California Fire News - Updates in your mail box |  |
- BOLO: Murder Suspect Headed South In California
- Oakland PD Radios Fail During POTUS Visit
- Calaveras County Columbia firefighter pleads not guilty to #Arson
- Reading: Firefighters talk about fighting fires, saving homes, meeting Obama
- Quick Look California Wildfires Today
| BOLO: Murder Suspect Headed South In California Posted: 28 Jul 2012 12:54 AM PDT
San Jose police identified a suspect Wednesday in a double slaying of a couple shot dead while they were at home with their children. Who: Pedro Castellon Medina, 31, Medina has a tattoo of the Grim Reaper on his right lower leg and a tattoo of the letters "PMC" on his upper right back. Why: Medina is being sought in the killings of Pedro Jimenez, 28, and Marybel Jimenez, 27, said San Jose police Sgt. Jason Dwyer. The victims were not married but had recently gotten back together, friends said. Friends of the couple have described the suspect as an ex-boyfriend of Marybel Jimenez.  The victims' bodies were found inside a home on the 300 block of North Seventh Street about 4:20 a.m. Monday after officers responded to reports of shots fired, Dwyer said. Their three children, two boys and a girl, were at home at the time but were not hurt, police said. Where: Medina may have fled to Los Angeles, San Fernando or San Diego and may be trying to go to Mexico to escape arrest, Dwyer said. On July 15, Marybel Jimenez wrote on her Facebook page, "I'm with the father of my kids, the man of my life! Hope everything works out for good :))."
Anyone with information on Medina's whereabouts is asked to call San Jose Police Department's Homicide Unit Detective Sgt. Stewart Davies or Detective Brian Spears at 408-277-5283. Those who want to remain anonymous may call Silicon Valley Crime Stoppers at 408-947-STOP (7867) or go to www.svcrimestoppers.org and be eligible for a reward.  | ||||
| Oakland PD Radios Fail During POTUS Visit Posted: 27 Jul 2012 04:26 PM PDT
Oakland Police Radios Failed During President Obama's Visit To City David Yee / UPI /Landov "It was a train wreck," Lt. Fred Mestas told the San Francisco Chronicle. For 30 minutes, many officers couldn't communicate with each other, the newspaper reports. What: "It was a train wreck," Lt. Fred Mestas, who was on duty at the time, told the newspaper. The problems lasted about 30 minutes, he said. But, "when you have the president there, 30 seconds is too long." "A major portion of Oakland's troubled police radio system failed shortly after President Obama's visit on Monday, leaving many of the 100 officers assigned to handle presidential security unable to communicate as protesters roamed the streets, Wednesday,"The system was having problems both before, during and after the president's appearance at a fundraiser inside the city's Fox Theater, according to the Chronicle. Where: The previously reported "dead zones" plague the Oakland police radio system, which cost $18 million and went into operation just last year. Why: The failure of a cooling unit on a transmission tower is being blamed for Monday's problems.  | ||||
| Calaveras County Columbia firefighter pleads not guilty to #Arson Posted: 27 Jul 2012 11:55 AM PDT
A firefighter charged with being involved with several arsons pleaded not guilty at his arraignment last week.
Who: Cody Jon Emanuel Anderson, 18, of Altaville, is charged with multiple arson counts along with contributing to the delinquency of a minor and one charge of manufacturing an incendiary device. Anderson, who is held at the Calaveras County Jail in lieu of $125,000 bail, is scheduled to return to court at 3 p.m., July 30, for his pretrial in Department 2 of the Calaveras County Superior Court. What: Information about when and where the alleged arson fires were set has not been provided by Cal Fire. Along with Anderson, Cal Fire investigators arrested three juveniles in connection with the arsons July 2 and the Calaveras County District Attorney's Office charged them with 14 counts of arson. The juveniles' names have not been released, as they were all minors. Katrina Blumer, Cal Fire battalion chief, is heading the investigation and has not responded to multiple messages asking for comment. What: The only string of arson fires reported in the past month occurred along Highway 4 on June 15. Where: Starting in the early evening, the first of four fires started about 1 mile west of Angels Camp, according to Cal Fire Capt. Tom Hutchinson at the Altaville station. Soon after extinguishing the first blaze, another fire cropped up on Six Mile Road followed by reports of a blaze across from Chatom Vineyard's tasting room on Highway 4. A fourth fire farther up Six Mile Road kept firefighters busy well into the evening hours. While Hutchinson wouldn't come right out and call the four closely timed fires arson, he said "We can't narrow it down to any specific accidental cause." Anderson, a Columbia firefighter, is suspected to have been involved in the same series of fires. Why: ?. Info source article: http://www.calaverasenterprise.com/news/article_838d823e-d80e-11e1-88e4-0019bb2963f4.html  | ||||
| Reading: Firefighters talk about fighting fires, saving homes, meeting Obama Posted: 27 Jul 2012 11:15 AM PDT
The U.S. Forest Service Meeks Bay Fire Station crew poses outside their base. From left to right: Jorge Alcaraz-Lopez, Matt Read, Jeff Dube, Lindsey Dubs and David Deleon.
To many residents of South Lake Tahoe and Colorado Springs, Colo., they're heroes. But for the U.S. Forest Service Meeks Bay Fire Station Engine 43 crew, who helped save homes during the Waldo Canyon fire, they're just doing their job. Of course, it's always nice to receive praise from your boss and that's just what the crew got when they met and shook hands with President Barack Obama. The team just returned to Tahoe last week after a 26-day mission that took them through Nevada and Utah and on to fight fires in Colorado and Wyoming. The group of five — four from South Lake Tahoe and one from Truckee — drove to Colorado last month as part of a five-engine strike team composed of units from the El Dorado National Forest and the Lake Tahoe Basin. Shortly after arriving in Grand Junction, Colo., David Deleon, Matt Read, Jorge Alcaraz-Lopez, Lindsey Dubs and Jeff Dube were sent to the Colorado Springs Waldo Canyon fire, arriving on site on June 26. Throughout that day and well into the early morning of the next, the team worked in a suburban subdivision in which many of the buildings were packed together and already on fire. "It was chaos to say the least, with a bunch of structures already going up," said Read, an assistant fire engine operator. The crew was looking to save whatever structures it could while still keeping the team safe. In USFS firefighting lingo, they were in a wildland-urban interface area, where buildings abut wildfire-prone land. According to Read, it can be some of the most dangerous firefighting there is. "I think a dangerous thing with this urban interface is unknowns in people's houses. You're trying to protect a house and, if the garage catches, there's propane tanks and gasoline and all that hazard material. On that night, I don't know how many times we were cooling off propane tanks," said Dube, a seasonal firefighter. The Waldo Canyon fire, like Angora, threatened hundreds of structures, forcing firefighters out in front of the fire to prevent the flames from spreading to more houses. In Colorado Springs, 364 houses burnt but many were also saved, said Dubs, a seasonal firefighter. The Engine 43 crew managed to protect a cluster of homes in the subdivision that night by dousing the roofs with water and engaging with the head of the fire. This is Dubs' first season fighting fires with the USFS, and she said it was quite the experience — intense, hot and exciting, but not scary. "It was the most intense and most fire all at once. Just going through those houses really quickly. And sometimes so fast you have to take a step back because it's hot and we only have so much water on our engine," Dubs said. The team finished its 21-hour work day around 4 a.m. on June 27. A few days later, they returned to the subdivision for after-action review and to see the site in the light. The crew was about to leave when they got a call from the strike team leader asking if they were ready to meet their boss. Deleon, the team's engine boss, thought that that meant the incident commander or maybe a metonymic representative of the public. But when the presidential motorcade pulled up and men in plain clothes with ear pieces stepped out of the SUV with tinted windows and flags, the team knew they were in for a surprise. "Out pops a guy with glasses, looks one way and then the other way, and then — boop — out pops Obama. And I was like, 'Is that really him?' It was pretty cool,' Deleon said. "It was nice he came out and recognized the guys on the ground, the ground-pounders. It was really nice of him to come out and shake our hands and take a minute out of his schedule, say hi to everybody and thank us for all the hard work we did," Deleon said. News coverage of the Engine 43 team might have trickled off after they met the president, but their work did not. The crew drove north to Wyoming to help with the Oil Creek fire and work in the Medicine Bow National Forest before finally retuning to the Lake Tahoe Basin last Thursday. It was Dube's longest time away from home fighting fires, and he admitted it can be a strain. "It's very hard. This is your job, you signed up for it, and a couple weeks go by and you're like, 'This is my job.' You have to keep reminding yourself how much you love your job. When it's all over, you will be going home," Dube said. As cool as meeting the president might have been, both Deleon and Read agree that meeting Obama fits into a bigger picture for the USFS a a whole. Just a few weeks ago, Obama offered healthcare to seasonal firefighters like Dubs and Dube. "It can get brushed under the rug how much work we do on the fires. It's been a very beneficial thing to have us seen in that light by the public. It's been a pretty awesome experience," Read said. Original Source Article: http://www.tahoedailytribune.com/ARTICLE/20120727/ARCHIVES01/120729912/-1/RSS?  | ||||
| Quick Look California Wildfires Today Posted: 27 Jul 2012 12:11 PM PDT
The firefighter and a CAL FIRE engine were struck by a civilian motorist on Skunk Ranch Road. The CAL FIRE firefighter was transported by helicopter to Memorial Medical Center in Modesto for treatment. He is currently undergoing surgery for his injuries. The civilian motorist declined treatment at the scene. The CAL FIRE engine sustained moderate damage. An investigation into the accident and subsequent injury is being conducted by the California Highway Patrol. CAL FIRE has activated a serious accident review team as part of standard departmental procedures for injuries and vehicle damage of this nature. Fire Weather: No Current Fire Weather Watches Or Warnings In California NWS Current Fire Weather Watches / Warnings  Per the National Interagency Coordination Center effective immediately the National Preparedness Level is being reduced to 2 (PL2). Demobilization of all resource types is occurring in most geographical areas. Initial attack capability is high in most areas and competition for resources between geographical areas is non-existent. Although areas are experiencing hot and dry conditions, NICC is not seeing a high risk for significant fires in the short term. Large fire activity has been decreasing daily and containment dates of existing large fires are in the near future. The Southern Geographic Area issued a Fuels and Fire Behavior Advisory for the "Potential for Extreme Fire Behavior, Potential for Long Term Burning and resistance to control" for areas of Oklahoma and Arkansas. http://www.predictiveservices.nifc.gov/fuels_fire-danger/SAFuelsFire_behavior_advisory_7_25_2012.pdf There are currently Fuels and Fire Behavior Advisories isssued for the Northwest, Western Great Basin, Eastern Great Basin,Northern Rockies, Southern, and Eastern (1 for IL, WI, IN, and MI, 1 for MO, IN & IL) Geographic Areas. The NIFC Predictive Services' Fuels and Fire Behavior Advisories webpage is http://www.predictiveservices.nifc.gov/fuels_fire-danger/fuels_advisories.htm Cal Fire firefighter who was seriously injured while on scene of a fire in the Sierra foothills Wednesday afternoon is recovering after surgery. Cal Fire said that five-year veteran Nathan Fyock was hit by a car off of Skunk Ranch road while at the fire in Murphys. Fyock, 39, continues to receive treatment at Memorial Medical Center in Modesto. Officials said that the firefighter was taken by air ambulance to the hospital where he underwent surgery. The California Highway Patrol is investigating the crash. Cal Fire said a driver also hit a fire engine. CALIFORNIA WILDFIRES TODAY: Eureka (Wildfire) Location: Plumas National Forest - Eureka Ridge Area GPS: 39.84 latitude, -120.744 longitude Situation: Incident Commander reports very good progress; fire is holding at 5 acres at 7:00pm. Burning in timber/timber litter. Smoke visible from CA State Highway 70. Additional resources cancelled. Smoke will continue as interior of fire area burns. Resources: Air tankers and helicopters on scene in addition to 5 engines, 20 person handcrew, dozer, and numerous single resources. Another hot shot crew will be on scene soon. Cascade (Wildfire) CA-YNP-1473 Location: Yosemite National Park This is a lightning caused fire, in Yosemite's high elevation Wilderness. Fire is burning between two upper forks of the Cascade Creek, The fire has grown to 109 acres. Situation: It is burning in a short needle red fir forest. The southern perimeter edge is the most active with occasional 6 to 12 inch flame lengths during the hottest part of the day. Currently, the fire poses no threat to trails, park service buildings, infrastructure or roads, cultural or natural resources.Resources: Firefighters continue to monitor and scout the fire to determine the potential in growth and spread direction. Graham (Wildfire) CA-TCU-6808 CAL FIRE ICT 8 (Veneris) has been activated for the CA-TCU Penn/Graham fires Location: Clements Road / Community of Groveland.Situation: Fire has burned 100 acres, and is 20% Containment.Fire is burning deep in the Tuolumne River Canyon, was 20 percent contained as of Thursday evening. A Cal Fire incident update overnight said about 20 homes were threatened and that residents were urged to voluntarily leave their homes. Evacuation warning was issued for homes on Clements Road, from Cliffton Way to the end of Clements Road, by the Pine Mountain Lake Airport.
Adobe (Wildfire) CA-INF-846 Location: NE/O Mono Lake Situation: Fire is 8-10 acres, 0% containment. The forward rate of spread has been slowed, however there are some areas of isolated torching. Fire is burning in Pinyon & Juniper on right flank and sage on left flank. Resources: Firefighters are being shuttled in to fire by helicopter. Access problems are hampering suppression efforts. Jumper 52 with eight smoke jumpers has jumped this fire. Values at risk are watershed and wilderness.  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
ENLARGE| You are subscribed to email updates from California Fire News - Structure, Wildland, EMS To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. | Email delivery powered by Google |
| Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610 | |
