The Glenhaven Fire in Clearlake Oaks is 51% contained at 417 acres. Cal Fire said as of this morning there were 24 engines, 10 hand crews, nine water tenders and two dozers for a total of 285 personnel working to increase containment and do heavy mop-up. Two homes were destroyed and another damaged in the fire that started Friday at Hillcrest and Henderson Drives and then moved toward Clearlake Oaks, endangering more homes and leading to the evacuations of thousands. Since then all evacuation orders have been reduced to warnings. The cause is still under investigation.
A Clearlake man with a previous arson conviction has been arrested for arson in relation to two recent fires in Lake County. Cal Fire Law Enforcement says Donald Anderson faces four felony charges connected to fires set on September 22 off Seigler Canyon Road west of Lower Lake and on October 2 off New Long Valley Road in Clearlake Oaks. Two of those charges are for arson during a state of emergency. Anderson was booked into the Lake County Jail and was being held on $50,000 bail. Cal Fire says in 2004 Anderson was sentenced to 17 years for arson but did not say how much of that he actually served or for what fire he was charged back then.
A teen reported missing from Covelo has reportedly been found safe. The California Highway Patrol activated a Feather Alert Thursday for the 17-year-old who had last been seen in his truck. As of Friday night the CHP announced they’d deactivated the Alert because he had been found but they didn’t say where he was found or elaborate on why he’d been considered missing. Like an Amber Alert and Silver Alert, the Feather Alert, which started in 2022, is designed to help locate missing indigenous persons. Last week the governor signed updates to make it more efficient.
Some state rules designed to conserve water, including one to make it harder to drill a new well, have reportedly been allowed to lapse. Governor Gavin Newsom signed several drought emergency declarations in 2021 in the midst of a drought emergency that he’d declared, including one to slow the process of getting a well drilling permit. The Mendocino Voice reports that in September the Governor allowed the drought emergency declaration to expire and the conservation rules with it. Mendocino’s 5th District Supervisor Ted Williams tells the news site the water well permitting process will go back to what it was before 2021, with the County set to update its application forms and documents and then let well drilling firms know about the return to the old rules.
If you live near Laytonville, be aware that Cal Fire is planning a couple of prescribed burns later this week. There’s one set for Wednesday on Shamrock Ranch, east of Route 101 and south of Laytonville. It’s a 2000 acre burn that is expected to last three days with the goal of reducing fuel for any potential wildfire. The second is set for Friday and Saturday on lower Tenmile Creek, near Route 101. That fire is part of the Eel River Recovery Project and is a collaboration between the landowners there and Cal Fire.
Another popular Kelseyville Pear Festival is in the books with several thousand people said to have enjoyed the 30th annual celebration. The festival has been a popular regional attraction since 1993, with only the pandemic year of 2020 being missed. Officials tell the Lake County News that while Pear is in the title, the festival is really a celebration of all the local agriculture and the Kelseyville community. This year’s grand marshals were Toni and Phil Scully of Scully Packing Company which is Lake County’s last remaining pear packer, reportedly shipping 40% of California’s fresh Bartlett pears.
