[env-trinity] Weaverville survives fire threat

Wed Aug 2 16:46:33 PDT 2006

Weaverville survives fire threat

http://www.trinityjournal.com/

  By AMY GITTELSOHN
The fire that started Saturday at the Junction City Rifle Range and swept to the east toward Weaverville, burning more than 3,100 acres and forcing evacuations, was fully contained Tuesday night.
The cause of the "Junction Fire" was still under investigation, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection said. Suppression costs were reported to be $4,300,000.
The fire was initially difficult for firefighters to get a handle on Saturday as it started at approximately 12:30 p.m. and burned uphill on a steep slope. Then winds of 15 to 20 miles per hour fanned the flames, said CDF Public Information Officer Mike Carr.
Firefighters from around Trinity County and the North State responded, but the fire jumped across Highway 299 and moved toward Weaverville.
Although it burned more acreage than the "Oregon Fire" of five years ago, including a re-burn of part of the old fire area, the Junction Fire took a lesser toll on structures. Two trailers on a property near the top of Oregon Mountain were burned, along with numerous vehicles parked on the property. The trailers were owned by Tom Bourgoine, a 75-year-old retired mechanic who lived in one of them and used the other as a workshop.
"Everything he had burnt to the ground," said James Robertson, a friend of Bourgoine's who is putting him up. "He had time to load up his little LUV pickup with his dog and leave."
Bourgoine's is the only residence lost in the Junction Fire, although an ember from that fire is a possible cause of the fire Saturday night at La Grange Cafe in Weaverville.
Still, the fire came too close for comfort in several areas. Mandatory evacuation orders were given for Rifle Range Road, Slattery Gulch Road and part of Oregon Street. Voluntary evacuations were declared for west Weaverville.
For the most part, Sheriff Lorrac Craig said, "Everybody was really cooperative."
Weaverville Fire Chief Richard Smith praised the work of the firefighters, which included members of nine volunteer departments from Trinity County.
"I think these guys did an outstanding job," he said.
The 3,126-acre fire area included approximately 1,350 acres of private land, 1,400 acres of public land managed by the federal Bureau of Land Management, and 300 acres of the Shasta-Trinity National Forest.
"It was hell," said Ken Daily, who with his wife Darlene lives at the top of Oregon Street. "The flames were about 60 feet in the air."
As a reserve deputy sheriff, Daily helped evacuate his neighbors, and his wife Darlene evacuated along with their pets.
"There were a few hangers-on, but they eventually left," Daily said. "You couldn't breathe."
The trailer that burned was close to the Dailys' property.
"There was ammunition going off and propane tanks exploding down there," Daily said.
The Red Cross set up an evacuation shelter at the Douglas City School, and 19 people spent the night Saturday. The evacuation orders were lifted on Monday.
Health concerns due to smoke caused Mountain Community Medical Services to evacuate 20 residents of its convalescent hospital and three patients in the acute care unit on Saturday. They went to stay at other nursing homes and with relatives, said hospital CEO Jim Sato, who hoped to move the residents back and open to inpatients on Tuesday.
Other services at the hospital, including the emergency room, remained in operation.
The fire took out 21 PG&E and Trinity Public Utilities District poles, and about a mile of power lines for each of the utilities, said TPUD Electric Superintendent Andy Lethbridge.
As a result, Junction City was without power for several days as utility crews had to wait first for the flames to subside and then make repairs in rugged terrain, Lethbridge said early this week.
Power was restored to Junction City Tuesday night.
More than 1,500 firefighting personnel have been working on the fire each day, although fire managers began sending some home early this week as full containment of the fire with fire line was established. Four firefighters had minor injuries.

Of other interest:

Cause of fire at La Grange Cafe 'inconclusive'

  By AMY GITTELSOHN
An investigator will label the cause of the fire that did major damage to La Grange Cafe in Weaverville on Saturday as "inconclusive," Weaverville Fire Chief Richard Smith said.
However, Smith said, the two most probable causes of the fire that began behind the restaurant are an ember from the Junction Fire that was burning west of town at the time, or a discarded cigarette. The investigator leaned toward the theory of an ember from the fire, but there is not enough evidence for a conclusive determination, Smith said.
The fire broke out Saturday evening as the restaurant was in full swing. Owner/chef Sharron Heryford was hosting her 45-year high school class reunion, with 52 people attending for that reason plus about 40 other diners.
Heryford said she had stepped outside while determining when to start serving the reunion dinner and went back in to give the kitchen staff a two-minute warning when she heard people in the kitchen screaming "Fire!" and the
bartender calling for everyone to get out.
Two employees tried to put the fire out with a fire extinguisher and hose and it "blew them away," she said. "The windows were blowing out as we went out."
Everyone was evacuated safely from La Grange, but there was major damage to the restaurant and lesser damage to the businesses on each side of the building: The Diggins bar and Olson Stoneware.
The kitchen and restrooms built at La Grange during a renovation of the old building five years ago were destroyed. There is smoke, water and some fire damage to the front rooms, which were built in 1854 and were used by La Grange Café as a dining room and bar room.
Estimated damages are $500,000, Smith said. The kitchen and bathrooms are a total loss, and it looks as if part of the ceiling will have to be replaced in the front rooms.
Weaverville Assistant Fire Chief Cindy Shortt said firefighters achieved their goal, which was "to protect The Diggins and protect Olson's and keep anything off the shake shingle buildings" across the street.
The restaurant had been for sale, but that plan is on hold. The couple plans to rebuild the restaurant, a process Duane Heryford estimates will take six to nine months. 
The fire spread to an exterior wall of The Diggins bar, which also had water damage and a hole in its roof from the firefighting effort. The Diggins was closed temporarily but reopened on Tuesday. On the other side of the restaurant, Olson Stoneware also had some minor smoke and water damage.
There was much speculation by residents about the cause of the fire, including use of a barbecue. Duane Heryford told the Journal that the restaurant was not barbecuing in back on the day of the fire.
The fire began behind the restaurant under a wooden ramp.
"There is a history of cigarettes being discarded in that area that have caused fires in the past," Chief Smith said, "and certainly we have fallout from the Junction fire."
Small fires caused by cigarettes were discovered in the back area and in a tree behind the restaurant recently, Smith said, although the fire department was not called.
Smith noted that on Sunday there was a confirmed spot fire from the Junction Fire on Squires Road, which is across Highway 3 from the Weaverville transfer station and about a half-mile east of where the fire was burning. 
There were also reports of fire debris such as large leaves as far east as the Crystal Air shop on Highway 299.

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