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LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – The Lake County Air Quality Management District said shifting winds could bring smoke from fires in southern Lake County and around the region into the county’s air basin this weekend.

Air Pollution Control Officer Doug Gearhart said the smoke and haze visible around Lake County has so far remained outside of the populated areas of the Lake County air basin.

However, winds are expected to start shifting which could result in smoke from the Walbridge fire in Sonoma County, the LNU Lightning Complex in Lake, Napa, Yolo and Solano counties, and the August Complex in the Mendocino National Forest settling into the Lake County air basin.

All areas of Lake County may experience periods of “moderate” to “unhealthy” conditions primarily starting Saturday, depending on the wind, Gearhart said.

Gearhart said regional wind patterns are forecast to start moderate changes beginning overnight into Saturday. This forecast is based on the latest weather, monitoring, fire activity information and will be updated as necessary.

The district is actively monitoring the smoke impacts throughout the county. Go to www.lcaqmd.net and follow the link to “Current Air Quality Index at: purpleair.com” for current particulate levels around the county.

Current particulate levels in Lake County are in the range from “good” to “moderate.” Should particulate levels reach “unhealthy” levels, everyone needs to take steps to protect themselves from exposure, said Gearhart.

Concentrations of smoke may vary depending upon location, weather, and distance from the fire. Smoke from wildfires and structure fires contain harmful chemicals that can affect your health. Smoke can cause eye and throat irritation, coughing, and difficulty breathing.

People who are at greatest risk of experiencing symptoms due to smoke include: those with respiratory disease (such as asthma), those with heart disease, young children, and older adults.

These sensitive populations should stay indoors and avoid prolonged activity. All others should limit prolonged or heavy activity and time spent outdoors. Even healthy adults can be affected by smoke. Seek medical help if you have symptoms that worsen or become severe.

Follow these general precautions to protect your health during a smoke event:

• Minimize or stop outdoor activities, especially exercise.
• Stay indoors with windows and doors closed as much as possible.
• Do not run fans that bring smoky outdoor air inside – examples include swamp coolers, whole-house fans, and fresh air ventilation systems.
• Run your air-conditioner only if it does not bring smoke in from the outdoors. Change the standard air conditioner filter to a medium or high-efficiency filter. If available, use the “recirculate” or “recycle” setting on the unit.
• Do not smoke, fry food, or do other things that will create indoor air pollution.

If you have lung disease (including asthma) or heart disease, closely monitor your health and contact your doctor if you have symptoms that worsen.

Consider leaving the area until smoke conditions improve if you have repeated coughing, shortness of breath, difficulty breathing, wheezing, chest tightness or pain, palpitations, nausea, unusual fatigue, lightheadedness.

“While we know that this is an added burden for everyone who has been dealing with the risks from COVID for all of these months, we definitely encourage folks to pay attention to the air quality and to take steps to protect themselves and their families,” said Lake County Public Health Officer Dr. Gary Pace.

Updated guidance from the CDC is available on reducing wildfire smoke exposure given COVID-19 considerations.
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A map of the LNU Lightning Complex on Friday, August 21, 2020. Map courtesy of Cal Fire.

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Firefighters held the LNU Lightning Complex to a small amount of growth overnight, but on Friday a new evacuation order was issued in Lake County in response to the incident.

As of Friday morning, the complex’s acreage stood at 219,067, up from 215,000 on Thursday night. Containment is now at 7 percent, up from zero, Cal Fire reported.

The fire is burning in southern Lake County as well as across Napa, Solano, Sonoma and Yolo counties, with 30,500 structures threatened. So far, 480 structures have been destroyed and 125 damaged.

Resources assigned on Friday included 1,059 personnel, 102 engines, 31 water tenders, 11 helicopters, 12 hand crews and 34 dozers.

Late Friday morning, officials issued a new evacuation order in Lake County for all areas and residents north and south of Morgan Valley Road – north of the evacuation line previously established on Wednesday – from Highway 29 and Hofacker Lane to Morgan Valley Road, east of Sky High Ridge Road (extending north to Highway), south of SR-20 and west of the Lake County line.

An evacuation warning was issued for all areas and residents along Morgan Valley Road between Rocky Creek Road and Reiff Road.

The portions of the complex burning within Lake County are the Aetna and Round fire, which have merged with the larger Hennessey fire, which also includes the Gamble, Green, Markley,
Spanish and Morgan fires.

Cal Fire said the Hennessey fire was 194,942 acres and 7-percent contained as of Friday morning.

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.


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Terra image of 1200 mile trail of smoke from California’s wildfires on Thursday, August 20, 2020. Credits: NASA Worldview.


NASA's Terra satellite was able to capture the huge swath of smoke that has been generated by the California wildfires and dispersed by the winds surrounding those fires on Thursday, Aug. 20.

The NASA Worldview website has an application that can measure distances within the app and measuring this smoke trail showed the trail's northeast to southwest trail is approximately 1,214 miles long.

The smoke has moved as far north and east as Pocatello, Idaho and as far west and south as mid-Baja California, Mexico.

Although the smoke did not go into Baja California it has remained offshore over the Pacific Ocean.

Fire is devastating, and the effects of smoke on humans can also be devastating. The smoke released by any type of fire (forest, brush, crop, structure, tires, waste or wood burning) is a mixture of particles and chemicals produced by incomplete burning of carbon-containing materials.

All smoke contains carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide and particulate matter (PM or soot). Smoke can contain many different chemicals, including aldehydes, acid gases, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), benzene, toluene, styrene, metals and dioxins.

The type and amount of particles and chemicals in smoke varies depending on what is burning, how much oxygen is available, and the burn temperature. Exposure to high levels of smoke should be avoided.

Individuals are advised to limit their physical exertion if exposure to high levels of smoke cannot be avoided. Individuals with cardiovascular or respiratory conditions (e.g., asthma), fetuses, infants, young children, and the elderly may be more vulnerable to the health effects of smoke exposure.

From the Worldview site: "Aerosol Optical Depth (AOD) (or Aerosol Optical Thickness) indicates the level at which particles in the air (aerosols) prevent light from traveling through the atmosphere. Aerosols scatter and absorb incoming sunlight, which reduces visibility. From an observer on the ground, an AOD of less than 0.1 is “clean” (lightest yellow) - characteristic of clear blue sky, bright sun and maximum visibility. As AOD increases to 0.5, 1.0, and greater than 3.0, aerosols become so dense that sun is obscured (ranging from yellow to dark red on the scale). Sources of aerosols include pollution from factories, smoke from fires, dust from dust storms, sea salt, and volcanic ash and smog. Aerosols compromise human health when inhaled by people, particularly those with asthma or other respiratory illnesses. Aerosols also have an effect on the weather and climate by cooling or warming the Earth, helping or preventing clouds from forming. Since aerosols are difficult to identify when they occur over different types of land surfaces and ocean surfaces, Worldview provides several different types of imagery layers to assist in the identification."

In the image below there are many areas that are completely obscured by smoke including Los Angeles, Las Vegas, parts of San Francisco and into Idaho, following along the trail of smoke from the fires and out into the Pacific Ocean.

NASA's Earth Observing System Data and Information System, or EOSDIS, Worldview application provides the capability to interactively browse over 700 global, full-resolution satellite imagery layers and then download the underlying data. Many of the available imagery layers are updated within three hours of observation, essentially showing the entire Earth as it looks "right now.”

Image showing the optical depth of the smoke coming off the California wildfires. This image was taken by the MODIS, Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer, instrument on the Terra satellite on Thursday, August 20, 2020. Actively burning fires, detected by thermal bands, are shown as red points. Image Courtesy: NASA Worldview, Earth Observing System Data and Information System (EOSDIS).
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Dennis Fordham. Courtesy photo.

Expressly disinheriting, or simply omitting, a child as a beneficiary in one’s will or trust can occur for a wide variety of reasons; such as, a quarrel, an estrangement, not wanting to give more to a child who has plenty, or not wanting to give to a child who will abuse or squander their inheritance.

What happens when a decedent’s will or trust does not provide for a decedent’s child?

First, was the child born or adopted after the decedent’s testamentary documents were already executed?

In California, section 21620 of the Probate Code generally presumes that, “… a[n omitted] child of decedent born or adopted after the execution of all of the decedent’s testamentary instruments, … shall receive a share in the decedent’s estate … .” A testamentary instrument is a will or trust.

The statutory presumption has three important exceptions (section 21621): Did the decedent’s testamentary instrument itself show the decedent’s intention to omit the child; did the decedent give substantially all of the estate to the omitted child’s other parent; and did the decedent otherwise provide for the omitted child and express that intention in the testamentary instrument, by the amount of the other gift, or otherwise.

With after born/adopted children, therefore, California’s law generally favors an omitted child receiving a share except when the decedent’s contrary intention is apparent from the will or trust, other gifting, or otherwise. Other gifting includes death benefits from insurance and retirement plans and lifetime gifts.

If the presumption applies, the after born or adopted child receives an “intestate share” in the decedent’s estate. That is, what he or she would have received as an heir had the decedent died with no will or trust.

Second, was the omitted child already born or adopted at the time when all of the decedent’s testamentary instruments were executed. In California, section 21622 of the Probate Code provides if, “… the decedent failed to provide for a living child solely because the decedent believed the child to be dead or was unaware of the child, the child shall receive a share in the estate … .”
On August 3, 2020, in Kimberly Rallo et al., v. Virginia O’Brian (Case # B29052), California’s Second District Court of Appeals in Los Angeles addressed whether the general disinheritance provision – one that does not name the disinherited person(s) – in deceased actor Hugh O’Brien’s trust could defeat a claim brought under section 21622 by his children who were living when Hugh O’Brien executed his trust.

The children alleged that Hugh O’Brien did not know they were born and would have provided for them had he known. They argued that it was enough simply to show that he was simply unaware of their births and against the general disinheritance provision that said, “I am intentionally not providing for … any other person who claims to be a descendant or heir of mine under any circumstances and without regard to the nature of any evidence which may indicate status as a descendant or heir.”

The Appellate Court disagreed: “[A]n omitted child’s recovery under section 21622 is conditional: (1) the decedent must have been unaware of the child’s birth (or mistaken about the child’s death), and (2) the decedent must have failed to provide for the unknown child solely because of that lack of awareness (or mistaken belief).” The children failed the second requirement.

The court found that a general disinheritance provision showed that the decedent’s failure to provide was not “solely” due to his being unaware of a child’s existence or mistaken belief as to the child’s death. Rather, it was because he did not intend to give his omitted heirs a share.

Thus, at least in California’s Second District Court of Appeal (Los Angeles County), a general disinheritance provision defeats claims by omitted children whether they are born before or after the will or trust.

Anyone confronting the issues discussed above should consult an attorney for guidance.

Dennis A. Fordham, attorney, is a State Bar-Certified Specialist in estate planning, probate and trust law. His office is at 870 S. Main St., Lakeport, California. He can be reached at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and 707-263-3235.
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Founder of Steele Wines, Jed Steele, right, congratulates new owner, Clay Shannon, left, on the promising future of expanded wine production in Lake County, California. Courtesy photo.

LOWER LAKE, Calif. – The Shannon Ridge Family of Wines announced it has acquired Steele Wines of Finley.

Shannon Ridge has purchased the Lake County winery facilities and their diverse portfolio of brands and trademarks, including Shooting Star, Stymie and Writer's Block.

"This merger represents the perfect solution for both parties," says Shannon Ridge founder and president, Clay Shannon. "Strategically, the increased production capacity and storage space allows us to continue our expansion goals while providing the Steele Wines family of brands a local partner to further their market distribution."

Shannon Ridge can now easily surpass its 310,000 annual case volume and continue to champion 21st-century winemaking methods for high-elevation varietals.

Shannon’s mission since 1996 has been to promote Lake County as a premier wine-producing region in California, combined with an unwavering commitment to sustainable operations.

To underscore this point: only 45 percent of the winery's 2,500 acres have been converted to vineyards, preserving the rest of the property for natural wildlife to pass through peacefully.

Shannon Ridge plans to use the newly acquired facilities not only for the increased winemaking capacity and storage – 2,500 tons and 6,000 barrels, respectively – but also for introducing a new on-site property experience, “Shannon Mercantile,” at the current Steele tasting room in Kelseyville.

In addition to the Shannon Ridge and Steele wine portfolios, the planned Lake County establishment will offer the ranch's grass-fed lamb, farm eggs, and other home goods and merchandise.

“We aim to make Shannon Mercantile a family-friendly destination where folks can enjoy their wine with a picnic lunch on the lawn, movie nights on warm summer evenings, and festivities to celebrate various holidays throughout the year,” Shannon said.

Shannon aims to make the mercantile a go-to destination in Lake County. It’s tentatively scheduled to open in spring 2021.

Steele Wines celebrated its 28th anniversary in 2020 and has spent nearly the last three decades specializing in producing high-quality, small-batch (under 1,000 cases), varietals sourced from the finest vineyards in Lake and Mendocino counties.

After 50 years of winemaking in California, founder Jed Steele will assume a supporting role in the winery, assisting in the production of Steele Wines and enjoying retirement at his properties in Lake County, Montana, and Florida.

Shannon ridge was advised in this transaction by former and now-retired Shannon Ridge chief financial officer, Don Chase of Don Chase Wine Industry Management Services.

Clay Shannon. Courtesy photo.
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LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – The LNU Lightning Complex continued to blaze through five counties on Thursday, burning another 84,000 acres and destroying or damaging hundreds of more structures.

Cal Fire said Thursday evening that the fire had grown to 215,000 acres – up from 131,000 reported that morning.

So far, firefighters have not been able to achieve any containment on the fire, according to the report.

On Thursday night, Cal Fire said there have been four fatalities associated with the fire – three in Napa County and one in Solano County – and four civilian injuries.

The complex continues to threaten 30,500 structures. It has destroyed 480 and damaged 125 structures, numbers that had grown by several hundred over the course of the day, Cal Fire said.

Multiple fires in the complex have merged on the north side of Lake Berryessa into the Hennessey Fire, which stretches across Napa County. Those fires are moving into large areas of timber, Cal Fire said.

In Lake County, the Aetna and Round fires also have merged into the main Hennessey fire, which Cal Fire said had burned 192,000 acres with zero containment. It includes the Gamble, Green, Markley, Spanish and Morgan fires.

Cal Fire stated in its Thursday evening report that, “Significant fire growth is expected throughout the rest of the operational period.”

The agency reported extreme fire behavior with short- and long-range spotting that are continuing to challenge firefighting efforts. The fires are continuing to make runs in multiple directions and impact multiple communities.

On Thursday the firefighting force grew substantially, with an almost doubling of firefighting personnel, up to 1,059, with 102 engines, 31 water tenders, 11 helicopters, 12 hand crews and 35 dozers also assigned.

In a Thursday evening video, Sheriff Brian Martin – who earlier in the day issued a state of emergency in Lake County in response to the complex – reported that State Sen. Mike McGuire had visited the fire scene that day.

Martin said state and local officials worked behind the scenes to get more resources assigned to the fire. Even so, he said he’s not seeing the level of resources he’d like to see. “There just aren’t resources.”

On Thursday evacuation orders for several areas of southern Lake County remained in effect, along with an evacuation advisory issued in the afternoon for Middletown proper.

Martin reported that the LNU Lighting Complex is different from past fires – such as the Valley – that moved with devastating speed.

This fire is not moving as quickly, which Martin said gives south county residents time to prepare to evacuate. “Let’s use this time,” he said.

Elsewhere around the region, the August Complex, which began Sunday on the Mendocino National Forest, had burned 117,365 acres by Thursday evening, with containment up to 6 percent.

The complex consists of 35 fires on the Glenn County side of the forest. It had nearly doubled overnight but on Thursday firefighters were able to hold it to 1,335 acres, according to Forest Service officials.

Heavy smoke created an inversion layer, which officials said kept the temperatures cooler and helped moderate the spread of the fire.

More firefighting personnel also were added to the ranks fighting the August Complex, with the Forest Service reporting on Thursday night that 353 personnel are now assigned.

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.
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Several years ago, planetary scientist Lynnae Quick began to wonder whether any of the more than 4,000 known exoplanets, or planets beyond our solar system, might resemble some of the watery moons around Jupiter and Saturn.

Though some of these moons don’t have atmospheres and are covered in ice, they are still among the top targets in NASA’s search for life beyond Earth. Saturn’s moon Enceladus and Jupiter’s moon Europa, which scientists classify as “ocean worlds,” are good examples.

“Plumes of water erupt from Europa and Enceladus, so we can tell that these bodies have subsurface oceans beneath their ice shells, and they have energy that drives the plumes, which are two requirements for life as we know it,” said Quick, a NASA planetary scientist who specializes in volcanism and ocean worlds. “So if we’re thinking about these places as being possibly habitable, maybe bigger versions of them in other planetary systems are habitable too.”

Quick, of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, decided to explore whether — hypothetically — there are planets similar to Europa and Enceladus in the Milky Way galaxy. And, could they, too, be geologically active enough to shoot plumes through their surfaces that could one day be detected by telescopes.

Through a mathematical analysis of several dozen exoplanets, including planets in the nearby TRAPPIST-1 system, Quick and her colleagues learned something significant: More than a quarter of the exoplanets they studied could be ocean worlds, with a majority possibly harboring oceans beneath layers of surface ice, similar to Europa and Enceladus. Additionally, many of these planets could be releasing more energy than Europa and Enceladus.

Scientists may one day be able to test Quick’s predictions by measuring the heat emitted from an exoplanet or by detecting volcanic or cryovolcanic (liquid or vapor instead of molten rock) eruptions in the wavelengths of light emitted by molecules in a planet’s atmosphere. For now, scientists cannot see many exoplanets in any detail. Alas, they are too far away and too drowned out by the light of their stars. But by considering the only information available — exoplanet sizes, masses and distances from their stars — scientists like Quick and her colleagues can tap mathematical models and our understanding of the solar system to try to imagine the conditions that could be shaping exoplanets into livable worlds or not.

While the assumptions that go into these mathematical models are educated guesses, they can help scientists narrow the list of promising exoplanets to search for conditions favorable to life so that NASA’s upcoming James Webb Space Telescope or other space missions can follow up.

“Future missions to look for signs of life beyond the solar system are focused on planets like ours that have a global biosphere that’s so abundant it’s changing the chemistry of the whole atmosphere,” said Aki Roberge, a NASA Goddard astrophysicist who collaborated with Quick on this analysis. “But in the solar system, icy moons with oceans, which are far from the heat of the Sun, still have shown that they have the features we think are required for life.”

To look for possible ocean worlds, Quick’s team selected 53 exoplanets with sizes most similar to Earth, though they could have up to eight times more mass. Scientists assume planets of this size are more solid than gaseous and, thus, more likely to support liquid water on or below their surfaces. At least 30 more planets that fit these parameters have been discovered since Quick and her colleagues began their study in 2017, but they were not included in the analysis, which was published on June 18 in the journal Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific.

With their Earth-size planets identified, Quick and her team sought to determine how much energy each one could be generating and releasing as heat. The team considered two primary sources of heat.

The first, radiogenic heat, is generated over billions of years by the slow decay of radioactive materials in a planet’s mantle and crust. That rate of decay depends on a planet’s age and the mass of its mantle.

Other scientists already had determined these relationships for Earth-size planets. So, Quick and her team applied the decay rate to their list of 53 planets, assuming each one is the same age as its star and that its mantle takes up the same proportion of the planet’s volume as Earth’s mantle does.

Next, the researchers calculated heat produced by something else: tidal force, which is energy generated from the gravitational tugging when one object orbits another. Planets in stretched out, or elliptical, orbits shift the distance between themselves and their stars as they circle them. This leads to changes in the gravitational force between the two objects and causes the planet to stretch, thereby generating heat. Eventually, the heat is lost to space through the surface.

One exit route for the heat is through volcanoes or cryovolcanoes. Another route is through tectonics, which is a geological process responsible for the movement of the outermost rocky or icy layer of a planet or moon. Whichever way the heat is discharged, knowing how much of it a planet pushes out is important because it could make or break habitability.

For instance, too much volcanic activity can turn a livable world into a molten nightmare. But too little activity can shut down the release of gases that make up an atmosphere, leaving a cold, barren surface. Just the right amount supports a livable, wet planet like Earth, or a possibly livable moon like Europa.

In the next decade, NASA’s Europa Clipper will explore the surface and subsurface of Europa and provide insights about the environment beneath the surface. The more scientists can learn about Europa and other potentially habitable moons of our solar system, the better they’ll be able to understand similar worlds around other stars — which may be plentiful, according to today’s findings.

"Forthcoming missions will give us a chance to see whether ocean moons in our solar system could support life,” said Quick, who is a science team member on both the Clipper mission and the Dragonfly mission to Saturn’s moon Titan. “If we find chemical signatures of life, we can try to look for similar signs at interstellar distances.”

When Webb launches, scientists will try to detect chemical signatures in the atmospheres of some of the planets in the TRAPPIST-1 system, which is 39 light years away in the constellation Aquarius. In 2017, astronomers announced that this system has seven Earth-size planets. Some have suggested that some of these planets could be watery, and Quick’s estimates support this idea. According to her team’s calculations, TRAPPIST-1 e, f, g and h could be ocean worlds, which would put them among the 14 ocean worlds the scientists identified in this study.

The researchers predicted that these exoplanets have oceans by considering the surface temperatures of each one. This information is revealed by the amount of stellar radiation each planet reflects into space. Quick’s team also took into account each planet’s density and the estimated amount of internal heating it generates compared to Earth.

“If we see that a planet’s density is lower than Earth’s, that’s an indication that there might be more water there and not as much rock and iron,” Quick said. And if the planet’s temperature allows for liquid water, you’ve got an ocean world.

“But if a planet’s surface temperature is less than 32 degrees Fahrenheit (0 degrees Celsius), where water is frozen,” Quick said, “then we have an icy ocean world, and the densities for those planets are even lower.”

Other scientists who participated in this analysis with Quick and Roberge are Amy Barr Mlinar from the Planetary Science Institute in Tucson, Arizona, and Matthew M. Hedman from the University of Idaho in Moscow.

Lonnie Shekhtman works for NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.
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LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – In a brief discussion at its Thursday night meeting, the Clearlake City Council voted to approve the first reading of an ordinance that will raise the monthly salary amount for council members.

The council had held an initial discussion on the topic at its Aug. 6 meeting and directed City Attorney Ryan Jones to return with a draft ordinance, as Lake County News has reported.

The current monthly salary for council members is $300, an amount that Jones said was set in 1989.

While, by state statute, that’s the maximum amount for cities with a population of under 35,000, Jones told the council at its Aug. 6 meeting that the law allows for 5-percent annual raises.

As such, the council faced the option of raising the current monthly amount by $465 – which is the amount of a 5-percent raise over the past 31 years – to a total of $765.

However, at its last meeting, the council settled on a smaller total figure, $500.

On Thursday, Jones presented a draft ordinance with the $500 monthly amount.

He also reported that the law does not allow the council to set up an automatic 5-percent raise each year. The council would have to take separate action to do that in the future.

The current annual cost for the council members’ salaries totals $18,000. By raising it to $500 per month, the total cost would rise to $30,000. Jones’ report said the additional funds would come from the city’s general fund.

That amount does not include the cost of health coverage for council members. A specific figure for that was not included in Jones’ report.

Following Jones’ brief presentation, there was no council discussion before Councilman Phil Harris – who had asked last month for the matter to be brought forward for discussion – moved to approve it, with Councilman Russ Perdock seconding.

The vote was 4-1, with Vice Mayor Dirk Slooten voting against it. Slooten had made clear at the Aug. 6 meeting that he thought it was a bad time to raise council members’ salaries.

If the council approves the ordinance’s second and final reading at its next meeting, the ordinance and the salary increase will go into effect on Jan. 1, 2021.

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.
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A Cal Fire map of the Lake Napa Unit Lightning Complex on Thursday, August 20, 2020. The map shows the Round fire near Morgan Valley Road and the Aetna fire (which is not labeled) south of Middletown, California, at the Lake and Napa County line.

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – On Thursday, Sheriff Brian Martin declared a state of emergency in Lake County in response to the LNU Lightning Complex, which has burned into southern Lake County and prompted the evacuation of thousands of residents.

Martin declared the emergency in his capacity of director of the county’s Office of Emergency Services.

It cites “conditions of extreme peril to the safety of persons and property” resulting from “fires related to the LNU Lightning Complex.”

As of Thursday morning, the LNU Lightning Complex was up to 131,000 acres, with no containment, Cal Fire reported.

The complex grew by nearly 7,000 acres overnight as it continued to grow across Lake, Napa, Solano, Sonoma and Yolo counties.

It is threatening 30,500 structures, with 105 so far destroyed and 70 damaged, Cal Fire said.

Cal Fires said 587 firefighting personnel, 69 engines, 27 water tenders, eight helicopters, nine hand crews and 28 dozers are assigned. Air tankers remain in short supply due to fires across the state.

Two fires within the complex – the Round and the Aetna – are burning within Lake County, according to the Thursday report.

The Aetna fire, south of Middletown, is 4,500 acres and the Round fire, located south of Hidden Valley Lake, is 4,000 acres, with no containment on either, Cal Fire reported.

Previously the Morgan fire – now merged with the 105,000-acre Hennessey fire – was reported to be in Lake County. However, Cal Fire mapping shows it is holding just on the other side of the Lake County line, and burning in Napa and Yolo counties.

The fires prompted initial evacuations to the southeast of Lower Lake on Tuesday with more evacuations ordered on Wednesday that covered areas including Jerusalem Valley and Hidden Valley Lake, and areas surrounding Middletown. Those orders remained in effect on Thursday, officials said.

An evacuation warning for areas including Middletown proper was issued on Thursday afternoon.

Sheriff Martin told Lake County News on Thursday afternoon that he estimated between 6,000 and 7,000 Lake County residents have been evacuated due to the complex so far.

That estimate does not include how many residents may be impacted if Middletown is forced to evacuate.

Martin said he has not yet had official reports from Cal Fire about damaged or destroyed structures, just secondhand reports from property owners in the Jerusalem Valley area about structures that have burned.

The Board of Supervisors must now ratify Martin’s declaration. Deputy County Administrative Officer Matthew Rothstein confirmed the declaration is on the agenda for the board’s next meeting on Tuesday.

Martin’s full declaration is published below.


EMERGENCY DECLARATION


WHEREAS, Section 6-5 of the Lake County Code empowers the Director of Emergency Services to proclaim the existence or threatened existence of a local emergency when Lake County is affected or likely to be affected by a public calamity and the County Board of Supervisors is not in session; and

WHEREAS, the Sheriff, as Director of Emergency Services of Lake County does hereby find; that conditions of extreme peril to the safety of persons and property have arisen within the County of Lake, caused by fires related to the LNU Lightning Complex; and

WHEREAS, the Morgan Fire, which began on the 18th day of August, 2020, has already prompted evacuation of portions of southern Lake County, and rapid changes of wind conditions have required great vigilance in light of the possible need of further evacuations; and

WHEREAS, these conditions are beyond the immediate control of the services, personnel, equipment, and facilities of Lake County, and air and other resources are over-tasked, due to significant wildfire activity around the State of California; and

WHEREAS, the County Board of Supervisors of the County of Lake is not in session and cannot immediately be called into session.

NOW, THEREFORE, IT IS HEREBY PROCLAIMED that a local emergency now exists throughout Lake County and all jurisdictions within Lake County; and

IT IS FURTHER PROCLAIMED AND ORDERED that during the existence of said local emergency the powers, functions, and duties of the emergency organization of Lake County shall be those prescribed by state law, by ordinances, and resolutions of the County; and that this emergency proclamation shall expire 7 days after issuance unless confirmed and ratified by the Lake County Board of Supervisors.

AND, IT IS FURTHER PROCLAIMED AND ORDERED that said local emergency shall be deemed to continue to exist until its termination is proclaimed by the Lake County Board of Supervisors.

By: Brian L. Martin
Sheriff/Coroner/OES Director
August 20, 2020


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.
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LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – The LNU Lightning Complex had another day of massive growth while, at the same time, more firefighters arrived to fight the fire and those on the lines doubled its containment.

By Friday evening, Cal Fire said the fire’s acreage had reached 302,388 acres, which is a growth of more than 83,000 acres since morning. That follows the 84,000 acres the fire burned on Thursday.

The good news included that the fire’s containment rose from 7 to 15 percent during the course of the day.

More good news: Cal Fire said personnel and resources assigned to the fire increased on Friday, with nearly 400 firefighters and almost 100 engines arriving.

By evening, Cal Fire reported that 1,429 personnel were on the fire, along with 194 engines, 36 water tenders, 11 helicopters, 13 hand crews and 36 dozers.

The complex continues to threaten 30,500 structures. The number of those destroyed and damaged – 480 and 125, respectively – hasn’t changed since Thursday, according to Cal Fire’s Friday evening report.

The portion of the complex burning into Lake County is the Hennessey fire, which is sized at 256,102 acres, Cal Fire said. The fire began in Napa County on Monday before burning into Lake, Solano and Yolo counties.

Thousands of south Lake County residents remain under evacuation order or warning because of the approach of the Hennessey fire.

One prong of the Hennessey fire has entered southeastern Lake County along Morgan Valley Road, with the second portion coming over the county line south of Middletown.

The Hennessey fire has burned around much of Lake Berryessa in Napa County, according to fire mapping.

The other portion of the complex in Sonoma County includes the Walbridge fire, west of Healdsburg, now at 43,286 acres and the Meyers fire, north of Jenner, which has burned 3,000 acres, Cal Fire reported.

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.
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CLEARLAKE, Calif. – Clearlake Animal Control has five dogs awaiting their new families this week.

The following dogs are ready for adoption or foster.

“Bella.” Photo courtesy of Clearlake Animal Control.

‘Bella’

“Bella” is a female American Bully mix.

She has a short beige and tan coat.

She is dog No. 3537.

“Diesel.” Photo courtesy of Clearlake Animal Control.

‘Diesel’

“Diesel” is a male border collie mix with a black and white coat.

He is dog No. 4023.

“Isis.” Photo courtesy of Clearlake Animal Control.

‘Isis’

“Isis” is a female American Staffordshire Terrier mix with a brindle and white coat.

She is dog No. 3732.

“Lady.” Photo courtesy of Clearlake Animal Control.

‘Lady’

“Lady” is a female German Shepherd mix.

She has been spayed.

She is dog No. 3683.

“Wilbur.” Photo courtesy of Clearlake Animal Control.

‘Wilbur’

“Wilbur” is a male American Bully mix with a short gray and white coat.

He is dog No. 3999.

Clearlake Animal Control’s shelter is located at 6820 Old Highway 53, off Airport Road.

Hours of operation are noon to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday. The shelter is closed Sundays, Mondays and major holidays; the shelter offers appointments on the days it’s closed to accommodate people.

Call the Clearlake Animal Control shelter at 707-273-9440, or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. to inquire about adoptions.

Visit Clearlake Animal Control on Facebook or on the city’s website.

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.
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SOUTH LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – The Lake County Sheriff’s Office has issued an evacuation warning for the Middletown area due to the approach of the LNU Lightning Complex.

The warning includes all areas west of Highway 29 (including areas west of Saint Helena Creek Road), north and east of the Lake/Napa County Line (extending north to the Anderson Springs Road prolongation between the county line and Highway 175), south of Anderson Springs Road, Neft Road and the Boggs Mountain Recreation Area prolongation to the intersection of Hofacker Lane and Highway 29.

This includes Middletown proper, officials said.

“We are asking everyone to take preparations in the event that a mandatory evacuation order is issued,” the sheriff’s office said.

Preparations should include gathering all medications, important documents, making plans for pets, and notifying family members where you may be going.

Those requiring additional time to evacuate or those with pets or livestock should leave the area as soon as possible, the warning stated.

“During a mandatory evacuation, it will be extremely hectic and traffic conditions will be very congested. By evacuating early, you do your part in keeping yourself, your neighbors, and our first responders safe,” the evacuation warning said.

Should an evacuation order be issued and shelter is needed, authorities will direct evacuees to a temporary evacuation point.

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