LAKEPORT, Calif. – County law enforcement officials are looking for an 18-year-old male who is alleged to have escaped from the Juvenile Hall on Tuesday afternoon.

Isaiah Dominguez escaped from confinement at approximately 1:46 p.m. Tuesday, according to the Lake County Probation Department.

Dominguez, who turned 18 on Tuesday, was being detained at the Juvenile Hall facility for a property crime, officials reported.

The teen escaped during a mandatory school session, quickly scaling the perimeter fence and fleeing the area on foot, Probation Department officials said.

The report said the Lake County Sheriff’s Dispatch was immediately notified and a search was conducted in the area with negative results.

The Probation Department said its officers have conducted searches where Dominguez is suspected to have associates, and search efforts continue.  

An arrest order was issued to Lake County law enforcement agencies by his supervising probation officer for violation of his probation, the report said.

Due to his status as an adult, probation officials said charges also will be sought against him for escape from the Juvenile Hall.  

Dominguez is 5 feet 6 inches tall, has black hair and brown eyes, and weighs 135 pounds.

If you have information concerning his whereabouts, please contact your local police department or the Lake County Sheriff’s Department at 707-262-4200.

COBB, Calif. – A 3.1-magnitude earthquake occurred near Cobb late Tuesday night.

In a preliminary report, the US Geological Survey said the quake was recorded at 11:11 p.m.

Its epicenter was located three miles west of Cobb and 13 miles southwest of Clearlake, at a depth of 2.3 miles, the US Geological Survey reported.

The survey reported early Wednesday that it received three shake reports – from Calistoga, Middletown and Watsonville.

Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.

Hot and dry conditions are giving rise to more wildland fires around California this year, according to state fire officials.

This year so far, a 47-percent increase in wildland fires has been recorded, according to Cal Fire’s latest Fire Situation Report.

Those fires have burned over 36,000 more acres than at the same time in 2012, the agency said.

“All signs are pointing to a very busy summer ahead for firefighters,” said Cal Fire spokesman Daniel Berlant.

Fire officials are urging homeowners to visit www.readyforwildfire.org and learn about how to prepare for the upcoming fire season.

See this week’s Fire Situation Report above.

This story has been updated with additional information.

CLEARLAKE, Calif. – A three-day search for a missing girl ended with the discovery of her body Wednesday morning.

Clearlake Police Chief Craig Clausen confirmed that the body of 9-year-old Mikaela Renee Lynch was found in Cache Creek not far from the family’s vacation home in the city of Clearlake.

The child, who was autistic and unable to speak, had wandered from the yard of her family’s vacation home on Harbor Drive Sunday afternoon.

A Wednesday afternoon report from Clearlake Police Sgt. Nick Bennett said the girl was found at approximately 10:43 a.m. by a local dive team in the waterway several homes north of where she disappeared. She was pronounced dead at the scene.

Earlier in the day police had announced that the girl's family would offer a public statement at the incident command post, located at the Church of Latter-day Saints on Lakeview Way.

However, after the discovery of Mikaela’s body, they chose not to appear. Instead, Clausen announced the news to a small group of reporters and asked that the family’s privacy be respected.

He didn't offer many additional details on the case or the discovery during the short press briefing at the command post.

“It’s difficult for me to stand here,” said Clausen, who spoke softly and appeared upset.

Clausen, who said the investigation is wrapping up, added that the case did not appear to involve foul play.

The discovery brought to an end an exhaustive search that had stretched out over an estimated 10-square-mile area and lasted nearly 72 hours.

A multiagency search involving resources and personnel from around Northern and Central California had joined the efforts to locate the girl, whose family lives in San Francisco.

Submarines, boats, search dogs, search and rescue volunteers, door to door searches and helicopters from the California Highway Patrol, REACH and Cal Fire had been employed in the effort to find the child, police said.

Community members and people from all over California had assisted professional search and rescue teams in combing nearby fields and marshlands, neighborhoods and Cache Creek, according to Bennett.

The girl’s teachers and family friends had come to Clearlake earlier in the week to help in the search, including walking door to door in the city, asking for people to check their properties.

On Tuesday, police had received a surveillance video clip from a neighboring vacation home showing the girl running north on Harbor Drive just minutes after her parents reported her missing on Sunday afternoon.

As she was reportedly in the habit of doing when she was hot, the girl had taken off her clothes, which were found after she disappeared, and left the home’s yard, where she had been playing with her brother, according to police.

That video clip helped searchers refocus their efforts, and Clausen said it had provided an important timeframe and direction of travel.

At the command post early Wednesday afternoon, Placer County’s mountain search team was on hand, as were officials from Marin, Northshore Fire and other local and regional agencies.

A number of searchers were returning from the field as other tearful volunteers were seen leaving a briefing in which they were told the girl had been found deceased.

Two men arrived to ask if they could volunteer and were told that volunteer efforts had been suspended because of the discovery. One of the men appeared to break into tears moments later.

Among the resources that had been made available to local officials this week was assistance from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, which is funded by the US Department of Justice.

Bob Lowery, executive director of the organization’s missing children division, said a member of their “Team Adam” – former and retired law enforcement officers with knowledge and expertise relating to missing children – had been deployed immediately to offer knowledge, suggestions and best practices in the search for Mikaela.

Clausen confirmed that they had been at the scene and added that they were just a phone call away if needed.

A key piece of the advice the center offers law enforcement, Lowery said, is that when searching for children with autism, it’s not like anything they’ve dealt with before.

There have been an increasing number of cases nationwide involving children with autism wandering from their homes, said Lowery. They have been known to walk great distances and hide from search teams. “They have a diminished sense of fear.”

Lowery had been concerned that the girl may have been headed for the water, which had turned out to be the case. “Children have a natural attraction to water for some reason,” he said, adding that his team advises parents and police to try to get to nearby water immediately when children with autism go missing.

Not long after the child’s Mother’s Day disappearance, some had begun to publicly speculate about how the child had been able to leave the family’s home and why she was unclothed.

Lowery said such speculation resulted from a lack of understanding about autism and the associated behaviors commonly seen in children diagnosed with it.

He said wandering – including getting out of secure home environments – and taking off clothing are not unusual for such children.

“Parenting a child with autism is very challenging,” he said.

The girl’s aunt, Yvonne Heidt, had told Lake County News earlier this week that she had never seen parents more in love with a child than Michael and Bari Lynch were with Mikaela.

The story of the little lost girl had captured the attention of people around the region, many of them parents, who shared that they saw in her disappearance their own worst fears come true.

People from Lake County and much farther afield posted condolences to the family on social media after the news was announced.

“I don't think there is a single person in the county that didn't have their breath held, hoping for a happy outcome,” wrote Justin Hamaker of Lakeport in a poignant post on Lake County News’ Facebook page. “This is devastating and heartbreak. My sympathies to her family for their loss.

Julie Johnson Rowe wrote, “Mikaela Lynch and her family are a part of my families school community here in San Francisco. This news is so heartbreaking that I cannot even breath right now. My prayers and thoughts will continue to be with the Lynch family, and we as a community will do whatever possible to ensure that they receive all the help and support they need. Rest in peace sweet Mikaela, you will definitely be missed here on earth but I can only imagine the awesome welcoming you will receive in Heaven.”

Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.

CLEARLAKE, Calif. – Efforts continued in Clearlake on Tuesday to locate a San Francisco girl reported missing Sunday afternoon.

By Tuesday evening more than 48 hours had passed since 9-year-old Mikaela Renee Lynch’s family reported her missing to police.

The blue-eyed, brown-haired child – weighing 70 pounds and standing 4 feet tall – left her family’s Harbor Drive vacation home on Sunday afternoon, according to police.

She has autism, is unable to speak and does not respond when called, according to a new flier issued by Klaas Kids on Tuesday.

When she left the family’s home she was unclothed. She reportedly had a habit of taking off her clothes when hot – Sunday’s weather was warm – and police said her clothes were found left behind. A diaper like the one she was wearing also was found nearby.

As the search entered a new day on Tuesday, police said they had received an important new clue as to where Mikaela went in the form of a surveillance video clip from a neighboring vacation home, as Lake County News has reported.

Clearlake Police Chief Craig Clausen said the video – which is not being released publicly due to it being evidence in an ongoing investigation – gave searchers a timeframe and a location for the girl.

He said it showed Mikaela running down Harbor Drive in a northerly direction at approximately 1:31 p.m., minutes after her parents had reported her missing to police.

“It solidified what we already believed,” Clausen said.

The girl’s family as well as a large support group were on scene during the search, he said.

The search effort is based at an incident command post housed at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on 14970 Lakeview Way in Clearlake. There, police were continuing to invite community members to come and volunteer to take part in the search.

On Tuesday dozens of searchers continued to focus on the general vicinity of the girl’s last known location on Harbor Drive, extending to Highway 53 and Old Highway 53, Clausen said.

Fliers distributed to residents in the area asked that people check their outbuildings, vehicles, crawl spaces and other areas around homes in the event the girl was hiding there.

In addition, Clausen said an aquatic search was conducted, with boats working their way up and down Cache Creek from Highway 53 to the Cache Creek Dam, where flows had been reduced on Sunday.

Between law enforcement personnel and community volunteers, Clausen estimated that the search area covered a total of 10 square miles.

A Cal Fire helicopter was used for the search on Tuesday, as were Cal Fire hand crews, who Clausen said searched the nearby marsh.

He said K9s also have been used extensively in the search to find the girl.

As of Tuesday, no new physical evidence tracing the girl’s location had been found, Clausen said.

In response to questions posed by community members about whether or not registered sex offenders in the vicinity had been checked out for possible connections to the girl’s disappearance, Clausen confirmed that they had.

Regarding search plans for Tuesday night, “We’ll scale them back but we won’t call it all the way off,” said Clausen.

He said the search will resume at full force at daybreak on Wednesday.

Clausen said new resources from agencies around the region are expected to arrive on Wednesday in an effort to allow others to be released.

Control Costa County’s unmanned submarine with sonar and video was used to search the water on Tuesday, with San Francisco County to send its submarine on Wednesday, Clausen said.

In addition to the help from cooperating agencies, the small police department has devoted its resources to finding Mikaela in a case that has gained regional media attention over the last few days.

“It’s taxing, but we can’t complain,” said Clausen. “Our families are still intact.”

Anyone with information on her whereabouts is asked to contact the Clearlake Police Department at 707-994-8251 or call 911.

Additional updates will be posted as they become available.

Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.

LAKEPORT, Calif. – The third annual A Taste of Italy dinner to benefit Hospice Services of Lake County will take place on Monday, May 20.

The event will take place at Park Place restaurant, located at 50 Third St. in Lakeport.

Three seatings are available at 4 p.m., 6 p.m. and 8 p.m.

The three course gourmet Italian meal will include an antipasto platter, Tuscan soup or a classic Caesar salad and a choice of Osso Buco De Maiale, Pollo Marsala, Scampi Fra Diavolo or a vegetarian pasta dish as a main course. Dessert and coffee or tea are included in the price of dinner. Locally produced wines from local wineries will be offered for purchase.

The dinner price also includes a chance to win a one week stay at a luxury condo resort on the Lahaina coast on Maui, Hawaii. The condo sleeps four and is handicap and child friendly. It has a gourmet kitchen, large living and sitting area and a lanai overlooking the beach.

Proceeds will help support the Wings of Hope family bereavement camps and the school bereavement programs on school campuses for students coping with the loss of a loved one.

Dinner tickets cost $60 in advance and include dinner and a chance to win the Hawaiian condo stay. Raffle tickets may be purchased separately for $25 each. The drawing will take place on May 20 during the 8 p.m. dinner seating. The winner does not need to be present to win.

To purchase tickets and to find out more information contact Freda at Hospice Services of Lake County, 263-6222. See pictures of the resort at http://www.lakecountyhospice.org/about/news-details.asp?id=17 .

LAKEPORT, Calif. – True to their word, Clear Lake High School’s shop teacher and two students had their heads shaved on Tuesday as part of a fundraiser for this weekend’s Relay for Life.

Teacher John Moorhead, along with students Tyler Martin and Nate Powers, went under the shaver at the high school Tuesday afternoon.

They had set out to raise about $500, but Moorhead said they raised closer to $1,000 for the annual relay event. It takes place on Saturday and Sunday at Don Owens Field at Clear Lake High School, 350 Lange St. in Lakeport.

The annual event has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for the fight against cancer.

“Lake County has raised more money for Relay for Life than Beverly Hills,” said Moorhead.

That’s thanks to enthusiasm on the part of people like Moorhead, Martin and Powers.

Originally, Moorhead had been prepared to shave not just his head but his beard and eyebrows to raise funds.

However, wife Rose Davidson prevailed on him to keep his 25-year-old beard, raising money in a counter fundraiser to spare it. The eyebrows ended up staying, too, he said.

He said the fundraiser “just hit a chord,” since everyone knows someone who has had cancer.

Moorhead said he has a friend in Santa Rosa who is a survivor, and another friend who recently died battling the disease.

“It’s close to home,” he said.

Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.

CLEARLAKE, Calif. – Officials searching for a missing 9-year-old San Francisco girl are refocusing their efforts on Tuesday thanks to a new piece of evidence – a brief video clip of the girl running down the street near her home.

Clearlake Police Chief Craig Clausen said about 70 to 100 volunteers from local and regional agencies – along with community members – were continuing their search on Tuesday for Mikaela Renee Lynch, who was last seen at her family’s vacation home on Harbor Drive early Sunday afternoon.

Clausen said that early Tuesday police got an important new clue as to where the girl may have gone in the form of a surveillance video clip from a neighboring vacation home. That clip has not been released by police.

Michaela’s parents had reported her missing just before 1:30 p.m. Sunday; Clausen said the video showed the child running down Harbor Drive in a northerly direction at approximately 1:31 p.m.

It was just a small video clip, but Clausen said it was an important clue. “Now we have a last known direction,” he said.

The clip is an “absolutely positive” development, he added, explaining that search efforts were being refocused in the direction she was last seen traveling.

Clausen said the video showed the girl unclothed. Her family said she had been clothed when she was last seen playing in the yard, but found her clothing after she disappeared.

The child had a habit of taking her clothes off, Clausen reported. “That is not unusual for that to happen.”

A diaper found nearby also is believed to have been one she was wearing at the time she was last seen at her home, Clausen said.

Clausen said the girl’s disappearance continues to be handled as a case of her wandering away. He said there is no evidence to indicate she was abducted.

In an effort to find Mikaela, community members have circulated hundreds of fliers with information on the brown-haired, blue-eyed little girl, who is 4 feet tall and weighs 70 pounds.

One of those community members taking part is Elizabeth Hoskins, who on Tuesday was passing out fliers and putting them on cars, and helping comb the search area.

Hoskins said she wanted to get active in the search because of her concern for Mikaela.

She said she met one of the girl’s teachers from San Francisco on Monday evening, as the woman was walking door to door in the city’s Avenues areas, asking people to search their outbuildings for the child.

A group of fellow parents and teachers from Mikaela’s school in Ocean Beach had reportedly caravaned to Lake County to help try to find her.

The incident command post remains located at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on 14970 Lakeview Way in Clearlake.

Early Tuesday morning Cal Fire inmate crews and engines were staging at the command post, where Clausen said the search was scaled down for a four-hour period, from 3:30 a.m. to 7:30 a.m.

The search was ramped back up at 7:30 a.m., Clausen said. A Cal Fire chopper joined the effort on Tuesday morning.

Clearlake Police and Lake County Fire have been aided by agencies from around the region, including sheriff’s and search and rescue personnel from Contra Costa, Marin, Napa, Santa Clara and Sonoma counties.

In addition to Cal Fire’s helicopter, REACH and the California Highway Patrol also have sent helicopters to help patrol the area of nearby Cache Creek, and search K9s have been employed.

Clausen said officials have searched a five-square-mile area, adding that the many citizen volunteers who have taken part have expanded the search area another five square miles through their efforts.

Nearby Cache Creek has been a focal point of the effort to find the girl. On Sunday, Yolo County officials acted on a request from the incident command to reduce flows through the Cache Creek Dam to aid in the search.

On Tuesday another dive team is expected to arrive from a regional agency, and Clausen said Control Costa County is sending an unmanned submarine with sonar and video to help search the water.

Community members are still invited to take part in the search. They can report to the command center to get directions on where to look.

Anyone with information on her whereabouts is asked to contact the Clearlake Police Department at 707-994-8251 or call 911.

Additional updates will be posted as they become available.

Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.

After doing time for two sex crimes in Los Angeles – against a 12-year-old girl, and later a 15-year-old – J.M. registered as a drug and alcohol counselor. He joined a field in which the top complaint by clients is sexual misconduct.

A year later, he was convicted again, this time on a drug possession charge. His sentence spanned a third of the time he was registered to counsel addicts.

J.M.’s case illustrates some of the shortcomings of California’s system for overseeing the state’s 36,000 registered or certified substance abuse counselors, the Senate Office of Oversight and Outcomes finds in a report released Monday.

The report, “Suspect Treatment: State’s lack of scrutiny allows unscreened sex offenders and unethical counselors to treat addicts,” can be seen below.

Californians who seek help for addiction must rely on a fragmented public-private system that does not screen counselors for felonies such as sex crimes or for convictions after they start working. Some counselors whose credentials are revoked for misconduct continue to treat clients. Others flout education and training requirements with no consequences, the Senate report finds.

Counselors are the front-line staff at public and private treatment programs, ranging from luxury residential rehabs to no-frills subsidized outpatient care. Many draw from their own struggles with substance abuse to excel at a difficult job.

In the absence of screening, those with criminal histories more serious than drug or alcohol convictions are free to enter the field, the Senate report says. To work as counselors, they need only register with one of seven private organizations. After five years, they’re required to get enough education and training to become certified. Neither category – registrants or certified counselors – undergo criminal background checks.

The oversight office identified 23 registered sex offenders – mostly rapists and child molesters – registered or certified in the past eight years. The number is undoubtedly much higher – the oversight office focused only on names that were unusual enough that it could determine that the counselor and the sex offender were one in the same.

The investigation found that the failure to properly screen counselors convicted of other serious crimes also raises concerns. For example, the report cites a Santa Rosa woman with four theft convictions who became a counselor and then stole $55,000 from a client.

California is one of only two states among the nation’s 15 largest that makes no attempt to review criminal backgrounds. All except for California and Pennsylvania either run fingerprint-based computer checks or ask applicants to report their own histories and punish those who don’t disclose.

California also is unusual in lacking a system to find out about convictions that occur after a counselor has started working. The Senate report finds that such an effort would bear fruit. Several counselors have racked up DUI or drug convictions while treating clients. One was sentenced to attend a class run by the organization that registered and employed him as a counselor.

The state’s lack of screening allows health care professionals who have lost their licenses for misconduct to work as counselors. Among them are certified nurse assistants who abused patients, a San Bernardino County doctor who prescribed dangerous drugs over the Internet to patients he’d never met and engaged in sexual misconduct with two patients, and a nurse who stole the identities of patients at a San Bernardino hospital.

The state’s system is so lax that counselors whose credentials have been revoked can register with another organization. The state revoked one Los Angeles counselor’s registration for living with a client. Less than a month after the state’s investigation, she registered with a different organization and continued working.

Another, in San Bernardino, was registered with two organizations when she was convicted with her boyfriend of embezzling $136,000 from the program where they both worked. One of the two revoked her, but the other did not, allowing her to keep treating clients.

The report found 52 counselors who apparently circumvented a regulation requiring them to become certified within five years of registering. Many reached the limit with one organization, and then, within weeks, switched their registration to a different one. Some of these uncertified counselors will have worked for as much as nine years – almost double the regulatory ceiling – by their renewal dates.

The report recommends that the Legislature address these shortcomings by putting the state in charge of credentialing drug and alcohol counselors. Barring that, the state could authorize and require certifying organizations to do criminal background checks and ensure that authorities are notified of subsequent criminal conduct, among other things.

The non-partisan Senate Office of Oversight and Outcomes was created in 2008 by Senate President pro Tempore Darrell Steinberg (D-Sacramento) to bolster the Senate’s ability to gauge government performance.

051313 Suspect Treatment

On Tuesday the National Transportation Safety Board released a new set of targeted interventions to put the country on a course to eliminate alcohol-impaired driving crashes.

The 19 recommendations call for stronger laws, swifter enforcement and expanded use of technology.

“Most Americans think that we’ve solved the problem of impaired driving, but in fact, it’s still a national epidemic,” NTSB Chairman Deborah A.P. Hersman said. “On average, every hour one person is killed and 20 more are injured.”

Each year in the United States, nearly 10,000 people are killed in crashes involving alcohol-impaired drivers and more than 173,000 are injured, with 27,000 suffer incapacitating injuries.

Since the mid-1990s, even as total highway fatalities have fallen, the proportion of deaths from accidents involving an alcohol-impaired driver has remained constant at around 30 percent.

In the last 30 years, nearly 440,000 people have died in alcohol-related crashes.

Investigators cited research that showed that although impairment begins with the first drink, by 0.05 BAC, most drivers experience a decline in both cognitive and visual functions, which significantly increases the risk of a serious crash.

Currently, more than 100 countries on six continents have BAC limits set at 0.05 or lower. The NTSB has asked all 50 states to do the same.

“The research clearly shows that drivers with a BAC above 0.05 are impaired and at a significantly greater risk of being involved in a crash where someone is killed or injured,” said Hersman.

Among the other findings, investigators said that high-visibility enforcement efforts, such as sobriety checkpoints and saturation patrols paired with media campaigns, deter alcohol-impaired driving. And to increase the effectiveness of these programs, the NTSB recommended that police use passive alcohol sensors to help better detect alcohol vapor in the ambient environment.

The NTSB, which in December 2012 recommended that states require ignition interlocks for all DWI offenders, said that because only about one in four offenders ordered to have an interlock actually have one installed, states should employ measures to improve interlock compliance.

Further, the board said that an intervention known as administrative license suspension, which allows law enforcement authorities to immediately suspend or revoke a driver’s license at the time of a DWI arrest, would be more effective if states required offenders to have an ignition interlock on their vehicles before licenses could be fully reinstated.

The NTSB recognized the effectiveness of specialized state DWI courts in addressing the particular challenges represented by repeat offenders. DWI courts hold offenders accountable through intensive monitoring, treatment for underlying disorders, alcohol testing and graduated sanctions.

The NTSB recommended that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration assist states in maximizing their effectiveness by providing the courts with current best practices.

Over the past year, the NTSB sharpened its focus on impaired driving and has taken a number of actions, including issuing recommendations following a December 2012 special report on wrong-way driving.

That report revealed that more than 60 percent of wrong-way crashes were caused by alcohol-impaired drivers.

In May 2012, the board hosted a forum on substance-impaired driving to understand how the latest research, technology, and countermeasures were being used by a range of advocacy groups as well as federal, state and local authorities to address substance-impaired driving.

On Tuesday the NTSB issued 10 safety recommendations and reiterated nine others to NHTSA, the International Association of Chiefs of Police, the National Sheriffs’ Association, the Automotive Coalition for Traffic Safety, all 50 states, Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia.

“Alcohol-impaired crashes are not accidents,” said Hersman. “They are crimes. They can – and should – be prevented. The tools exist. What is needed is the will.”

The report, “Reaching Zero: Actions to Reduce Alcohol-Impaired Driving,” can be seen below.

NTSB - Reaching Zero: Actions to Eliminate by LakeCoNews

KELSEYVILLE, Calif. – Lake County’s fourth Wildfire Safety Expo will be held on Saturday, May 18.

It will take place from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Kelseyville Lumber Home Improvement Center, 3555 N. Main St.

Presented by the Lake County Fire Safe Council, this free community event will provide information to homeowners to help them prepare for a wildfire.

Partners for this event include the Kelseyville, Lake County, Lake Pillsbury, Lakeport, Northshore, and South Lake Fire Protection Districts; the Lake County Fire Chiefs’ Association; Cal Fire; the Bureau of Land Management; and US Forest Service.

A vendor fair will focus on fuel reduction methods, home fire safety information, and fire safe landscaping tips.

Representatives from Lake County’s Animal Care and Control will be on hand to answer homeowners’ questions and provide information on the Lake Evacuation and Animal Protection program.

Pacific Gas & Electric Co. and the Master Gardeners will be available for fire safe landscaping tips, and information for the National Fire Protection Association's Firewise Communities program also will be available.

“After the 2012 fire season, I think residents recognize the importance of being ready for the probability of wildfire. The Expo will provide them with the information they need to help accomplish that,” said Lake County Fire Safe Council Project Coordinator Linda Juntunen. “This event also provides an opportunity for the community to talk with local firefighters and thank them for the work they do. It’s a chance to acknowledge and thank all the first responders and volunteers that assist with wildfire response.”

Smokey Bear and Sparky the Fire Dog will be on hand for the kids; children’s games, and drawings for free prizes will be held throughout the day.

Thanks to the generosity of the Lake County Fire Chiefs’ Association, there also will be a bounce house this year. Firefighting demonstrations will be conducted, and present-day and antique fire equipment will be on display.

“This event is for Lake County residents and will provide ‘one stop shopping’ for homeowners to take responsibility for their own safety and protection during the upcoming fire season. One of our themes is ‘Help them (firefighters) help you.’ Make it possible for the fire agencies to protect your homes safely and effectively” said Jeff Tunnell, fire mitigation and education specialist for the Bureau of Land Management.

Take responsibility by learning how to protect your home and create the necessary defensible space. Be fire wise and fire safe this season. Be sure to attend the Wildfire Safety Expo. It’s an event with something for the entire family. And it’s free.

Contact Juntunen at 707-263-4180, Extension 106, for additional information.

CLEARLAKE, Calif. – As evening approached on Monday, officials and volunteers from agencies around Northern California continued looking for an autistic child who is believed to have wandered from her family’s home the previous afternoon.

Nine-year-old Mikaela Renee Lynch has been the focus of a growing search effort since she disappeared on Sunday. She was last seen playing in the family’s yard on Harbor Drive, according to police.

Officials at the incident’s command post – housed at the Mormon Church at 14970 Lakeview Way in Clearlake – said about 100 volunteers were searching for the girl on Monday.

Local police and fire departments were aided by agencies from around the region.

The multiagency search included search and rescue and sheriff’s personnel from the counties of Lake, Contra Costa, Marin, Napa, Santa Clara and Sonoma, as well as a Cal Fire.

A video report posted above by John Jensen of Lake County News shows the work under way at the command post and in the search area.

Teams combed nearby fields, and searches also were conducted on the water on nearby Cache Creek and from the air by helicopter, according to Clearlake Police Chief Craig Clausen.

Scott De Leon, head of the Lake County Public Works and Water Resources departments, said that on Sunday Yolo County officials, who operate the Cache Creek dam, reduced the flows through the dam at the request of those overseeing the search.

Mikaela is a white female, standing 4 feet tall and weighing 70 pounds. She has brown hair and blue eyes. She is unable to speak.

Anyone with information on her whereabouts is asked to contact the Clearlake Police Department at 707-994-8251 or call 911.

Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.