homeowners. By combining volunteer labor (large church orgs) and the PGE money with what was provided by FEMA and the State of CA, there is enough resources (usually) to rebuild a modest home for those who lost everything. No one gets back all that was lost, or even close to it - but they do get a home. Other donated funds help with lost tools, sheds, septic, wells, power poles, etc. There is still an amazing amount of community support and cohesiveness among those who remain, although many have been forced to leave the area as there are no rentals anywhere for many miles.