LAKEPORT, Calif. – The Board of Supervisors convened a brief special meeting on Friday morning in order to renew several proclamations for local emergencies.
The meeting, the board’s last of 2018, was attended by all but Supervisor Rob Brown and lasted about 10 minutes.
Interim County Health Officer Dr. Erin Gustafson went before the board to ask that the proclamation of a local health emergency by the Lake County health officer due to the Mendocino Complex fire be extended.
Gustafson said the special meeting to renew the proclamation was needed due to there being two holidays in a row – which meant the board wouldn’t normally have met within the time frame needed to approve extending the proclamation.
“The debris cleanup has not been quite completed and there is still soil testing that needs to be done,” she said, and therefore there may be exposure to hazardous substances that may lead to acute and chronic health risks.
“The local health emergency proclamation is necessary in order to protect the health and safety of the public,” Gustafson added.
The board approved renewing the proclamation 4-0.
Undersheriff Chris Macedo joined Gustafson to ask the board to continue the local emergency due to the Mendocino Complex because of the ongoing recovery efforts.
Gustafson reported that 177 sites that were burned during the complex have registered for debris removal and removal has been completed on 137 of those sites, with 69 sites completed and waiting for rebuilding. Another 20 sites registered for private cleanup, with seven of those sites ready for new structures.
She said the cleanup has been postponed due to hazardous road conditions. Once the weather improves the cleanup will restart.
The board unanimously approved continuing the local emergency before going on to also approve continuing emergencies for the June Pawnee fire, the October 2017 Sulphur fire, the August 2016 Clayton fire and the 2017 atmospheric river storm.
Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.
Supervisors extend emergency proclamations during special meeting
- Elizabeth Larson
- Posted On