Amador County - Unit Chief Bill Holmes formally ended the 2008 Fire Season in the Amador-El Dorado Unit of the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection or CALFIRE, on Monday, November 3, at 8 am. The unit includes Amador, and El Dorado counties as well as the eastern foothills of Sacramento County. Burn Permits are not required, but the Air Quality Management District will be determining “burn days” or “no burn days” until May 1, 2009 when burn permits will again be required. Please make sure to call the burn information line immediately prior to burning. If you have questions or concerns about proper burning technique, please contact your local fire station personnel for further information. Story by Alex Lane (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.).

By Alex Lane - A suspect has been arrested for a string of arson fires in the El Dorado area. The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, or CALFIRE, arrested Kenneth Powell, age 25, on seven counts of arson. Powell was arrested in El Dorado Hills where he was a long time resident. CAL FIRE Peace Officers and El Dorado DA Investigators executed the arrest warrant on October 27 at 5:30 PM; he is currently being detained in El Dorado County Jail. The seven fires broke out during a two-hour period on October 18th. All were grassland fires except one that was set in a dumpster at Raley's, said Bill Dillard, a criminal investigator with the DA's office. The grassland fires were in large, dry fields and many were near multi-million dollar homes bordering Amador County. According to Dillard, he fires were kept to less than an acre each because of the quick response from fire agencies including Cal Fire and the El Dorado Hills Fire Department. “I commend the efforts of the joint investigation team working diligently on the case,” said Unit Chief Bill Holmes. The joint investigation was conducted by CAL FIRE, El Dorado Hills Fire Department and the El Dorado County District Attorney's Office. “There is a lot of tedious, time consuming work that goes into these investigations,” said Holmes. “It’s worth the effort, though, when we can stop arson fires from occurring. Californian’s lives and property are already at significant risk from wildfire without these intentional fires adding to the threat.”

By Alex Lane - As fall begins and students return to school, many people believe that fire season also ends at the same time. CAL FIRE Battalion Chief Dennis Townsend is reminding all Californians that fire danger remains high across the state and, even though the threat has decreased in some areas, the chance of large and damaging fires still exists. “Historically, late September and October are when we see the worst fires,” said Chief Ruben Grijalva, director of CAL FIRE . “Even though we have seen cooler temperatures and little moisture, it only takes one day of dry winds to bring the fire danger back to extreme,” he added. Throughout the past decade, California has seen many of its large and devastating fires during this time period. On October 20, 1991, the Oakland Hills Fire quickly burned over 1,500 acres, destroyed 2,900 structures and took the lives of 25 people. On October 3, 1995 , the Vision Fire in Marin County burned over 12,000 acres and destroyed 48 structures. On October 21, 2003 , over a dozen fires burned across Southern California charring over 750,000 acres, destroying 3,710 homes, and taking 24 lives. And just last year, another siege began in late October blackening over half a million acres, destroying over 3,000 homes and taking the lives of 10 people. California’s unique climate and topography lend themselves to severe wildfire conditions year round. To combat these natural conditions, the state is fully prepared with an array of equipment including fire engines, air tankers, helicopters and bulldozers. As October draws to a close, CALFIRE will strategically reposition some of its resources to areas with continued high to extreme fire danger.

Staff Report - The El Dorado County Sheriff’s department arrested two armed Mexican Nationals and seized 4,300 marijuana plants on National Forest land last week in Georgetown. El Dorado Sheriff’s Sgt. Phil Chovanec said the seizure occurred September 17. The action included personnel from the El Dorado County Sheriff’s Narcotic Detectives Unit with assistance from officers from the Sacramento Mountain and Valley Marijuana Investigation Team and the El Dorado County SWAT team. Investigation by narcotic agents resulted in locating the marijuana garden in the National Forest area of Georgetown in El Dorado County. Two Mexican Nationals were arrested at the scene. The suspects were armed with loaded firearms.

By Jim Reece - Armed officers from the Jackson Police Department startled Jackson residents at Bank of Amador Wednesday night when answering an alarm sounding at the bank on Main Street. A witness said two officers with rifle and pistol drawn approached the bank building. A Jackson Police Department dispatcher said the response was standard after 6 p.m. when no one is on duty at the bank. The alarm went off at 6 p.m. and responders were under a radio silence approach when responding. The call was a false alarm.

By Jim Reece - An armed robbery shook the solace of Amador County Monday night, with three agencies searching Jackson for the suspect. At around 8:11 p.m. Monday, Jackson Police Department responded to a reported armed robbery at Papa Murphys Pizza, 777 Highway 49 in Jackson. Captain Christy Stidger in a release said Jackson police contacted the lone Papa Murphys Employee, who said a male entered the store, walked up to the counter and demanded money. The male suspect reportedly simulated a weapon beneath his clothing. The employee removed an undisclosed amount of money from the cash register and handed it over to the suspect. The suspect then fled the scene. Jackson police officers along with responders from the CHP, Amador County Sheriff’s Deputies and Sutter Creek Police Department combed the area, looking for the suspect with negative results. Responders included Sutter Creek City Manager and Police Chief Rob Duke, who responded to the call with another Sutter Creek officer. The two took the call while Sutter Creek’s City Council was in session, ran out of the meeting room and left the area with sirens running. The case is still under investigation with leads being followed. Anyone with information about the robber is urged to call the Jackson Police Department at 223-1771.

By Jim Reece - Local fugitive the “White Owl,” Albert Carl Fernandez, was captured near the Amador-El Dorado County line last week with the help of the Amador County Combined Narcotic Enforcement Team. The Amador Narcotic Team assisted the El Dorado County Sheriff’s Office and the El Dorado County Code Enforcement Unit in conducting a building code compliance inspection of several small buildings and camping tents along the Cosumnes River off Bootstrap Way, between Amador and El Dorado counties. El Dorado Code Enforcement had conducted inspections in past years and found health and county building code violations, including marijuana cultivation. Law enforcement personnel conducted a sweep of the encampment but found no one inside the small, makeshift shacks. In one shack, the narcotics enforcement team and El Dorado County Sheriff’s Office teams discovered multiple syringes, methamphetamine injecting paraphernalia, marijuana growing materials, drying marijuana plants and enforcement and California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation reports in the name of Albert Fernandez. During the search of this shack, a male subject was seen running from an area adjacent to the encampment. The male subject ran toward perimeter personnel, who gave chase on foot. The subject subsequently surrendered to narcotics enforcement team personnel who were pursuing him. The male subject confirmed his identity as Albert Carl Fernandez, 52, also known as “White Owl”, the long-time Parolee at Large from West Point. A search of the encampment resulted in the seizure of 16 marijuana plants and the posting of five of the shacks as not fit for human occupation by the El Dorado County Code Enforcement Unit. Fernandez was arrested for Parole Violation, Cultivation of Marijuana, Possession of Hypodermic Syringes and was booked at the El Dorado County Jail.

Two other fires broke out in the foothills over the Labor Day Weekend. CAL FIRE’s Tuolumne-Calaveras Unit was on the front line. Authorities in Placer County fought a 500-acre fire Monday that was 80 percent contained as of Tuesday morning. The Gladding Fire burned northeast of Lincoln, and 12 agencies responded, including CAL FIRE, Placer County Fire and the City of Lincoln Fire Department. The fire drew 40 engines, 7 fire crews, 2 bulldozers, 2 helicopters and 4 water tenders. The Gladding Fire destroyed 3 homes and 10 outbuildings and threatened 20 homes and 20 outbuildings. Full containment was expected by midnight Tuesday. The cause of the fire is still under investigation. Alpine County and regional firefighters also fought a 204-acre wildland fire that started Sunday afternoon in Hope Valley, south of South Lake Tahoe. The Burnside Wildland Fire drew 183 personnel, 2 air tankers, 4 helicopters, 6 hand crews, 16 engines and 8 command staff. The fire was 50 percent contained Tuesday, with expected containment by 6 p.m. today (Wednesday, Sept. 3). The cause is still under investigation. By Tuesday, evacuation orders had been lifted at area resorts, residences and campgrounds.

Consistent with previous years, the Amador Fire Protections District’s response numbers are increasing steadily over the course of the summer. The latest statistics reveal that the AFPD responded to a total of 176 incidents during the month of July. 98 of these were medical aid related, while 29 responses were to vehicle accidents. Combined, these two numbers equaled 72 percent of the total incident responses. Of the total responses, only 6 were fire related. There was one structure fire, 1 vehicle fire, and 4 wild land fires. 50 percent of the total calls occurred between the hours of 8:00 am and 5:00 pm.

The Jackson Police Department, along with both Sutter Creek and Ione Police Departments and the Amador County Sheriff’s Department, has been awarded new light trailers from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. The trailers were awarded as part of a special equipment acquisition through the department. Lynne Olson, Coordinator for the Amador County Sheriff's Office of Emergency Services, administered the acquisition. The main purpose of the light trailers is to light any nighttime emergency scene regardless of whether it is law enforcement or fire related. According to Police Chief Scott Morrison, “they will turn any night time scene into a daylight scene.” However, they have numerous other functions. Each light trailer comes equipped with a high powered generator that has a continuous run-time of 60 to 100 hours before refueling is necessary. Because of the efficiency of the generator, the trailers can be used to provide electrical current to the individual police stations in case of an emergency. The newly awarded agencies will also have the responsibility of loaning out the trailers to any other government entity that requests them for any large emergency or disaster. An example cited by Police Chief Morrison noted that the Jackson Police Department provides extra lighting every year after the fireworks to light the way for pedestrians crossing Highway 49 from Hoffman Street. With the newly acquired trailer it will be much easier and much safer to provide the services needed in each of the cities, he said. Morrison informed the Jackson City Council of the award Monday night at their meeting and stated that “[the police department] is very happy to receive this equipment.”