LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — Clearlake officials are working to put together solutions to carry out the recovery needed due to the Cache fire, which firefighters are continuing to work to fully contain.
The fire, burning since Wednesday afternoon, remained at 83 acres on Friday, with containment up to 45%, said Lake County Fire Chief Willie Sapeta.
Early Saturday, one zone in Lake County’s Zonehaven system remained under mandatory evacuation, Zone CLE-E157, which contains everything in the city of Clearlake to the south of 18th Avenue and east of Highway 53 except for Adventist Health Clear Lake Hospital.
City Manager Alan Flora said he visited the fire scene on Friday morning and there were a few hotspots to deal with but little fire activity.
He said the hope is that evacuees can return home on Sunday, but added that a lot of work by Pacific Gas and Electric to replace damaged power infrastructure remains to be done.
Overall, Sapeta — who was one of the first on scene at the incident, which is estimated to have destroyed 137 structures, including 56 homes — said the progress on the fire was “looking good.”
What’s not looking good is the prospects for the city of Clearlake to get help in the complex task of recovery.
City officials have acknowledged that because the fire doesn’t meet the thresholds for state and federal disaster assistance — as has been the case with most of Lake County’s destructive fires — much of the multimillion dollar recovery process and its cost could end up falling on the city.
Flora said the state is going to provide very limited resources to the city for the incident.
He said the city will get a hazmat team from the Department of Toxic Substances Control, which is waiting on the county of Lake to declare a public health emergency so the phase one cleanup can begin.
“Hopefully that will be soon,” said Flora.
As of Friday, that public health emergency had not been agendized by the Board of Supervisors for its next meeting on Tuesday.
Flora said the state hazmat team won’t address any debris clean up from homes or vehicles.
He said the city is working with Assemblywoman Cecilia Aguiar-Curry and Sen. Mike McGuire to try to piece together a solution or the cleanup, but he said so far they have no solid plan.
“We are still working to see if we can get any short term housing assistance for those that lost their homes, but nothing happening yet from the state on that front,” Flora said.
He also didn’t have a dollar estimate for damage.
Flora said that estimate has to be submitted by the California Office of Emergency Services by Wednesday, “so it will start coming together soon.”
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.
Kevin Trenberth, National Center for Atmospheric Research
July 2021 was Earth’s hottest month on record and was marked by disasters, including extreme storms, floods and wildfires. Thomas Lohnes via Getty Images
Climate change has been accumulating slowly but relentlessly for decades. The changes might sound small when you hear about them – another tenth of a degree warmer, another centimeter of sea level rise – but seemingly small changes can have big effects on the world around us, especially regionally.
The problem is that while effects are small at any time, they accumulate. Those effects have now accumulated to the point where their influence is contributing to damaging heat waves, drought and rainfall extremes that can’t be ignored.
The most recent report from the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change is more emphatic than ever: Climate change, caused by human activities like burning fossil fuels, is having damaging effects on the climate as we know it, and those effects are rapidly getting worse.
Earth’s energy imbalance
An excellent example of how climate change accumulates is Earth’s energy imbalance. I am a climate scientist and have a new book on this about to be published by Cambridge University Press.
The Sun bombards Earth with a constant stream of about 173,600 terawatts (that is 12 zeros) of energy in the form of solar radiation. About 30% of that energy is reflected back into space by clouds and reflective surfaces, like ice and snow, leaving 122,100 terawatts to drive all the weather and climate systems around us, including the water cycle. Almost all of that energy cycles back to space – except for about 460 TW.
That remaining 460 TW is the problem we’re facing. That excess energy, trapped by greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, is heating up the planet. That is the Earth’s energy imbalance, or in other words, global warming.
Outgoing radiation is decreasing, owing to increasing greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, and leading to Earth’s energy imbalance of 460 terawatts. The percentage going into each domain is indicated.Kevin Trenberth, CC BY-ND
In comparison with the natural flow of energy through the climate system, 460 TW seems small – it’s only a fraction of 1 percent. Consequently, we cannot go outside and feel the extra energy. But the heat accumulates, and it is now having consequences.
To put that in perspective, the total amount of electricity generated worldwide in 2018 was about 2.6 TW. If you look at all energy used around the world, including for heat, industry and vehicles, it’s about 19.5 TW. Earth’s energy imbalance is huge in comparison.
Interfering with the natural flow of energy through the climate system is where humans make their mark. By burning fossil fuels, cutting down forests and releasing greenhouse gases in other ways, humans are sending gases like carbon dioxide and methane into the atmosphere that trap more of that incoming energy rather than letting it radiate back out.
Before the first industries began burning large amounts of fossil fuels in the 1800s, the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere was estimated at around 280 parts per million of volume. In 1958, when Dave Keeling began measuring atmospheric concentrations at Mauna Loa in Hawaii, that level was 310 parts per million. Today, those values have climbed to about 415 parts per million, a 48% increase.
Carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas, and increased amounts cause heating. In this case, the human increment is not small.
Where does the extra energy go?
Measurements over time show that over 90% of this extra energy is going into the oceans, where it causes the water to expand and sea level to rise.
The upper layer of the oceans started warming around the 1970s. By the early 1990s, heat was reaching 500 to 1,000 meters (1,640 to 3,280 feet) deep. By 2005, it was heating the ocean below 1,500 meters (nearly 5,000 feet).
The average global temperature change at different ocean depths, in zetajoules, from 1958 to 2020. The top chart shows the upper 2,000 meters (6,561 feet) compared with the 1981-2010 average. The bottom shows the increase at different depths. Reds are warmer than average, blues are cooler.Cheng et al, 2021, CC BY-ND
Global sea level, measured by flights and satellites, was rising at a rate of about 3 millimeters per year from 1992 to 2012. Since then, it been increasing at about 4 millimeters a year. In 29 years, it has risen over 90 millimeters (3.5 inches).
If 3.5 inches doesn’t sound like much, talk to the coastal communities that exist a few feet above sea level. In some regions, these effects have led to chronic sunny day flooding during high tides, like Miami, San Francisco and Venice, Italy. Coastal storm surges are higher and much more destructive, especially from hurricanes. It’s an existential threat to some low-lying island nations and a growing expense for U.S. coastal cities.
Some of that extra energy, about 13 terawatts, goes into melting ice. Arctic sea ice in summer has decreased by over 40% since 1979. Some excess energy melts land ice, such as glaciers and permafrost on Greenland, Antarctica, which puts more water into the ocean and contributes to sea level rise.
Some energy penetrates into land, about 14 TW. But as long as land is wet, a lot of energy cycles into evapotranspiration – evaporation and transpiration in plants – which moistens the atmosphere and fuels weather systems. It is when there is a drought or during the dry season that effects accumulate on land, through drying and wilting of plants, raising temperatures and greatly increasing risk of heat waves and wildfire.
Consequences of more heat
Over oceans, the extra heat provides a tremendous resource of moisture for the atmosphere. That becomes latent heat in storms that supersizes hurricanes and rainstorms, leading to flooding, as people in many parts of the world have experienced in recent months.
Air can contain about 4% more moisture for every 1 degree Fahrenheit (0.55 Celsius) increase in temperature, and air above the oceans is some 5% to 15% moister than it was prior to 1970. Hence, about a 10% increase in heavy rain results as storms gather the excess moisture.
Again, this may not sound like much, but that increase enlivens the updrafts and the storms, and then the storm lasts longer, so suddenly there is a 30% increase in the rainfall, as has been documented in several cases of major flooding.
Cyclone Yasa heads for Fiji in December 2020. It was the fourth most-intense tropical cyclone on record in the South Pacific.NASA Earth Observatory
In Mediterranean climates, characterized by long, dry summers, such as in California, eastern Australia and around the Mediterranean, the wildfire risk grows, and fires can be readily triggered by natural sources, like dry lightning, or human causes.
Extreme events in weather have always occurred, but human influences are now pushing them outside their previous limits.
The straw that breaks the camel’s back syndrome
So, while all weather events are driven by natural influences, the impacts are greatly magnified by human-induced climate change. Hurricanes cross thresholds, levees break and floods run amok. Elsewhere, fires burn out of control, things break and people die.
I call it “The straw that breaks the camel’s back syndrome.” This is extreme nonlinearity, meaning the risks aren’t rising in a straight line – they’re rising much faster, and it confounds economists who have greatly underestimated the costs of human-induced climate change.
The result has been far too little action both in slowing and stopping the problems, and in planning for impacts and building resilience – despite years of warnings from scientists. The lack of adequate planning means we all suffer the consequences.
[The Conversation’s science, health and technology editors pick their favorite stories.Weekly on Wednesdays.]
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — The superintendent of the Konocti Unified School District said schools in Lower Lake were closed on Thursday and will remain so on Friday as a result of the Cache fire.
Konocti Unified reopened for classes on Monday. Just two days later, shortly after 12:30 p.m. on Wednesday, the Cache fire erupted in Clearlake, swiftly moving into parts of Lower Lake.
On Thursday evening, officials said damage assessments so far have found the 83-acre fire destroyed 56 homes, 81 outbuildings and 158 vehicles.
The fire, at that point about 40% contained, damaged utility infrastructure. On Thursday evening, 105 customers in the fire area along Dam Road were still out of power, Pacific Gas and Electric reported.
Evacuation orders also remained in place for portions of Lower Lake and Clearlake on Thursday night.
The Cache fire, hit by strong winds, threw numerous spot fires, some of them burning close to Lower Lake Elementary School and Lower Lake High School.
The fire’s proximity — there were reports that it burned on school property near the site of facilities that had burned in the Clayton fire — necessitated the evacuation of students.
Officials said students were evacuated by 2 p.m. Wednesday and transported by bus to Haverty Field at Austin Park in Clearlake.
Superintendent Dr. Becky Salato said the district evacuated 1,500 students and 200 staff “very successfully.”
In a message to parents, Dr. Salato said there was no structural damage to any of our schools.
She said Lower Lake High School, Lower Lake Elementary School, Carle Continuation High School, Blue Heron and Highlands Academy were closed on Thursday and would remain closed on Friday.
From Friday through Sunday, staff will deep clean the interiors of the school buildings. Salato said that work includes cleaning and disinfecting horizontal surfaces, hepa-vacuuming carpets, cleaning and disinfecting bathrooms, and changing HVAC filters.
The goal, said Salato, was to have students back in class in Lower Lake on Monday.
She said all of the district’s other schools will remain open on Friday.
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.
Heavy smoke is shown in the air of Northern California on Friday, August 20, 2021. Image by NASA Worldview. LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — Lake County has continued to experience smoky skies this week due to regional wildland fires and the Cache fire in Clearlake, but conditions are expected to begin to improve over the weekend.
The Lake County Air Quality Management District said the air basin continues to be impacted.
Calmer winds along with relatively stable air have settled over the region. The district said the lack of mixing and westerly winds resulted in all areas of Lake County experiencing intermittent air quality impacts from “unhealthy for sensitive groups” to “hazardous” on Friday.
For Saturday, the air quality forecast will range from “unhealthy for sensitive groups” (Air Quality Index of 101 to 150) to “unhealthy” (AQI of 151-200) with areas at higher elevations experiencing the most smoke impact.
The district said current weather models indicate that there will be some smoke clearing on Saturday and significant clearing on Sunday. Most areas should reach the “moderate” or “good” thresholds.
The National Weather Service forecast calls for widespread haze during the day on Saturday, with clearer conditions at night and on Sunday as light winds move over the area.
Visit the Lake County Air Quality Management District’s website and follow the Quick Links for Air Monitoring for current smoke and air quality conditions.
This illustration shows NASA's MAVEN spacecraft and the limb of Mars. Credits: NASA/Goddard. By combining observations from three international spacecraft at Mars, scientists were able to show that regional dust storms play a huge role in drying out the Red Planet.
Dust storms heat up higher altitudes of the cold Martian atmosphere, preventing water vapor from freezing as usual and allowing it to reach farther up.
In the higher reaches of Mars, where the atmosphere is sparse, water molecules are left vulnerable to ultraviolet radiation, which breaks them up into their lighter components of hydrogen and oxygen.
Hydrogen, which is the lightest element, is easily lost to space, with oxygen either escaping or settling back to the surface.
“All you have to do to lose water permanently is to lose one hydrogen atom because then the hydrogen and oxygen can’t recombine into water,” said Michael S. Chaffin, a researcher at the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics at the University of Colorado at Boulder. “So when you’ve lost a hydrogen atom, you’ve definitely lost a water molecule.”
Scientists have long suspected that Mars, once warm and wet like Earth, has lost most of its water largely through this process, but they didn’t realize the significant impact of regional dust storms, which happen nearly every summer in the planet’s southern hemisphere.
Globe-enveloping dust storms that strike typically every three to four Martian years were thought to be the main culprits, along with the hot summer months in the southern hemisphere when Mars is closer to the Sun.
But the Martian atmosphere also gets heated during smaller, regional dust storms, according to a new paper published August 16 in the journal Nature Astronomy. The researchers, an international team led by Chaffin, found that Mars loses double the amount of water during a regional storm as it does during a southern summer season without regional storms.
“This paper helps us virtually go back in time and say, ‘OK, now we have another way to lose water that will help us relate this little water we have on Mars today with the humongous amount of water we had in the past,” said Geronimo Villanueva, a Martian water expert at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, and co-author on Chaffin’s paper.
Since water is one of the key ingredients for life as we know it, scientists are trying to understand how long it flowed on Mars and how it was lost.
Billions of years ago, Mars had vastly more water than it does today. What’s left is frozen at the poles or locked in the crust. Melted, this leftover water could fill a global ocean up to 100 feet, or 30 meters, deep, some scientists predict.
Although scientists like Chaffin had many ideas about what was happening to the water on Mars, they lacked the measurements needed to tie the whole picture together. Then, a rare convergence of spacecraft orbits during a regional dust storm in January through February 2019 allowed scientists to collect unprecedented observations.
NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter measured the temperature, dust and water-ice concentrations from the surface to about 62 miles above it.
Looking within the same altitude range, the European Space Agency’s Trace Gas Orbiter measured the concentration of water vapor and ice. And NASA’s Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN, or MAVEN, spacecraft capped off the measurements by reporting the amount of hydrogen, which would have broken off H2O molecules, in the highest reaches of Mars, upwards of 620 miles, or 1,000 kilometers, above the surface.
It was the first time so many missions focused in on a single event, Chaffin said: “We’ve really caught the whole system in action.”
The data collected from four instruments on the three spacecraft paint a clear picture of a regional dust storm’s role in Martian water escape, scientists report. “The instruments should all tell the same story, and they do,” said Villanueva, a member of the Trace Gas Orbiter’s science team.
Spectrometers on the European orbiter detected water vapor in the lower atmosphere before the dust storm began.
Typically, the temperature of the Martian atmosphere gets colder with height for much of the Martian year, which means water vapor rising in the atmosphere freezes at relatively low altitudes.
But as the dust storm took off, heating the atmosphere higher up, the instruments saw water vapor reaching higher altitudes. These instruments found 10 times more water in the middle atmosphere after the dust storm started, which coincides precisely with data from the infrared radiometer on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.
The radiometer measured rising temperatures in the atmosphere as dust was raised high above Mars. It also saw water-ice clouds disappear, as expected, since ice could no longer form in the warmer lower atmosphere.
Images from MAVEN’s ultraviolet spectrograph confirm this; they show that before the 2019 storm, ice clouds could be seen hovering above the soaring volcanoes in the Tharsis region of Mars. “But they disappeared completely when the dust storm was in full swing,” Chaffin said, and reappeared after the dust storm ended.
At higher altitudes, water vapor is expected to break down into hydrogen and oxygen by the Sun’s ultraviolet radiation. Indeed, observations from MAVEN showed this, as it captured the upper atmosphere aglow with hydrogen that increased by 50% during the storm.
This measurement corresponded perfectly with a swelling of water 60 miles below, which scientists say was the source of the hydrogen.
This research was funded in part by the MAVEN mission. MAVEN's principal investigator is based at the University of Colorado Boulder's Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics, and NASA Goddard manages the MAVEN project. The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, which also funded some of this research, is managed by Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, for NASA.
Lonnie Shekhtman works for NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.
The yellow-white cloud in the bottom-center of this image is a Mars "dust tower" — a concentrated cloud of dust that can be lofted dozens of miles above the surface. The blue-white plumes are water vapor clouds. Olympus Mons, the tallest volcano in the solar system, is visible in the upper left corner, while Valles Marineris can be seen in the lower right. Taken on Nov. 30, 2010, the image was produced by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter's Mars Color Imager. Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS.
The barrel of wine raffle awards a huge assortment of Lake County wines to the winner. Courtesy photo. LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — After missing last year due to the pandemic, the Lake County Home Wine and Beer Makers’ Festival is back.
This family-friendly fundraiser will take place at its usual location — Library Park in Lakeport — but on a new date, Sept. 18.
The “WineFest” normally happens annually on the Saturday before Father’s Day, so planning normally begins in February.
Since COVID-19 restrictions remained unclear in early 2021, organizers felt it prudent to change the date to later in the year.
Now in its 20th year, the WineFest has become a fixture in Lake County.
It was originally started by amateur winemakers who were members of the Lake County Symphony Association, to help raise needed funds for the Lake County Symphony.
The WineFest was later expanded to include amateur and commercial beer makers — a welcome addition that has included participants such as the Konocti Mashers and the O’Meara Bros. Brewing Co.
For nearly two decades, home winemakers and brewers from all over Northern California have come to Lake County to pour samples for the public.
Home winemakers have the chance to enter their products before the event for judging by experts. All participants are eligible for the gold, silver and bronze ribbons which are awarded for a wide range of varietals and brews. All have a chance to win the popular “Peoples’ Choice” awards voted on by attendees, with results announced during the festival.
While commercial Lake County wineries are usually on hand to pour tastes of their products too, they are not eligible for prizes; these only go to the amateurs.
But it’s not just about the wine and beer. As in past years, there will be numerous vendors offering arts and crafts, clothes and agricultural products. Attendees to this year’s event can also expect a variety of delicious food choices, including tri-tip sandwiches from our local Knights of Columbus.
The silent auction is a popular part of the Lake County Home Wine and Beer Makers’ Festival. Courtesy photo. Live music will be provided by the David Neft Duo, featuring David Neft on keyboard and Steve DuBois on drums.
The silent auction is another important piece of the WineFest as is the "barrel of wine" raffle, which gives the winner a huge assortment of Lake County wines.
“We are really glad we could make the WineFest happen in 2021,” said Carl Fredrickson, president of the Symphony Wine Club. “We did not want to miss another year. This is a major fundraiser for our local symphony and supports youth music programs, lessons and scholarships.”
WineFest chairperson Deborah Spangler-Welch added, “We are happy for the opportunity to share our local wine and beer again, and, of course, hoping for a huge turnout. We think people are ready to get out there, make up for the past year and have a fun day while supporting a good cause.”
There is still time for commercial or amateur wine and beer makers to get registered and participate in a day of friendly competition. Booths are provided at no charge to amateur wine and beer makers who register by the deadline. Food and craft vendors also have time to reserve a spot. Go to www.homewinemakersfestival.org for more details and to download an application.
Businesses or individuals who wish to support the symphony with a donation for the silent auction (gift basket, original artwork, gift card, or something similar) can contact Kerry Moore at 707-364-6165.
Admission to the WineFest is $30 with advance purchase, or $35 at the gate, and includes tasting of both amateur and commercial wines and beers. All tasters receive a commemorative wineglass and a wrist band for identification. Children and leashed pets are welcome, although tastings are restricted to those 21 years and older.
There is no charge for those who only want to walk around the area or visit the food vendors or the craft booths.
Advance tickets are available for purchase at Watershed Books and Lake County Chamber of Commerce in Lakeport, or online through Eventbrite.
For more information, go to Lake County Home Wine and Beer Makers Festival on Facebook or send an email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
Debra Fredrickson is a member of the Lake County Symphony Association.
Carl Fredrickson and the late Connel Murray show off their ribbon for their award-winning red wine during a previous WineFest. Courtesy photo.
The Dixie fire in Northern California. Photo courtesy of the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. The USDA Forest Service has announced the temporary closure of nine national forests in northern California effective Sunday, Aug. 22, at 11:59 p.m. through Monday, Sept. 6 at 11:59 p.m. due to extreme fire conditions.
A 10th forest, the El Dorado National Forest, was closed earlier this week due to wildfire.
In response, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, or CDFW, will close seven of its properties that lie within or immediately adjacent to USDA Forest Service boundaries during this same period to support emergency response routes, firefighting efforts and protect public safety.
“We understand these closures — even temporary — will significantly impact our hunters, especially with archery deer seasons opening this weekend in many parts of northern California,” said CDFW Director Charlton H. Bonham. “We have a public safety emergency and an environmental crisis on our hands with these wildfires. We thank hunters, anglers and others who cherish these public lands for respecting these closures and allowing firefighters and public safety personnel to secure these areas and help protect our wild places and our rural communities.”
Hunters are urged to check directly with the appropriate land agency about any wildfire-related closures before heading out on hunting trips.
Unfortunately, resident deer tag fees are nonrefundable regardless of land closures due to fire, weather or other natural disasters per the California Code of Regulations, Title 14, Section 708.2(b).
Refunds may be issued to nonresident tag holders (subject to specific requirements) and for select elk, pronghorn antelope and bighorn sheep tags.
Bonham said CDFW is evaluating options to petition the California Fish and Game Commission to refund deer tag fees — and other big game tag fees — for those areas closed due to wildfire conditions.
Land closures announced this week are temporary. California’s deer seasons are just beginning to open. Many of California’s general seasons are still a month or more away from opening.
“Our hope, certainly, is that deer hunters will have the opportunity to hunt at some point and participate in part or all of their favorite seasons,” Bonham said. “But we also are prepared to support our deer, elk, pronghorn and sheep hunters who have done so much for conservation over the years.”
Premium deer tags awarded using a first choice in California’s Big Game Drawing, elk tags, pronghorn antelope tags, and bighorn sheep tags may be returned to CDFW with a request to have preference points reinstated and one preference point awarded for the species for the current hunt year.
To be considered for preference point reinstatement, the tag must be returned (postmarked) prior to the first date the tag is valid for hunting.
Premium deer tags cannot be exchanged, but any hunter that has only been issued one deer tag during the hunting license year may purchase one additional deer tag from the list of available deer tags (PDF).
A complete list of tag return deadlines along with additional information on tag returns, exchanges and preference point eligibility requirements can be found on CDFW’s Hunting Licenses and Tags webpage.
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — A Clearlake Oaks woman who said she shot her boyfriend to death following a sexual assault has been arrested in Missouri after authorities said their investigation concluded the shooting was not justified.
On Wednesday, Tammy Sue Grogan Robinson, 56, of Clearlake Oaks was taken into custody in Duquesne, Missouri, said Lt. Corey Paulich of the Lake County Sheriff’s Office.
Grogan Robinson is charged with the July 7 killing of Charles Vernon McClelland, 56, of Rohnert Park at her Clearlake Oaks residence.
Authorities said sheriff’s deputies first encountered Grogan Robinson at a local hospital in the hours after the shooting.
She told investigators that McClelland, who she had an on-again, off-again dating relationship with for five years, had sexually assaulted her at gunpoint, and that she had gotten control of the weapon and shot him.
McClelland’s autopsy the day after the shooting showed he died of multiple gunshot wounds, authorities said.
On Friday, Paulich said that over the past month the Lake County Sheriff’s Major Crimes detectives conducted an extensive followup investigation in the case.
He said they interviewed several family and friends of McClelland and Grogan Robinson, served several search warrants, and analyzed evidence at the scene as well as digital evidence.
After evaluating this evidence, detectives determined the shooting of McClelland was not justified, Paulich said.
The case was submitted to the District Attorney’s Office, which Paulich said filed a complaint for murder against Grogan Robinson.
Paulich said an arrest warrant for the charge of murder was issued for Grogan Robinson by the Lake County Superior Court.
He said detectives worked with authorities in Kansas City, Joplin, and Duquesne, Missouri to locate Grogan Robinson and arrest her on Wednesday.
As for why Grogan Robinson was in Missouri, Paulich said she had family there.
Grogan Robinson was booked into custody at the Jasper County Detention Center in Carthage, Missouri, with bail set at $2 million, Paulich said.
Paulich said Grogan Robinson is awaiting extradition to Lake County.
The sheriff’s office extended its thanks to the Joplin, Duquesne and Kansas City Missouri police departments for their assistance.
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.
NORTHERN CALIFORNIA — Pacific Gas and Electric said Thursday night that it had restored power to all of the 50,000 Northern California customers impacted by a public safety power shutoff this week, and also reported on the damage to equipment from the windstorm that prompted the shutoff.
The public safety power shutoff, or PSPS, began across 13 counties — including Lake — on Tuesday evening, with the all-clear called on Wednesday, when patrols for damaged equipment began.
In Lake County, approximately 4,563 customers, including 353 in the Medical Baseline program, were impacted in areas in and around Clearlake Oaks, Kelseyville, Cobb, Lower Lake, Riviera, Clearlake Highlands, Morgan Valley, Spring Valley and Hidden Valley Lake.
The company said wind gusts peaked at 56 miles per hour in the outage area.
PG&E said 1,300 ground patrol units and 33 helicopters inspected more than 3,200 miles of distribution and transmission lines for damage or hazards.That’s a distance greater than driving from San Francisco to Miami, Florida.
As of 5 p.m. Thursday, PG&E said preliminary data show at least 10 instances of weather-related damage and hazards in the PSPS-affected areas. Of those, at least four had the potential to cause wildfire ignitions if PG&E had not de-energized power lines.
Examples of those hazards include damaged equipment and vegetation and other debris on power lines. PG&E said more hazard and damage reports are being evaluated.
In areas where equipment was damaged by the windstorm, crews made repairs and then restored power to customers, the company said.
PG&E said it will submit a report to the California Public Utilities Commission detailing this PSPS event within 10 days of the restoration of the final customers.
NORTHERN CALIFORNIA — The Bureau of Land Management Central Coast and Ukiah field offices are increasing fire restrictions due to high wildland fire danger.
The restrictions apply to all BLM-managed public lands within the boundary of the Central Coast and Ukiah field offices, which are primarily located in Colusa, western Fresno, Glenn, Lake, Marin, Mendocino, Monterey Napa, San Benito, Santa Cruz, Solano, Sonoma and Yolo counties.
The fire orders go into effect now until further notice.
The increased restrictions prohibit campfires, barbecues, or open fires on all public lands, including in developed campgrounds.
Portable stoves with gas, jelled petroleum, or pressurized liquid fuel are still allowed with a valid California campfire permit, available free online at www.readyforwildfire.org/prevent-wildfire/campfire-safety/ and at all BLM, U.S. Forest Service and Cal Fire offices.
California is in a drought with 85 percent of the state in extreme drought. Dry grass, brush and trees ignite and burn extremely quickly.
Taking individual responsibility to reduce wildland fire risk, while recreating on public lands, around homes and communities, before a fire occurs can help keep property, the public and firefighters safe.
Nearly 90% of wildfires in the United States are caused by humans. The public is advised to be extremely careful when recreating outdoors and do the following: always carry a shovel and water and check weather forecasts and fire danger ratings before leaving home.
The following restrictions/limitations are already in place and will continue to be enforced until fire dangers subside:
· No target shooting; use of firearms for hunting is still allowed.
· No smoking, except within an enclosed vehicle or building, or at a designated developed recreation site.
· No tools powered by internal combustion engines (chain saws, lawn mowers, generators, etc.) off established roads or trails.
· No motorized vehicles off established roads or trails.
· No fireworks, including “safe and sane” fireworks.
· No welding or operating acetylene or other torch with open flame, except by special permit.
Officials prepare to hold an online news conference to discuss the Cache fire in Clearlake, California, on Thursday, August 19, 2021. Zoom screen capture. LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — As firefighters continued to raise the containment on the Cache fire, officials on Thursday began the work of turning from emergency response to the recovery process.
On Thursday, Lake County Fire Protection District Chief Willie Sapeta said the fire had been mapped at 83 acres, with containment between 30 and 40 percent.
Sapeta and several other local officials offered an update on conditions during a news conference at Clearlake City Hall that lasted just over 15 minutes on Thursday evening.
While not as big as some of Lake County’s other destructive fires, Sheriff Brian Martin said the Cache fire nonetheless impacted the community “quickly and severely.”
Sapeta said fire crews continued working on the incident around the clock throughout Thursday, and they were expected to downgrade to 12-hour shifts on Saturday or Sunday. Nine engines are to be working in the fire area on Friday.
He said firefighters originally had been dispatched to an oven fire at another location when they saw the column of smoke and he requested Cal Fire and area strike teams to respond.
Because of how fast the fire was moving, Sapeta said there was a delayed initial attack on the fire, with resources instead focused on evacuating residents in the area. He has estimated that as many as 1,600 residents were evacuated at the peak of the incident.
Clearlake City Manager Alan Flora said an initial damage assessment completed on Thursday identified 56 destroyed homes, 81 outbuildings and 158 vehicles.
Clearlake Police Chief Andrew White said they are not aware of any fatalities and have no formal missing person reports.
He said his officers and detectives have been working to contact all the residents of the homes destroyed in the fire area and have so far been able to clear 51 of them. Additional properties are yet to be searched.
Those displaced by the fire still have an evacuation shelter available to them. On Thursday, the shelter was moved from Kelseyville High School to Twin Pine Casino in Middletown. Theresa Showen of the Lake County Department of Social Services said between Wednesday and Thursday they had a total of 72 people registered.
Showen said they were working to meet immediate needs — a place to stay, food, medications — with the Red Cross to take over the sheltering effort and the county to have a support role.
Evacuation orders for parts of Clearlake and Lower Lake remained in effect on Thursday.
Sapeta said he looks forward to being able to lift those orders, but explained that making sure it’s safe for residents is a “very daunting and slow process.”
He said a significant amount of trees need to be cut back, while repairs need to be made to infrastructure. Thirty utility poles were destroyed and a tower was damaged, and Pacific Gas and Electric was brought in on Thursday to begin repairs.
Mayor Dirk Slooten thanked the many agencies that had helped the city and the numerous nonprofits that are also coming forward to offer assistance. “We can do this together. Remember this is Lake County strong.”
Supervisor Bruno Sabatier, formerly a Clearlake City Council member, also expressed his thanks to firefighters. “While the fire was devastating and extreme, it was stopped from doing further destruction” by those first responders, he said.
Sabatier pledged that the county will work with state and federal partners to help the city. “The conversations have already begun.”
Fire district, city council approve emergency declarations
During a special Thursday morning meeting, the Lake County Fire Protection District Board approved an emergency declaration in response to the fire.
Board President Jacqueline Snyder said taking such an action is “a first” for the district in her time there.
With the fire in the local responsibility area, not the state’s, the district could be hit hard by the impacts, Snyder said.
“We’re all having to learn a different way of life at this point,” said Snyder.
That action was followed on Thursday evening by the Clearlake City Council unanimously ratifying the declaration of a local emergency that Flora had issued the previous night in his authority as the city’s emergency services director.
Councilman Russ Perdock noted that the county’s past fires have been bundled with other incidents in order to qualify for federal assistance. He asked if it’s possible with this fire.
Flora noted it’s a great question. “At this point, it’s not looking likely,” but he said the city and county supervisors are asking if that’s possible. The city has a call scheduled on Friday with Assemblywoman Cecilia Aguiar-Curry and state Sen. Mike McGuire to discuss the matter.
Later in the meeting, Flora updated the council on the overall fire situation, explaining a variety of agencies are continuing to assist the city in the recovery efforts that will be ongoing for some time.
He said Lake County Environmental Health did an assessment in the fire area, finding no industrial scale waste but a lot of household hazardous waste. That’s along with the ash and heavy metals from monitor heaters, propane tanks, burned mobile homes and vehicles.
Another concern is the proximity to Cache Creek and the potential for contamination from the burned properties, which included what Flora called an “unofficial wrecking yard” filled with vehicles.
There also are issues with drinking water availability. He said the Cache Creek Mobile Home Park, one of the parks in the fire area, lost its water system to the fire.
On Thursday afternoon, Flora spoke with the general manager of the Konocti County Water District, which was in the process of taking that system over, and they are working on an emergency tie for that park to ensure a water source.
Flora said the city has asked for a hazmat team from the California Office of Emergency Services. The state has agreed to provide that team but the city doesn’t yet know when.
Due to high winds, a lot of ash is blowing into Cache Creek, with Flora explaining that the state hazmat teams have treatments to address that.
In the meantime, Clearlake Public Works is using a water truck to keep the area damp to stop ash from moving into the watershed. Even though there isn’t much water in Cache Creek, Flora said if pollutants get into the creek, they could travel into Yolo County.
He said that the city has done a lot of towing of abandoned vehicles over the last several months and so has zero capacity for storing more. That will necessitate an emergency contract to remove the vehicles from the fire area.
Flora said few of the property owners who had damage actually have property insurance. “That’s going to be a problem for the recovery efforts.”
At the same time, however, it does strengthen the city’s chance of getting state resources, he said.
Flora said there also has been an outpouring of offers of assistance and support, including from contractors the city works with on a regular basis.
He said he was very pleased with how the community is already stepping in, again, to offer support. “It’s a large disaster for us.”
While he doesn’t expect the city to meet the thresholds for state and federal assistance, Flora said they were going to work to get the needed resources.
Both Flora and White noted during the meeting that the fire caused significant infrastructure damage.
While the meeting was taking place, White received an update from PG&E on the repairs. He said it’s possible that Dam Road could be reopened on Sunday, but added, “There’s a lot of infrastructure repair to be done.”
Councilman Russ Cremer said he had toured the fire area with Sabatier and Martin. “It’s total devastation,” he said.
Slooten added that it reminded him of escaping the Sulphur fire with his wife in 2017.
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.
Wreckage from the Cache fire in Clearlake, California, on Wednesday, August 18, 2021. Photo by Gemini Garcia/Third Iris Photography. LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — On Wednesday night, as firefighters continued their work to fully contain the Cache fire that burned in Clearlake and Lower Lake, the city of Clearlake declared an emergency in response to the incident.
City Manager Alan Flora emailed the declaration to council members, local officials and others including Lake County News shortly after 9 p.m., less than nine hours after the fire began.
Flora said staff will ask the council to ratify the declaration at its Thursday night meeting, when it will be added to the agenda as an emergency item.
The proclamation says that in addition to the 80 acres burned, the fire destroyed 60 homes, damaged Pacific Gas and Electric infrastructure, and resulted in “significant private property damage,” the full extent of which is still unknown.
The document also states that the majority of Creekside Mobile Home Park and portions of Cache Creek Mobile home park were destroyed, which causes concerns for pollution due to their proximity to Cache Creek.
Firefighters make their way to the Cache fire in Clearlake, California, on Wednesday, August 18, 2021. Photo by Gemini Garcia/Third Iris Photography. Speaking Wednesday night from the incident command post at Lake Street and Tish-A-Tang Road, Lake County Fire Chief Willie Sapeta — one of the first on scene who was acting as incident commander overnight — said the damage assessment was still underway so he declined to estimate the number of structures destroyed, anticipating he would have firm numbers on Thursday morning.
He said most of the fire’s damage was centered on the south side of Dam Road, just east of Wilkinson Avenue.
Late Wednesday, the fire remained at 80 acres with 20% containment. Sapeta explained that it was only 20% because there was still a lot of fire burning within the perimeter, with spot fires continuing to kick up into the night.
“We’ll be hitting it all night and tomorrow,” Sapeta said.
During the course of the day, the Cache fire drew a huge response from agencies around Lake as well as four other counties, Sapeta said.
Two Cache fire evacuees, Liz and Vicki, wait for a ride at the bus shelter near Walmart in Clearlake, California, on Wednesday, August 18, 2021. Photo by Gemini Garcia/Third Iris Photography. Fire grows fast, displacing thousands
The fire was first dispatched at 12:36 p.m. in the area of Sixth Avenue at Cache Street.
Initial reports stated that it was the result of a commercial vehicle fire that had spread into vegetation.
Follow-up reports from the scene would put the fire between Fourth and Sixth avenues, between Cache and Wilkinson avenues.
Sapeta confirmed that dispatch’s initial report was that it was a commercial vehicle fire, adding that the investigation is ongoing.
Based on the initial information, the Cache fire appears to be the second vehicle-caused fire in less than a week that had threatened a Lake County community. The Coyote fire on Friday, which burned 127 acres and some outbuildings, began due to a vehicle rollover, as Lake County News has reported.
A Cache fire evacuee on foot on Highway 53 in Clearlake, California, on Wednesday, August 18, 2021. Photo by Gemini Garcia/Third Iris Photography. Sapeta said when he arrived — radio reports put him on scene within minutes — the fire was an acre in size and “running hard at me,” and was “ripping pretty good” in 20 mile per hour winds.
“It had such a rapid rate that we couldn’t keep up with it,” said Sapeta.
The first units on scene reported multiple RVs in the area on fire and an extreme rate of fire spread.
Reports from the scene had it growing from Sapeta’s initial size estimate of an acre to up to 25 acres within five minutes, with Sapeta calling for evacuations to begin in the immediate area — specifically, for Wilkinson on the north side of Dam Road — shortly after his arrival.
At 1 p.m. Wednesday an online meeting of the Abandoned Vehicle Abatement Service Authority — which includes city and county representatives — was called to order.
A family waits with its pets in the parking lot of the Walmart in Clearlake, California, after evacuating from the path of the Cache fire on Wednesday, August 18, 2021. Photo by Gemini Garcia/Third Iris Photography. District 1 Supervisor Moke Simon, who chairs the committee, handed over the running of the meeting to vice chair, Clearlake City Councilman Russell Perdock, saying he wanted to travel to Clearlake to get eyes on the fire. Simon said he’d spoken with Sapeta, who told him that firefighters were “getting their asses handed to them.”
Sapeta told Lake County News that, all told, 28 engines, five dozers, 10 overhead or management personnel, seven tankers, five helicopters and nine water tenders would respond to assist.
Firefighting resources came from fire agencies all over Lake County, as well as from Colusa, Marin — which sent two hand crews and an engine — as well as Mendocino and Sonoma counties, Sapeta said.
The Clearlake Police Department, California Highway Patrol and Lake County Sheriff’s Office were part of the response, evacuating the residents — in some cases running from door to door to get people out, according to radio traffic.
Sapeta said a local water company stepped up to help, with the cities of Clearlake and Lakeport and the county of Lake also sending water tenders from their respective water agencies.
A Cal Fire helicopter was among five copters that worked the Cache fire in Clearlake, California, on Wednesday, August 18, 2021. Photo by Gemini Garcia/Third Iris Photography. Evacuees flee to safety
As the fire grew, evacuation orders for several zones in the county’s Zonehaven system were issued. Some county residents reported to Lake County News that they had issues using the Zonehaven website and that it crashed at one point.
Sapeta estimated 1,600 residents of Clearlake and Lower Lake were under evacuation orders or warnings at the height of the incident.
Of those, about 1,000 residents were still evacuated late Wednesday, Sapeta said.
An evacuation shelter was established at Kelseyville High School less than two hours after the fire started.
Colusa County firefighters were among those responding to assist with the Cache fire in Clearlake, California, on Wednesday, August 18, 2021. Photo by Gemini Garcia/Third Iris Photography. Sheriff Brian Martin told Lake County News on Wednesday night that 32 people were registered to stay there at that time.
Among those evacuating on Wednesday afternoon were two women, who identified themselves as Liz and Vicki, who Lake County News photographer Gemini Garcia encountered at the bus stop at Walmart.
They had been dropped there by an ambulance to wait for a ride to the evacuation center.
Liz said her home was burning as she left. She said she felt numb.
Many people who evacuated waited at Walmart, where employees gave them cold bottles of water.
People waited with pets in cages, not knowing when they would be able to return home.
Firefighters working on the Cache fire in Clearlake, California, on Wednesday, August 18, 2021. Photo by Gemini Garcia/Third Iris Photography. Rescues, injuries and recovery
Two injuries have been confirmed during the incident. One was an elderly burn victim at the Cache Creek Mobile Home Park who was seriously injured. An ambulance was dispatched to the park at 1:46 p.m. Sapeta said the victim was later flown out of the county.
Then, just after 8:15 p.m., incident command reported that one firefighter was being sent to Adventist Health Clear Lake Hospital with a minor eye injury. Earlier in the day, the hospital had diverted all medical transports in response to the fire, according to radio reports.
Animal control officials and the Lake Evacuation and Animal Protection, or LEAP, group also were dispatched to the scene due to injured pets and livestock.
The still-burning ruins of homes and vehicles destroyed in the Cache fire in Clearlake, California, on Wednesday, August 18, 2021. Photo by Gemini Garcia/Third Iris Photography. North Bay Animal Services reported on Facebook Wednesday that its officers had been responding to welfare calls on animals caught in the Cache fire, showing pictures of injured goats and a dog with singed fur transported to the Clearlake animal shelter for treatment.
Lake County Animal Care and Control said the phone lines for LEAP assistance would reopen at 8:25 a.m. Thursday. Call 707-263-0278 if you need help with animals in the evacuation zones.
Besides fully containing the fire, what’s ahead is more of what Lake County has endured repeatedly over the past decade — fire cleanup and rebuilding.
State Sen. Mike McGuire, who has been a key player in Lake County’s fire recovery, said in a Wednesday night Facebook post that the fire was “simply devastating.”
He added, “We’ll be working hand in hand with Assemblymember Aguiar-Curry, the City, County and neighbors on recovery and debris clean-up in the weeks to come.”
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.
