July 27, 2018 to Aug 26, 2018 Summer

Summer Fires

There have been quite a lot of fires in the Western states of the USA and Canada again this year.  Smoke has been pretty unhealthy here in Eastern Washington.

I had to stop using my A/C because the smoke comes in with the intake.

I purchased a new Honeywell room air filter machine from WalMart.  It is very much worth the cost so I can breathe and use the air conditioner.
  

                    Honeywell 50250-S True HEPA Air Purifier

Aug 20, 2018  AQI  365 was the AQI was the highest AQI so far for Spokane in 2018

According to The Spokesman-Review article: "the air quality index stood at 307 as of Sunday evening, August 19, 2018 according to the Spokane Regional Clean Air Agency. " This article also has information about the most days with a high AQI from 1999 to 2018. 

In 2018 we had at least 12 days in a row of very unhealthy AQI. 
The record is 16 days in 2016 for Spokane.

This is a minor inconvenience compared to what has devastated California, Western USA and Canada with fire and smoke.  There are even fires in the Southern States of the USA. 

I have written other blog posts about the fires in Lake county because my family lives here.

Start of the fire blog posts for 2015 here:
https://butterflyof4.blogspot.com/2015/08/out-of-oven-but-still-in-kitchen-aug-2.html

For Lake county only once did the kids have to evacuate because of the Clayton fire in Lower Lake city.  The kids live 3 blocks from the edge of the fire.  I did rent a home in Lower Lake in 2011 to 2012. The fire came with in 1 block of the fire on Bonham road. My friends lost their home a block from that house I rented.  I had moved from Bonham to Dam Road in 2012,  I moved from Dam Road to Spokane a week before the fire.  

California Fires
I think I did not post about the fire in Santa Rosa of October of 2017.  My daughter had to evacuate from Santa Rosa. She was with in a mile of the fire that devastated the area.  My ex husband lost his home in Kenwood. I know others - friends and a cousin of my cousin also who lost their homes.  
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tubbs_Fire
and
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/October_2017_Northern_California_wildfires

Fires 2012 to 2018

The fires are fierce in California since last October 2017.

My son and some cousins live in Lake county in Northern California. They have had significant fires since 2013.

Here is a map of the fires from 2012

Press Democrat photo

About mid August 2018

Size comparisons of the city limits of San Francisco compared to fires. This is before the Ranch fire had got to nearly 400.000 acres by the end of August 2018

Lake County border in Purple and the fires around the area

2018 Fire season

The Pawnee fire was the one of the first in Lake county.  Spring Valley has had fires in this area before. 

Pawnee fire 

From CAL FIRE:http://www.fire.ca.gov/current_incidents/incidentdetails/Index/2080

Pawnee Fire Incident Information:

Last Updated: July 09, 2018 11:57 am FINAL

Date/Time Started: June 23, 2018 5:21 pm

Administrative Unit: CAL FIRE Sonoma-Lake-Napa Unit

County: Lake County

Location: Pawnee Rd & New Long Valley Rd, northeast of Clearlake Oaks

Acres Burned - Containment: 15,185 acres - 100% contained

Structures Destroyed: 22

The Mendocino Fire Complex 

Wikipedia has the current stats on this ongoing fire which they hope to have 100% containment by September 1, 2018.

"The Mendocino Complex Fire is the largest recorded fire complex in California history.[5] It is a large complex of two wildfires, the River Fire and Ranch Fire, currently burning in Mendocino, Lake, Colusa and Glenn Counties in the U.S. State of California. The Ranch Fire is currently burning eight miles northeast of Ukiah and the River Fire is currently burning six miles north of Hopland. First reported on July 27, 2018, both fires have burned a combined total of 427,693 acres (1,731 km2) and are collectively 78% contained, while the Ranch Fire has burned 378,773 acres (1,533 km2), surpassing the Thomas Fire to become single-largest modern California wildfire.[3] The Ranch Fire has also surpassed the size of the 315,577-acre Rush Fire, which burned across California and Nevada,[6] as well as the Santiago Canyon Fire of 1889, which was believed to have been California's all-time largest wildfire.[7][8] The city of Lakeport, communities of Kelseyville, Lucerne, Upper Lake, Nice, Saratoga Springs, Witter Springs, Potter Valley, and Finley, parts of Hopland, and the tribal communities of Hopland Rancheria and Big Valley Rancheria were evacuated."

There is quite a lot more to the article.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mendocino_Complex_Fire

CAL FIRE Map of the fire plans for containment July 31, 2018

Map of the beginnings of the River Fire and the Ranch Fire Aug 2, 2018

The beginnings of the Mendocino Complex fire 

Press Democrat Alex Schenek uses buckets to gather water to save his home 

in Lake County  Aug 4, 2018

Smoke drifts around the West to the East from BC Canada fires

https://governmentofbc.maps.arcgis.com/apps/MapSeries/index.html?appid=ef6f11c8c36b42c29e103f65dbcd7538

Heartwarming rescue of a baby doe by CHP Officer

https://www.pressdemocrat.com/news/8586997-181/california-highway-patrol-officer-rescues

Meanwhile my little inconvenience in Spokane.

Smoke when the AQI was AQI 240 at my town of Spokane

Aug 19, 2018 AQI 240  https://www.airnow.gov/

Black Carbon from the Fires

From CBC   Black Carbon in the smoke

https://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/bc-fires-satellite-1.4789298

https://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/bc-fires-satellite-1.4789298

There are a ton of photos and information about the Mendocino Complex fire.  I wanted to do a brief summary update. So I choose not to have all the incident reports and maps from CAL FIRE.

As of Aug 26, 2018 a summary:

https://projects.sfchronicle.com/2018/fire-tracker/?utm_campaign=sfghomepremium&utm_source=homepage&utm_medium=sfgate

Ranch Fire (Mendocino Complex) Aug 26, 2018 
Acreage: 377,257 acres
Containment:67%
Deaths:1
Injuries:2
Damage:157 residences and 120 other structures destroyed (Mendocino Complex total)

Fire began:12:03 p.m. July 27, 2018

River Fire (Mendocino Complex)
Acreage:48,920 acres
Containment:100%

Fire began:1:01 p.m. July 27, 2018

The Mendocino fire has surpassed the Thomas fire from last winter: Number (2) on the list - The Thomas Fire, Ventura and Santa Barbara counties,  Started 4 December 2017 [The Thomas Fire]

Size: 281,893 acres, 440 square miles. Contained January 12, 2018.
Buildings destroyed 1,063 buildings[4][7]. 
Fatalities 1 firefighter, 1 civilian directly[8][9]

21 civilians indirectly (mud/debris flows in 2018)


      ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

CARR FIRE

I still need to find out about my cousin who lives near the Carr fire, which has its' own devastation! Yikes! Also I did not cover the other fires  in California, they too have been devastating. 


AQI at the top
What is scary is that the AQI got off the charts last November in Delhi, India with an AQI of 1,010 !!!!!
"On November 8, pollution surged so high that some monitoring stations reported an Air Quality Index of 999, way above the upper limit of the worst category, Hazardous. (An extra-sensitive air quality instrument at the US embassy got a reading of 1,010, as you can see in the chart below)"

https://www.vox.com/energy-and-environment/2017/11/22/16666808/india-air-pollution-new-delhi

Now that is just catastrophic!

I will add updates of the Mendocino Complex fire until it is 100% contained.

     ~~~~~~~~~~


August 29, 2018 From SFChronicle.com

Ranch Fire (of the Mendocino Complex)
Acreage: 410,182 acres
Containment:93%

   ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Be Safe out there!

Fires in California August 2016 - 4 blocks from my Daughter in Lower Lake

Fire!!!!!! #Claytonfire

Again this year there has been too many fires. Again my daughter Melissa, her BF Earl, my son Martin and his step brother Jacob had to leave the apartment and evacuate somewhere else. 
A man was caught in the act of arson and he is suspected of some 24 fires in Lake County California for the last 14 months. 

Twice the kids were evacuated August 9th and August 13th 2016. Both times the fires got with in 4 blocks, once south and once to the West.

The second time the fire was called the #Claytonfire.
After a week she could go back not knowing if her apartment was burned or flooded by the built in sprinkler system.

When they returned they found that all the food in the refrigerator was rotten after the power was out for more than 36 hours. Some of the freezer food was no good as well as the top foods in the chest freezer. 
Her plants pretty much died that were outside from the heat over 110 degrees and no water.  

So my daughter and her BF have moved with some friends near the college in Santa Rosa so they can both go to college and work. My son and his step brother are in the apartment and they are taking care of the 3 cats.  My daughter will stay at the apartment when they need to visit Earl's Mom and sisters. Melissa will need to pack things and sort things for a more permanent move in the future. 
Thank God that the apartment did not burn.

There is sad news though one of my best friends Susan lost her entire home. She and her 4 children, [two are adults, one is a quadriplegic], all had live in different places.    I pray things will get better for her and all those who lost homes and businesses.  
I was there visiting my daughter when one of the fires happened that was listed as arson. It was a smaller fire of just a few acres.  
Here are photos of the Lower Lake fire. [see below for detailed information on the arsonist who is charged.]

The track/oval from Lower Lake High School. Thank goodness the fire did not burn the high school, only some out buildings near the school. 

Map showing the three large fires from last year 2015 and the beginning of the Clayton fire

Final of the area burned from the Clayton fire 2016 four blocks away from my daughters apartment.  

Main Street and the museum was spared!

The fire pattern as the fire progressed north

From the Lake County News online view from the Lake 

This was a thank you to all firefighters fighting our fire in Lower Lake as well as other fires

From DP 15 it is 4 blocks to my old Apartment where my kids live. 

Geomac.gov map of the beginnings of the Clayton fire

Another overlay map of the three largest fires of 2015 and the Clayton fire

8 Businesses are destroyed in the #Claytonfire

CLAYTON FIRE

Clayton Fire Incident Information:
Last Updated: August 26, 2016 6:00 pm  
Date/Time Started: August 13, 2016 6:03 pm  
Administrative Unit: CALFIRE Sonoma-Lake-Napa Unit 
County: Lake County  
Location: off Hwy 29 and Clayton Creek south of Lower Lake  
Acres Burned - Containment: 3,929 acres - 100% contained  
Estimated - Containment: 8/21/2016  
Structures Destroyed: 300 destroyed / 28 damaged  
Cause: Arson 
Cooperating Agencies: CAL FIRE, Multiple local government fire departments, USFS, Department of Fish & Game, CA State Parks, Lake County Sheriffs, CHP, PG&E, CDCR and BLM.  
Total Fire Personnel: 32  
Total Fire Engines: 2  
Total Helicopters: 1  
Long/Lat: -122.60664/38.89741  
Conditions: The cause of the Clayton Fire was determined to be arson. 
Lower Lake Residents Returning Home

Control lines continue to be strengthened and improved. Firefighters are concentrating on fire suppression repair and are assisting returning homeowners. Damage Inspection Teams continue to survey the fire area to determine how many structures have been damaged or destroyed. Current data indicates that the fire has destroyed 299 structures; including 189 single-family homes, 8 commercial structures, and 102 other structures such as sheds and smaller outbuildings. As surveys are completed and additional data is confirmed, the number of structures damaged or destroyed may change.


CAL FIRE Incident Management Team 3 will transition command of the Clayton Fire to the CAL FIRE/Sonoma Lake Napa Unit on August 21, 2016. Beginning on August 20, 2016 at 6:00 PM, the St. Helena Call Center will become the primary source for further fire information. They can be reached at (707) 967-4207.
California Fire Data - Clayton fire final


Fire in Olympic Mountains

So while I was visiting in Sequim a fire started in Clallam County on the Olympic Mountains, Washington state.  I was in Sequim from August 15 to September 4, 2016. Below is a summary of the fires. All four fires were started by lightning on July 21, 2016.

Godkin Fire: 521 acres
Hayes Fire: 2310 acres
Cox Valley Fire: 57 acres

Ignar Creek Fire: 35 acres
Olympic Mountains Fire incidents

I took this photo a week after the fire started. Thank goodness the smoke was going towards the west and the ocean side rather than the Juan de Fuca side. 

From the link shown below

facebook Olympic-National-Park-Olympic-National-Forest-Fire-Information photos

From the link

From the link

Map of the beginning of one of the fires

Final map of the fires

History of the fires in the Olympic Forrest areas

It was good that the smoke was not too bad only the first day was it bad. 
Photos I took plus the first one with the red arrow. 

From Linda's mobile park the first day of the fire. 

Another view of the smoke from the fire the first day

Another day the smoke was bad but not as bad as the first day

Smokey sunset

From Lake County News about the Clayton Fire and the Arsonist who was charged.

I was in Lower Lake just one block north of town visiting at my daughter's apartment between July 7 and July 19, 2016.  I put an asterisk * by the fires that occurred at this time set by the accused arsonist. 
The first two fires on the list with the two asterisk's ** I was living at the lower lake apartment. I moved July 15, 2015. 

http://www.lakeconews.com/


Four new arson counts filed against Clearlake man accused of setting Clayton fire; not guilty plea entered
THURSDAY, 08 SEPTEMBER 2016 03:45 ELIZABETH LARSON

LAKEPORT, Calif. – The Clearlake man who authorities say set last month's Clayton fire and numerous other fires going back to July 2015 was in court on Wednesday to enter a plea, with four more charges added to his case.

Damin Anthony Pashilk, 40, entered a not guilty plea to all of the 23 charges – and three special allegations – against him, according to Chief Deputy District Attorney Richard Hinchcliff, who is handling the case.

The Clayton fire began Aug. 13 near Lower Lake, burning a total of 3,929 acres. It was fully contained on Aug. 26.

Cal Fire's estimated suppression costs to date total approximately $18,580,412, according to Suzie Blankenship, a Cal Fire fire prevention specialist.

Blankenship cautioned that the number could change as Cal Fire continues to compile information.

Lake County Board of Supervisors Chair Rob Brown said the county's latest Clayton fire damage assessment has recorded 203 homes destroyed. He said the county doesn't yet have a full dollar valuation on the destruction the fire caused.

Cal Fire's damage assessments said an additional 100 structures burned, including eight commercial structures, as well as sheds and outbuildings.

The fire also damaged facilities at Konocti Unified School District and delayed the start of the new school year by over a week, according to Superintendent Donna Becnel.

Pashilk was arrested on Aug. 15. Originally, the District Attorney's Office charged Pashilk with 19 counts, including 15 for felony arson with special allegations of causing multiple structures to burn and committing a crime in a disaster area.

However, Hinchcliff told Lake County News that he has filed an amended complaint that adds four more arson counts to Pashilk's case.

Hinchcliff said that since the original filing, Cal Fire has submitted information on those additional incidents.

The four additional charges are for fires that authorities say Pashilk set on Aug. 8, 2015, in Clearlake Oaks and this past July – July 26, 27 and 29 – in Clearlake.

Altogether, Pashilk is accused of setting 16 fires plus making an attempt to set another that self-extinguished on Aug. 9 along Clayton Creek Road, where authorities say he returned four days later to set the Clayton fire, according to case records.

In that Aug. 9 attempt, Cal Fire investigators located a burned matchbook and a small area of burned grass.

Cal Fire investigators used video surveillance, GPS tracking devices and surveillance officers to connect Pashilk to the scenes of the 16 fires and one unsuccessful start from July 2015 through early last month, according to the case files.

When Pashilk was interviewed on Aug. 15, “he could not provide an explanation to being at the ignition sites of the fires,” the documents stated.

The amended filing against Pashilk charges him with the following fires, in chronological order, with each incident's corresponding count in the criminal filing:

**• July 2, 2015, 7:32 a.m.: Highway 20 at Judge Davis Trail (“Judge” fire No. 1), Clearlake Oaks (Count IV).
**• July 2, 2015, 7:50 a.m.: Highway 20 at Walker Ridge Road (“Judge” fire No. 2), Clearlake Oaks (Count V).
• July 29, 2015, 8:30 p.m.: Highway 20 east of New Long Valley Road (the “Long” fire), Clearlake Oaks (Count VI).
• Aug. 8, 2015, 2:27 p.m.: High Valley Road and Cerrito Road, Clearlake Oaks (Count VII).
• Aug. 13, 2015, 11 a.m. : Woodland Drive, Clearlake (Count VIII).
• Aug. 14, 2015, 8:18 p.m.: Sulphur Bank Road, south of North Drive, Clearlake (Count IX).
• Aug. 25, 2015, 3:47 p.m.: East Lake Drive, Clearlake (Count X).
* • July 17, 2016, 5:08 p.m.: Crestview Drive and North Drive, Clearlake (Count XI).
• July 21, 2016, 5:08 p.m.: 18000 block of Morgan Valley Road near Staehle Lane, Lower Lake (Count XII).
• July 23, 2016, 7:03 p.m.: Western Mine Road, Middletown (Count XIII).
• July 26, 2016, 6:48 p.m.: Sulphur Bank Road, north of North Drive, Clearlake (Count XIV).
• July 27, 2016, 7:23 p.m.: Lakeshore Drive and San Joaquin Drive, Clearlake (Count XV).
• July 29, 2016, 2:47 p.m.: Ogulin Canyon Road, east of Highway 53, Clearlake (Count XVI).
• Aug. 7, 2016 (start time not listed): Highway 29 near mile post marker 16.29, Lower Lake (Count XVII).
• Aug. 9, 2016, 5 p.m.: Seigler Canyon Road, Lower Lake (Count XVIII).
• Aug. 9, 2016, 5:25 p.m.: Clayton Creek Road, Lower Lake (Count XIX).
• Aug. 13, 2016, 5:01 p.m.: Clayton fire, Clayton Creek Road, Lower Lake (Counts I, II and III)

Special allegations include causing multiple structures to burn in the Clayton fire, and setting the Clayton fire and another fire on Highway 29 near Lower Lake this past Aug. 7, because both of those fire were in an area Gov. Jerry Brown has declared to be in a state of emergency.

In addition to the arson counts, Pashilk is charged with misdemeanors including methamphetamine possession at the time of his arrest, attempting to conceal the evidence of the methamphetamine, and two counts of driving on a suspended license with three prior convictions for that charge.

Pashilk remains in the Lake County Jail on an enhanced $5 million bail, according to jail records.

Hinchcliff said Pashilk will return to court for further proceedings on Oct. 25, at which time his preliminary hearing date may be set.

On Wednesday, Hinchcliff said there were no new details of the case that he could discuss outside of the additional counts.

He said he and his staff are now moving ahead on the extensive followup investigation that's part of building the case against Pashilk.

“There's a lot to do,” Hinchcliff said.

Email Elizabeth Larson at elarson@lakeconews.com . Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.