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<p class=MsoNormal><b><u><font size=4 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:14.0pt;font-weight:bold'>Weaverville survives fire threat<o:p></o:p></span></font></u></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'><a href="http://www.trinityjournal.com/">http://www.trinityjournal.com/</a><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
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src="cid:image004.jpg@01C6B653.361C4140" align=left hspace=12 v:shapes="_x0000_s1029"><![endif]>By
AMY GITTELSOHN<br>
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.<br>
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.<br>
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.<br>
Firefighters from around <st1:PlaceName w:st="on">Trinity</st1:PlaceName> <st1:PlaceType
w:st="on">County</st1:PlaceType> and the <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:PlaceName
w:st="on">North</st1:PlaceName> <st1:PlaceType w:st="on">State</st1:PlaceType></st1:place>
responded, but the fire jumped across Highway 299 and moved toward Weaverville.<br>
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 <st1:place
w:st="on"><st1:PlaceName w:st="on">Oregon</st1:PlaceName> <st1:PlaceType w:st="on">Mountain</st1:PlaceType></st1:place>
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.<br>
“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.”<br>
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.<br>
Still, the fire came too close for comfort in several areas. Mandatory
evacuation orders were given for <st1:Street w:st="on"><st1:address w:st="on">Rifle
Range Road</st1:address></st1:Street>, <st1:Street w:st="on"><st1:address
w:st="on">Slattery Gulch Road</st1:address></st1:Street> and part of <st1:Street
w:st="on"><st1:address w:st="on">Oregon Street</st1:address></st1:Street>.
Voluntary evacuations were declared for west Weaverville.<br>
For the most part, Sheriff Lorrac Craig said, “Everybody was really
cooperative.”<br>
Weaverville Fire Chief Richard Smith praised the work of the firefighters,
which included members of nine volunteer departments from <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:PlaceName
w:st="on">Trinity</st1:PlaceName> <st1:PlaceType w:st="on">County</st1:PlaceType></st1:place>.<br>
“I think these guys did an outstanding job,” he said.<br>
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 <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:PlaceName w:st="on">Shasta-Trinity</st1:PlaceName>
<st1:PlaceType w:st="on">National Forest</st1:PlaceType></st1:place>.<br>
“It was hell,” said Ken Daily, who with his wife Darlene lives at
the top of <st1:Street w:st="on"><st1:address w:st="on">Oregon Street</st1:address></st1:Street>.
“The flames were about 60 feet in the air.”<br>
As a reserve deputy sheriff, Daily helped evacuate his neighbors, and his wife
Darlene evacuated along with their pets.<br>
“There were a few hangers-on, but they eventually left,” Daily
said. “You couldn’t breathe.”<br>
The trailer that burned was close to the Dailys’ property.<br>
“There was ammunition going off and propane tanks exploding down
there,” Daily said.<br>
The Red Cross set up an evacuation shelter at the <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:PlaceName
w:st="on">Douglas</st1:PlaceName> <st1:PlaceName w:st="on">City</st1:PlaceName>
<st1:PlaceType w:st="on">School</st1:PlaceType></st1:place>, and 19 people
spent the night Saturday. The evacuation orders were lifted on Monday.<br>
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.<br>
Other services at the hospital, including the emergency room, remained in
operation.<br>
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.<br>
As a result, <st1:City w:st="on">Junction City</st1: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, <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Lethbridge</st1:place></st1:City>
said early this week.<br>
Power was restored to <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Junction City</st1:place></st1:City>
Tuesday night.<br>
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.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center'><i><u><font size=3
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-style:italic'>Of
other interest:<o:p></o:p></span></font></u></i></p>
<p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center'><b><u><font size=3
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-weight:bold'><o:p><span
style='text-decoration:none'> </span></o:p></span></font></u></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><u><font size=4 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:14.0pt;font-weight:bold'>Cause of fire at <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place
w:st="on">La Grange</st1:place></st1:City> Cafe 'inconclusive'</span></font></u></b><b><u><font
size=4 face=Arial><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:Arial;font-weight:
bold'><o:p></o:p></span></font></u></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
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src="cid:image008.jpg@01C6B653.361C4140" align=left hspace=12 v:shapes="_x0000_s1032"><![endif]>By
AMY GITTELSOHN<br>
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.<br>
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.<br>
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.<br>
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<br>
bartender calling for everyone to get out.<br>
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.”<br>
Everyone was evacuated safely from <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">La
Grange</st1:place></st1:City>, 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.<br>
The kitchen and restrooms built at <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">La
Grange</st1:place></st1:City> 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.<br>
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.<br>
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.<br>
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. <br>
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.<br>
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.<br>
The fire began behind the restaurant under a wooden ramp.<br>
“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.”<br>
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.<br>
Smith noted that on Sunday there was a confirmed spot fire from the Junction
Fire on <st1:Street w:st="on"><st1:address w:st="on">Squires Road</st1:address></st1:Street>,
which is across Highway 3 from the Weaverville transfer station and about a
half-mile east of where the fire was burning. <br>
There were also reports of fire debris such as large leaves as far east as the
Crystal Air shop on Highway 299.<font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
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