LAKEPORT, Calif. – A Clearlake man could receive a life prison sentence for his conviction last week in a 2009 burglary case.
Last Friday a jury found Joseph Michael Girk, 47, guilty of burglarizing two separate homes in Clearlake in September 2009, according to the Lake County District Attorney's Office.
The jury also determined that Girk committed thefts at both residences, which constituted two additional felony convictions, the District Attorney's Office reported.
Girk is scheduled to be sentenced on Oct. 19. Under California’s “Three Strikes Law,” because Girk had at least two prior strike offenses at the time he committed the four new felonies, he may face life in prison as a result of these most recent convictions.
His attorney, Barry Melton, declined to comment on the case.
Girk, who was arrested on Sept. 7, 2009, remains in custody awaiting the sentencing hearing.
Both residential burglaries occurred in September 2009.
The evidence at trial revealed that Girk entered the two homes when the residents were not present and stole jewelry and other items once inside.
Sgt. Dominic Ramirez of the Clearlake Police Dept. spearheaded the investigations into both burglaries.
The jury announced their unanimous verdicts on Friday, Aug. 10. Senior Deputy District Attorney John DeChaine prosecuted the case. Judge Andrew Blum presided over the jury trial.
The District Attorney’s Office also had alleged several special allegations against Girk, including that Girk had been convicted of three prior residential burglaries in 2001 and that he had served three separate prison sentences prior to the two burglaries for which he stood trial this year.
The three prior prison terms were for a second degree burglary conviction in 1989, a receiving stolen property conviction in 1994, and the three residential burglaries in 2001.
The jury was not aware of the defendant’s prior criminal record when they returned their unanimous guilty verdicts on Aug. 10.
In a separate proceeding, on Tuesday, Judge Blum found that the District Attorney’s Office proved the special allegations that the defendant had in fact suffered the three prior strike convictions as well as the three prior prison terms beyond a reasonable doubt.
The three prior residential burglaries also were to Lake County homes, the District Attorney's Office reported.
Residential burglary is categorized as a strike in California and Girk now has been convicted of five such strike offenses, according to the District Attorney’s Office.
LAKEPORT, Calif. – A Clearlake man originally charged with murder in a fatal June 2011 shooting that killed a child and wounded five others was sentenced on Tuesday to lesser charges as part of a plea agreement.
Judge Stephen Hedstrom gave Kevin Ray Stone, 30, the upper term of 10 years and four months for his involvement in the incident, which included driving 24-year-old Orlando Lopez Jr. and 22-year-old Paul Braden, both of Clearlake Oaks, to the scene of the fatal shooting in Clearlake on June 18, 2011.
The shooting killed 4-year-old Skyler Rapp; injured his mother, Desiree Kirby; her boyfriend, Ross Sparks; his brother, Andrew Sparks; Ian Griffith; and Joseph Armijo.
The sentencing hearing was continued to Thursday due to questions about how much time credit Stone would receive under the state’s new correctional realignment rules.
Stone reached a plea agreement last fall with District Attorney Don Anderson and, as a result, he pleaded no contest to conspiracy to commit robbery, accessory to murder and possession of a .22-caliber rifle by a prohibited person. He also agreed to testify in the joint trial of Braden and Lopez.
In June Braden and Lopez were found guilty of 15 felony counts and numerous special allegations, and last week were sentenced. Braden received 312 years, Lopez 311 years.
Judge Hedstrom began by denying defense attorney Komnith Moth’s request that Stone be temporarily released to visit a San Francisco drug rehabilitation program.
Hedstrom said that such a program would have been a part of probation. Considering that Stone had pleaded no contest to conspiracy to commit first-degree burglary, “For him to even get probation, the court’s going to have to find unusual circumstances,” Hedstrom said.
Moth said Stone offered his “deep condolences” to the little boy’s family for their loss. He said Stone had two small children and had nothing but the utmost sympathy for the child’s family.
Stone, Moth said, was glad that Anderson had gone after the individuals who were responsible.
“His testimony was essential in securing the convictions for the other two codefendants,” Moth said of Stone, adding that Stone’s statements placed Lopez and Braden at the scene, and identified Braden as the shooter.
Hedstrom noted in court that Stone had 14 misdemeanor convictions and no previous felonies.
Reading from a statement that Stone had submitted to the court, Hedstrom said Stone called himself a drug addict who had been involved with drugs for 10 years. He feared his life would end if he didn’t stop, and he blamed his drug use for making a lot of poor decisions.
“He is begging for one chance at drug treatment,” said Hedstrom.
Hedstrom said that several things jumped out as he considered Stone’s statement. “It was basically about him,” he said.
Stone’s numerous misdemeanor convictions included multiple drunk driving or “wet reckless” cases, failure to appear, possession of drugs and paraphernalia, driving on a suspended license, riding a bicycle under the influence, possession of a switchblade, possession of a stolen vehicle and, more recently, domestic battery and assault with a deadly weapon.
“He’s been given chance after chance after chance after chance at probation,” and has done significant stints in the county jail, which didn’t appear to have an effect, Hedstrom said. Stone also had 17 probation violations.
Putting all of that together, Hedstrom said Stone didn’t qualify for probation.
Stone was part of a conspiracy to commit a robbery. “This conspiracy ultimately led to the death of a child, someone who couldn’t live out a life beyond the age of 4,” said Hedstrom.
“When you conspire to commit a robbery with a firearm, it should not blindside you that violence may occur,” Hedstrom said.
Stone was armed and, while he did not personally inflict the injuries, his accomplices did and he remained an active participant. “He wasn’t dragged to that scene. In fact, he drove the other two ultimate killers to the scene,” Hedstrom pointed out.
On that drive Stone stopped to retrieve his own firearm, a .22 rifle, from the apartment he shared with his girlfriend, Hedstrom said, reading from a case summary.
Hedstrom also noted Stone’s substance abuse problem, including alcohol, marijuana, mushrooms, Ecstasy, cocaine and methamphetamine, and his history of committing thefts and cultivating drugs to support his habit. He said Stone poses a substantial danger to society if not imprisoned.
After discussing those aggravating factors, Hedstrom considered the factors in mitigation, including Stone’s cooperation with the prosecution and his testimony in trial.
However, Hedstrom pointed out that Stone’s cooperation gave him a “very substantial benefit” because it prevented him from getting life in prison. “He had some very real liability.”
While Stone said he didn’t want to hurt Skyler Rapp or his family, he went to a scene armed and, “all of a sudden, guns are blazing,” said Hedstrom, pointing out that Stone didn’t disassociate himself at that point, but remained a part of the conspiracy, driving Lopez and Braden from the scene.
Hedstrom sentenced Stone on the charges to which he had pleaded no contest, and also ordered he pay $2,000 in restitution, and stayed a second $2,000 restitution fine unless Stone’s eventual parole is revoked. Stone will receive 405 days of credit for time already served.
A probation officer pointed out different credit parameters for the conspiracy charge, which is a serious felony, which threw off Hedstrom’s initial calculations on how much presentence and post-sentence time credit Stone would receive. Those issues arose from new legislation established to support correctional realignment.
“This is a perfect example of how complex this stuff has gotten,” said Hedstrom.
Hedstrom continued the sentencing hearing to 3 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 16, at which time Stone’s final time credit amounts will be determined.
Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .
CLEARLAKE OAKS, Calif. – The massive, multiagency effort to put out two major wildland fires east of Clearlake Oaks continued on Monday, with an incident command center set up at the county fairgrounds and hundreds of evacuees allowed to return home after leaving their residences Sunday.
Hundreds of firefighters from agencies around Northern California were at work on the Wye and Walker fires, which Cal Fire combined into the Wye Fire Complex on Monday.
The fires began minutes apart on Sunday afternoon. The Wye was located near the intersection of Highway 20 and Highway 53, with the Walker Fire located close to Walker Ridge Road, the scene of a 2008 fire that burned 14,500 acres.
By nightfall, the Wye Complex had scorched another 1,000 acres, for a 6,000-acre total, with 25-percent containment, Cal Fire said. No cause has yet been given.
The California Emergency Management Agency reported Monday that the state had secured federal funds to assist with the firefighting effort.
Also on Monday Cal Fire Incident Management Team 4 assumed command of the incident.
That morning the team set up its incident command center at the Lake County Fairgrounds on Martin Street in Lakeport.
They were setting up tents, coordinating resources and organizing the complex effort of containing and extinguishing a wildland fire complex.
Due to the incident command center’s presence, Lakeport Speedway’s weekend races were postponed.
A stark landscape
Lake County News and other media were allowed access into the fire area on Monday.
Highway 20 east of Highway 53 – which at that time was still closed to the public, with only firefighters moving along it – was lined by a blackened landscape, punctuated by the silhouettes of charred trees.
Dust devils spun columns of ash on the stripped hillsides.
In one area along the highway, several vehicles had burned near a residence. A number of stretches of guardrail were burned, with the metal rails missing and scorched uprights remaining. Some highway signs were damaged; a two-legged sign remained standing with one of its uprights partially missing.
In another spot, melted utility wires sagged down from burned poles. Cal Fire said that both power transmission lines and fiber optic cables had been threatened in the fire.
Some of the 358 firefighters assigned to the complex were staging near the Landrum Ranch along Highway 20 Monday afternoon.
Two helicopters – one from Cal Fire plus a Black Hawk – were dropping buckets into a pond and making water drops on a ridge above the highway. They then made their way over to Spring Valley to make drops there.
A VLAT – very large air tanker – also was brought in to drop retardant, according to officials.
On the ground, some of the fire agencies that had sent resources and were present at the staging area included Cal Fire, Northshore Fire, Windsor, Healdsburg, Rincon, Geyserville, Sacramento Metropolitan, Truckee, Contra Costa and Calistoga.
Major developments during the day included the evening opening of Highway 20 – which had been opened and closed again on Monday morning while firefighting operations continued – and an evacuation order for the Spring Valley community was lifted by nightfall.
Standing their ground
Spring Valley residents had been under a mandatory evacuation order since Sunday evening, with 480 structures threatened.
California Highway Patrol and Lake County Sheriff’s deputies assisted with the evacuations, according to Sgt. Steve Brooks of the Lake County Sheriff’s Office.
As deputies were evacuating residents, the fire was burning on both sides of the road, Brooks said. He said the day shift deputies were held over and the night shift was called in early to assist.
CHP and sheriff’s deputies maintained a presence at the entrance to New Long Valley Road on Monday in order to prevent unauthorized individuals from going into the valley.
Many of the residents had gone to a Red Cross shelter set up at the Highlands Senior Center in Clearlake.
However, not everyone left.
A trip to the Spring Valley Pantry, the community’s store, revealed a little group of holdouts who decided it was better to stay put than risk leaving, despite bits of falling ash from the fires.
One of them was Mike Anderson, a 17-year Spring Valley resident.
“At one point it was blowing right at us,” he said of the Wye Fire.
However, the wind shifted, and Anderson and others felt safe enough to stay. He estimated 20 percent of the valley’s residents remained at home, some of them concerned about thefts.
Anderson lived in the valley the last time it was evacuated – during the 1996 Fork Fire, which burned more than 83,000 acres on the Mendocino National Forest.
He said he didn’t leave then, either, and he felt more threatened by the Fork than the Wye.
Anderson’s wife, however, had gone to Clearlake to run errands on Sunday and hadn’t been allowed to return.
Lake County Animal Care and Control Director Bill Davidson and his staff stopped at the store to wait for community members who were being allowed in, three at a time, to remove pets and livestock or to feed the animals.
He and his staff had worked to evacuate animals on Sunday and then on Monday began transitioning to the work with residents.
By about 4 p.m. Monday, he estimated that more than 30 residents had come in to be escorted to their homes, where they had 15 minutes to gather their animals and anything else that they needed immediately.
At that point, Davidson said he had no idea how long they were to continue with the evacuations.
Several miles down the highway at the Clearlake Oaks Moose Lodge, dozens of people, their pets and livestock were staged, waiting for a change in conditions.
Some went inside where there was air conditioning, cold water and snacks, and a big screen television. There also were large amounts of donated food from local businesses to help feed the evacuees.
At around 6 p.m., Highway 20 was reopened to single-lane traffic led by a CHP pilot car.
Brooks said the traffic control measures were implemented due to hazards such as trees that had fallen across the highway and which had not been completely removed, and smoke that was causing visibility problems.
An hour after the highway was reopened, Cal Fire announced that evacuations for Spring Valley – including Old Long Valley Road and New Long Valley Road – had been lifted, with residents able to return after 8 p.m.
Making progress on the incident
Cal Fire said firefighters made progress on the fire Monday, despite challenges that included extreme fire behavior, difficult terrain, spotting conditions, low reality humidity and the very high summertime temperatures.
Firefighters carried out a successful firing operation, with crews continuing to build fire containment lines and provide structure protection, Cal Fire reported. Hot temperatures and peak electrical demands were putting a strain on the current power capacity.
Reports from the scene on Monday night indicated a very active, challenging fire situation, with the fire crossing over Bear Valley Road and across Bear Canyon.
Due to fire conditions and firefighter safety, Cal Fire said hunting has been restricted 10 miles north and south of Highway 20, between Highway 53 and Highway 16.
In other fire-related news, Lake County Air Quality Management District reported that air quality conditions were expected to be unhealthy again on Tuesday due to the smoke from the fire, which was creating a haze in the air basin.
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CLEARLAKE OAKS, Calif. – Officials said Wednesday afternoon that the stretch of Highway 20 east of Highway 53 to Interstate 5 has been reopened to through traffic.
The portion of highway between Highway 53 and Highway 16 has been only open to single-lane, escorted traffic since Monday, when it was reopened in the wake of the Wye Fire.
The fire had burned 7,934 acres by Wednesday morning, with 70 percent containment, according to Cal Fire.
The highway was reopened as of 2 p.m., according to county and fire officials.
The maximum speed limit in the areas of the fires is 45 miles per hour and will be enforced by the California Highway Patrol.
The public is asked to use extreme caution when driving in areas where crews are working to provide for firefighter safety.
LAKEPORT, Calif. – Lakeport resident and retired Highway Patrol Commander Steve Davis culminated an award winning week by capturing “Best of Show” honors at the Atlantis Hotel & Casino last Saturday night during Hot August Nights in Reno, Nev.
Davis’ award winning car, a 1955 Chevy Bel Air hardtop also received Best of Show Finalist at the Peppermill Casino, and was judged “Best of Class” Friday night at the Atlantis.
Hot August Nights, in its 26th year, is one of the most elite Hot Rod & Custom Car Shows in America, drawing some 6,000 entries each year.
The weeklong event which involves seven major casinos in the Reno/Sparks Area draws thousands of classic car enthusiasts from throughout the United Sates.
The reconstruction of his vehicle, which took over three years, was a tribute to his brother Tim, who purchased the car in 1963 and died in 2004.
The renovation was performed by Nissen’s Hot Rod Garage in Williams, Calif.; paint by B & J Auto Body in Folsom, Calif; and interior by Al’s Custom Upholstery, Lower Lake, Calif.
This was Davis’ first entry into the competitive arena of rod and custom vehicles, however, he plans to enter the car in the Good Guys West Coast Nationals in Pleasanton later this month, and the Route 66 Rendezvous in San Bernardino in September.
The Route 66 Rendezvous will be a return to the area where Davis and his brother enjoyed many fond memories while cruising as teenagers.
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – The Federal Aviation Administration has issued a temporary flight restriction for the airspace east of Clearlake and Clearlake Oaks due to aircraft operations being used to fight the Wye Complex.
The restriction, issued Monday, is in effect until further notice, the FAA said.
The map above shows the restriction area in red. The altitude is from the surface up to and including 10,000 feet mean sea level.
The FAA said the restriction is meant to provide a safe environment for firefighting aircraft operations.
CLEARLAKE OAKS, Calif. – As firefighters continued to gain ground on the Wye Fire on Wednesday, residents of another evacuated area were allowed home.
Cal Fire said the Wye Fire has hit 7,934 acres, with containment at 70 percent Wednesday morning.
The Wye Fire incident includes two fires being managed as one: the Wye Fire – burning near Highway 20 and Highway 53 – and the Walker Fire, near Walker Ridge Road, inside both Lake and Colusa counties.
At 10 a.m. Wednesday the evacuation order was lifted for the Wilbur Hot Springs area. Spring Valley residents, who had been evacuated on Sunday, were allowed to go home the following day.
Another injury was reported on the incident Wednesday, bringing the total to three, according to Cal Fire.
No additional damage to homes or property has been reported.
Fire personnel on scene Wednesday included 1,219 fire personnel from Cal Fire and many other agencies, 157 engines, 28 fire crews, two air tankers, eight helicopters, 24 bulldozers and 14 water tenders, according to Cal Fire.
Highway 20 east of Highway 53 to Highway 16 remained under single-lane traffic control, with the California Highway Patrol continuing to escort motorists through the area due to safety concerns.
Cal Fire’s incident management team said it was evaluating its fire operations in the area of the highway, with the goal being to reopen Highway 20 to full traffic sometime on Wednesday.
Cal Fire still as not reported what caused the fires, which remain under investigation.
Lake County remains under an air quality alert on Wednesday for “moderate” to “unhealthy for sensitive individuals” conditions due to the fires, particularly in the Northshore, Clearlake and the county’s eastern areas, according to the Lake County Air Quality Management District.
For information about highway closures, call Caltrans at 800-427-7623; the Wye Fire Call Center can be reached at 707-967-4207 or 707-967-4208; Lake County Air Quality Management can be reached at 707-263-7000.
Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .
During Child Support Awareness Month, the California Department of Child Support Services (DCSS) reminds parents to meet their responsibility to provide financial and medical support for their children.
DCSS’ efforts to collect child support payments continued to grow last year to the benefit of families across California.
“We’ve seen an increase in our ability to collect and parents’ ability to pay their child support,” said Kathleen Hrepich, interim director of DCSS. “We are pleased to be moving in the right direction, as we work hard to provide even more children with the support they need.”
California’s child support collections increased by $37 million in the state fiscal year ending in June 2011, with the total distributed collections at $2.3 billion.
Of that, $1.8 billion was distributed directly to families, and $500 million was distributed to the state and federal government for recoupment of public assistance and foster care expenses. Figures for the state fiscal year ending in 2012 will soon be available.
The focus of Child Support Awareness Month 2012 is the vital role parents play in providing a positive environment for their children.
The theme this year is, “Child support provides security, instills confidence, maintains trust, and helps to make childhood dreams come true.”
During the month of August, parents who are past due on their child support payments are encouraged to drop by their local child support agency to make a payment, modify their child support order, obtain a repayment plan, and/or find out whether they qualify for a compromise on the overdue balance.
Child support services are available to the public through a network of 51 county and regional child support agencies, and the Child Support Program serves 1.4 million children and their families.
County and state child support professionals work together so that children in the system can rely on their parents for the financial and medical support they need to be healthy and successful.
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – In response to two large wildland fires burning near Clearlake Oaks, county officials released a list of resources to help community members and visitors get information and assistance.
The Wye and Walker fires – now under the Wye Complex – began Sunday east of Clearlake Oaks.
Residents and visitors are encouraged to consider the following resources.
For highway closure information, call the Caltrans Highway Information Service at 800-427-7623.
Electrical service
To report an electrical outage or hazardous situation, call PG&E at 800-PGE-5002. PG&E cautions that any downed power line should be treated as a live wire.
Air quality
For the most updated information about the impacts to local air quality due to the wildfires, visit the Lake County Air Quality Management District Web site at http://www.lcaqmd.net or call 707-263-7000.
Lodging services
Evacuated residents looking for assistance with reservations at local lodging establishments may contact the Lake County Visitor Information Center at 707-274-5652 or 800-LAKESIDE.
CLEARLAKE OAKS, Calif. – Containment doubled on the Wye Fire over the course of Tuesday, as more than 1,200 firefighters worked on the incident, burning east of Clearlake Oaks.
The Wye Fire consists of the Wye and Walker fires, both of which were sparked on Sunday afternoon. The fires are located near the intersection of Highway 20 and 53 and Walker Ridge Road.
Cal Fire Incident Management Team 4 reported Tuesday night that the fire acreage had remained at 7,000 acres, with containment increasing to 60 percent.
The Walker portion of the fire, burning both in Lake and Colusa counties, required some evacuations for Bear Valley Road, north of Highway 20, and Wilbur Hot Springs Road.
Those evacuations remained in place on Tuesday, Cal Fire said, a day after Spring Valley residents who were evacuated due to the Wye portion of the fire were allowed to return home.
There were 1,219 fire personnel on scene Tuesday, along with 157 engines – of which 124 were from dozens of other fire agencies around the state – 28 fire crews, two airtankers, six helicopters, 24 bulldozers and 14 water tenders.
Cal Fire said the cause of the fires remains under investigation.
The fire had burned on both sides of Highway 20, hitting utility lines and poles.
Pacific Gas & Electric spokesperson Brittany McKannay said the company has been working closely with Cal Fire to mitigate the potential for power outages.
“So far we’ve been fairly successful in doing that,” she told Lake County News on Tuesday.
McKannay said PG&E didn’t have any significant outages due to the fire.
On Monday PG&E crews had been working on poles near the entrance of Spring Valley, where firefighters were working on mop up around a burn area.
The crews were working on pretreating power poles to minimize the chance of the poles catching fire, McKannay said.
Because of the Wye Fire, Lake County Air Quality Management issued an air quality alert for Wednesday, when conditions are to be “moderate” to “unhealthy for sensitive individuals.” Areas closer to the fires – the Northshore, Clearlake, and the county’s eastern portions – are of particular concern.
Air quality conditions had improved on Tuesday. While areas close to the fire experienced “significantly degraded air quality,” Air Pollution Control Officer Doug Gearhart reported that most areas of Lake County experienced good to moderate air quality, with particulate levels not exceeding state health-based air standards.
The district said weather forecasts are predicting favorable west winds that will push smoke out of the Lake County air basin most of Wednesday. However, because there is a chance the smoke could settle in the air basin overnight, smoke could linger Wednesday morning before the wind resumes.
For information about highway closures, call Caltrans at 800-427-7623; the Wye Fire Call Center can be reached at 707-967-4207 or 707-967-4208; Lake County Air Quality Management can be reached at 707-263-7000.
Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .
MIDDLETOWN, Calif. – The Lake County Sheriff’s Office on Tuesday released surveillance photographs from a July burglary at a Middletown bank and asked for the public’s help in identifying the suspects.
The photos are from a burglary that occurred on Monday, July 23, said sheriff’s Sgt. Steve Brooks.
Shortly after 8 a.m. that day sheriff’s deputies responded to the report of a burglary at Tri Counties Bank, 21097 Calistoga Road, he said.
Based on the investigation, the suspects were able to enter the bank and compromise the ATM located inside the building, according to Brooks.
He said detectives were able to obtain surveillance photographs and are asking the public’s assistance in identifying the individuals they believe are responsible for the burglary.
If anyone has information regarding these suspects, please contact the Lake County Sheriff’s Major Crimes Unit at 707-263-2690.
LAKE COUNTY,Calif. – As record high temperatures continue to broil most of the state, firefighters throughout California continue to work hard to bring several wildfires under control.
On Monday, Gov. Edmund G. Brown Jr. secured federal financial assistance to help ensure availability of vital resources to extinguish the Wye Fire Complex of wildfires burning in Lake County.
California received approval for a special Fire Management Assistance Grant (FMAG) which provides funds to reimburse firefighting expenses.
“Resources can get strained during this time of year, so these funds are critical for providing our local and state firefighters with the tools they need to fight this fire,” said Cal EMA Secretary Mark Ghilarducci. “We are doing everything we can to assist the fire-affected areas and the firefighters who are bravely fighting this fire. We are thankful for the support from our federal partners and glad that they understand the magnitude of the Wye Fire.”
This specific funding provided by FEMA allows a 75 percent federal cost-share reimbursement, through the President’s Disaster Relief Fund, to California for costs incurred in firefighting activities. The other 25 percent of firefighting costs is left to the local jurisdiction.
The FMAG is available to state, local and tribal governments. The reimbursed costs must be a result of fire disaster declared by the governor and performed within the designated fire area using resources requested by incident commanders.
Reimbursements can include supplies, labor, travel, repairs, administrative costs and mobilizations/demobilizations.
The Wye Fire has so far burned over 6,000 acres and is at 25 percent containment. The fire is threatening 480 residences resulting in mandatory evacuations for the affected area.
Joining the hundreds of local government and federal firefighting personnel already battling fires throughout the state, the California Emergency Management Agency has currently deployed mutual aid resources including nine Cal EMA Strike Teams, 39 local government strike teams/task forces; 240 engines and 781 firefighters.
Cal EMA is responsible for the coordination of overall state agency response to major disasters in support of local government.
The agency is responsible for assuring the state’s readiness to respond to and recover from all hazards – natural, manmade, war-caused emergencies and disasters – and for assisting local governments in their emergency preparedness, response, recovery, and hazard mitigation efforts.
