LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – The Lake County Sheriff’s Office said Monday afternoon that a missing south county boy has been found safe.
Austin Maloney, 12, was located nearly 24 hours after he had gone missing on Sunday afternoon.
He had last been seen in the area of Jerusalem Grade Road near Hidden Valley Lake, as Lake County News has reported.
Lt. Corey Paulich of the Lake County Sheriff’s Office said the boy had left his house on Sunday after a disagreement with his family.
The Lake County Sheriff’s Office was notified of his disappearance on Sunday evening and activated its Search and Rescue team, which searched for the child overnight.
Other agencies, including the California Highway Patrol, also were reported to have assisted with the search, as had volunteers from the community.
Paulich said Austin was found safe in the Jerusalem Valley area and returned to his family.
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.
We inaugurated our 46th president, Joseph Biden, on Jan. 20, but there are no places in the United States named Biden — at least not yet.
With Presidents' Day arriving on Feb. 15, just weeks after a presidential inauguration, we look at where our presidents were born and how many places in the United States carry their names. Places include counties, cities, towns and minor civil divisions.
George Washington, who took the oath on April 30, 1789, tops the list of presidential namesakes with at least 94 places that share his name.
Every other president, except for Dwight Eisenhower and our most recent – Biden, Donald Trump and Barack Obama — have places that share their names, too. (A ghost town named Trump in Colorado disappeared in the 1930s.)
Second on the list of places with presidential monikers is Abraham Lincoln (72), followed by Andrew Jackson (67) and Thomas Jefferson (62).
Five names show up twice because we had different presidents with the same last name: John Adams and John Quincy Adams; William Henry Harrison and Benjamin Harrison; Theodore Roosevelt and Franklin Roosevelt; Andrew Johnson and Lyndon Johnson; George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush.
Adams, Roosevelt and Bush were related but there is one more name that appears twice but belongs to one man: Cleveland, as in Grover Cleveland, who was our 22nd and 24th president.
So, while Biden is the 46th president, he is the 45th person to be president.
Fun facts
Of the 45 men who have been or are president of the United States, a third (15) came from just two states: eight from Virginia and seven from Ohio.
Many presidents (29) were born in states that were colonies or former colonies. While there were 13 colonies, 15 states were former colonies because Maine was then part of Massachusetts and Vermont was part of New York.
The top five presidents with matching county names are: Washington (31), Jefferson (26), Jackson (24), Lincoln (24) and Madison (20). Of the 3,143 counties in the United States, 298 match presidential names.
Only eight presidents were born west of the Mississippi.
The president born farthest west? Barack Obama in Hawaii.
Even though we may think of Ronald Reagan as a Californian because he served as governor of that state, he was born in Illinois.
Richard Nixon, however, was born in California and is the only president from the West Coast.
Derick Moore is a senior communications specialist at the Census Bureau.
For many in a relationship, the pressure to impress a partner can weigh heavily, and expensive gifts serve as a reminder of the relentless commercializationof the holiday. Meanwhile those still looking for love approach the day with trepidation – another reminder of their single status and the pressure to find a partner.
As a chivalric literary historian who has studied the origins of the holiday, I find this a shame. When the notion of Valentine’s Day as a day for romance emerged in the 1380s it was all about love as a natural life force – birds choosing their mates, the freedom to choose or refuse love and the arrival of springtime. But even then many people did not understand or value these things. In fact, that is why it was invented.
Their work supported principles still important for us today, notably the right to free choice in love and the right to refuse romantic advances.
Chaucer and Granson encountered one another in the service of Richard II of England and admired one another’s poetry. Their poems about Valentine’s Day show them operating as an international chivalric team to address pressing issues in the theory and practice of love, then and now.
In the poem “The Parliament of Fowls,” Chaucer presents Valentine’s Day as a day when birds gather to choose their mates under the supervision of nature. In the poem, presented as a dream, three rival eagles each express a lifelong commitment to a single female. Birds of lower social status and different temperament, waiting in line, quarrel about how to resolve the impasse so they, too, can select their mates.
In the scenario, two of the eagles must be disappointed – Valentine’s Day is no guarantee that all will find love. But in the end the wise female eagle obtains from the figure of Nature the right to take her time in deciding her mate. She chooses not to choose. It is a story of waiting to recognize one’s true love, knowing your own heart and having the right to choose your partner yourself.
Chaucer’s tale relates to an actual courtship that included three suitors and ended in the wedding of two 15-year-olds: Richard II and the princess Anne of Bohemia, in 1382.
Meanwhile, Granson promoted Valentine’s Day in his French poems as a day for human lovers to choose one another and pledge their love, as do the birds. Granson pledges his own undying love to a mysterious lady in his “Complaint to Saint Valentine.” There was no merchandise involved and no gifts were expected.
Free love
Chaucer and Granson’s celebration of love as a relationship between partners, a union of souls grounded in respect and the freedom of choice, contrasts with many of the traditions of the age in which they lived.
In this context, Chaucer and Granson reimagined the already existing Valentine’s Day festival to celebrate the potential beauty of love itself. In a world where forced and child marriages are still all too common, it is important to reflect on Chaucer and Granson’s visions. Their reinvention of the day opened the eyes of poets, knights, ladies and just plain folk to the need for respect and self-respect in courtship – and the value of partnerships entered into for love, not just for lust, power or money.
Servants of love, these two knightly poets shaped Valentine’s Day as a gift for future generations. Their chivalrous enterprise deserves to be celebrated as we pursue our own happiness.
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – The Lake County Sheriff’s Office is continuing its efforts to locate a boy whose family reported him missing on Sunday.
The sheriff’s office said 12-year-old Austin Maloney was last seen leaving a residence off of Jerusalem Grade at 3:30 p.m. Sunday.
Social media posts indicated he was last known to be in the area of Burnt Oak Road, Coons Flat and Jerusalem Grade Road northeast of Hidden Valley Lake.
At the time he was last seen, Austin was wearing a black sweatshirt, blue jeans, an orange beanie hat and sketchers shoes, officials said.
Austin is described as 5 feet 1 inch tall and 77 pounds, with brown hair and brown eyes.
Sgt. Aaron Clark told Lake County News on Sunday night that it’s believed Austin ran away.
The sheriff’s office and Lake County Search and Rescue received the report of the missing boy at 7:30 p.m. Sunday and quickly mobilized, as Lake County News has reported.
Radio traffic indicated the search continued through the night.
The Lake County Sheriff’s Office is asking community members with information about Austin’s whereabouts to contact Central Dispatch at 707-263-2690.
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.
Elizabeth Leyva, Texas A&M-San Antonio; David J. Purpura, Purdue University, and Emily Solari, University of Virginia
Math and reading scores for 12th graders in the U.S. were at a historic low even before the COVID-19 pandemic forced a massive shift to remote learning, according to results of the 2019 National Assessment of Educational Progress released in late 2020. We asked three scholars to explain why so many high school seniors aren’t proficient in these critical subjects.
Elizabeth Leyva, director of entry-level mathematics, Texas A&M University-San Antonio
One might expect the jump from high school to college mathematics to be a natural progression, or a small step up in difficulty or expectations. But over time it has actually become a chasm, and that chasm continues to grow.
More students are taking advanced coursework – algebra II or higher – in high school. But studying the material doesn’t mean that a student has truly learned it. As a result, a student can pass a course which should be a college preparatory course, such as algebra II, yet fail a standardized placement exam, or not score high enough on SAT/ACT tests to be deemed “college ready.”
Most high school teachers hold their students to a different set of expectations than college faculty do. In many cases, the policies are set by the school district, so high school teachers are simply upholding rules that the community and parents have pushed for. This can include allowing students to submit late work, retest on assessments they performed poorly on and use a calculator for most assignments.
The rationale is well intentioned; high school students are young learners, and may need multiple opportunities to master a concept.
Multiple opportunities to pass means more students pass. But this generous assessment strategy has unintended consequences on student motivation and accountability. The effect is that students can earn a passing grade but not retain or master the material in a meaningful way. This is how a student can receive a B in algebra II, for example, but land in a developmental class when they enter college.
David Purpura, associate professor of human development and family studies, co-director of the Center for Early Learning, Purdue University
When looking at the striking data for 12th graders from the national report card, policymakers, researchers, parents and teachers often ask: What’s going on with high school math? Should we change math instruction at this age?
Math is often taught with few explicit connections across individual classes. Sometimes these classes follow a certain order: for example, algebra I and algebra II. But the content in and across the classes isn’t being thoroughly connected. For example, in the early elementary years, we talk about addition and subtraction, then multiplication and division. We move on to fractions, and then algebra. Yet this still treats these concepts as separable rather than integrated.
But math is an interrelated web of knowledge with new information building on previously learned information. And, this acquisition of knowledge begins early. There are significant individual differences in children’s math performance even prior to kindergarten.
I believe children aren’t receiving a strong enough foundation for basic math skills in the earliest years. Preschool teachers spend less than five minutes per day on numbers. Nearly a third of classrooms provide no number instruction at all.
In kindergarten, the level of math instruction is typically well below what children already know and can do. The misalignment could be attributable to the low expectations set forth in the Common Core Standards – the academic standards shared across the majority of states. Over 85% of children are able to meet certain end-of-kindergarten expectations before they even enter kindergarten. These disparities continue through elementary school.
So, the question in my mind isn’t: Why are so many high school seniors not proficient in math? The question is: How can teachers better link math concepts across all grade levels and improve learning?
Emily Solari, professor of reading education, University of Virginia
How kids learn to read is a well-researched aspect of human learning. Scientists have identified what happens in the brain when children learn to read and why some children have difficulty mastering this skill. Despite this wealth of evidence about how reading develops, only 37% of 12th gradersread at a proficient or advanced level, according to the national assessment.
While standardized tests are not the perfect measure of reading ability, they do provide a pulse of reading attainment across the country. Importantly, the scores show significant differences in reading performance between particular groups of students. Profound gaps exist between white and Black students and white and Hispanic students.
The education system is fraught with inequities that have a greater negative impact on historically marginalized students – particularly those who are Black, Hispanic, poorer or have a disability. Recent data suggests the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated these gaps. Improving the system, and how students are taught reading, is a matter of equity.
Why, if there is solid evidence on how children learn to read, has this not translated into classroom practice and better reading outcomes for students?
Studies show that children should be taught the alphabetic system – the relationship between the sounds of letters and their written form – in order to learn how to read words. The ability to read words combined with vocabulary and language development is essential to reading comprehension.
In addition to what is taught, how children are taught to read is also important. Reading instruction should have a clear scope and sequence, with skills building on each other over time.
However, a recent survey suggests that about 75% of teachers use curricula that teach early reading using a cueing approach. And, 65% of college professors teach this approach to new teachers. This method does not align with the scientific evidence of how children learn how to read.
Sometimes called “MSV” – shorthand for meaning, syntactical and visual – the cueing approach emphasizes reading whole words over learning the alphabetic code. This method of teaching reading can be especially problematic for children who are having difficulties learning how to read.
To improve students’ reading ability, I believe schools, districts and states must push multiple levers simultaneously. This includes making sure instruction, curriculum and testing all align with the science of reading, and that teachers and administrators are provided adequate professional development about reading instruction.
Further, teacher education programs must commit to preparing teachers who understand how reading develops in children’s brains and how to implement teaching practices that are based on current evidence.
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Lake County Animal Care and Control has four dogs looking for new families to love them.
Dogs available for adoption this week include mixes of pit bull and Rottweiler.
Dogs that are adopted from Lake County Animal Care and Control are either neutered or spayed, microchipped and, if old enough, given a rabies shot and county license before being released to their new owner. License fees do not apply to residents of the cities of Lakeport or Clearlake.
The following dogs at the Lake County Animal Care and Control shelter have been cleared for adoption (additional dogs on the animal control Web site not listed are still “on hold”).
He has a short red and black coat and a docked tail.
He is in kennel No. 22, ID No. 14328.
Male pit bull terrier
This male pit bull terrier has a short brindle and white coat.
He is in kennel No. 26, ID No. 14339.
‘Sargent Chunk’
“Sargent Chunk” is a young male Rottweiler with a short red and black coat.
He is in kennel No. 28, ID No. 14303.
Male pit bull terrier
This male pit bull terrier mix has a short black and white coat.
He is in kennel No. 30, ID No. 14338.
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.
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – The Lake County Sheriff’s Office and its Search and Rescue teams began a search late Sunday night near Hidden Valley Lake that continued early Monday for a missing boy who is believed to have run away from home.
On Sunday night, Middletown resident Bo Darnell posted on Facebook that her 12-year-old son Austin had been missing since the afternoon.
He was reportedly last seen in the area of Burnt Oak Road, Coons Flat and Jerusalem Grade Road northeast of Hidden Valley Lake, according to social media posts.
Sheriff’s Sgt. Aaron Clark confirmed to Lake County News late Sunday night that authorities were searching for the boy.
Clark said the boy ran away from home at about 3:30 p.m. Sunday.
The family called law enforcement at about 7:30 p.m., Clark said.
He said Search and Rescue personnel were able to quickly mobilize just before 8 p.m.
The search on Sunday night included a large group of more than 20 participants who were working in rough terrain, Clark said.
Searchers were reported to be continuing their efforts to locate the boy early Monday in the midst of cold, rainy conditions.
Just after 2:10 a.m., the Northshore Fire Protection District Support Team was toned out to respond to the search site, according to radio traffic.
Additional information will be posted as it becomes available.
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.
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – February is Black History Month, a celebration acknowledging the achievements of Black Americans and how they have uniquely shaped the nation’s history.
Celebrating the contributions to our nation made by people of African descent goes back to 1915, half a century after the Thirteenth Amendment abolished slavery in the United States.
The effort began with the advocacy of Harvard-trained American historian Carter G. Woodson and the prominent minister Jesse E. Moorland., who sought to recognize the heritage and achievement of Black Americans.
The event was first celebrated during the second week of February 1926, selected because it coincides with the birthdays of both Abraham Lincoln (Feb. 12) and abolitionist/writer Frederick Douglass (Feb. 14). That 1926 event was sponsored by the Association for the Study of African American Life and History.
That first celebration inspired schools and communities nationwide to organize local celebrations, establish history clubs and host performances and lectures.
In 1975, President Gerald Ford issued a message on the observance of Black History Week urging all Americans to "recognize the important contribution made to our nation's life and culture by black citizens."
Since 1976, February has been officially designated as Black History Month.
That week would continue to be set aside for the event until 1976 when, as part of the nation’s bicentennial, it was expanded to a month. Since then, U.S. presidents have proclaimed February as National African American History Month.
Earlier this month, the Board of Supervisors and the Clearlake City Council presented proclamations in honor of Black History Month.
The city of Clearlake’s proclamation notes that, “while the history of Black Americans is also the story of countless nameless heroes brought to our shores who endured lives of bondage and oppression, the deprivation of their civil rights, and ravages of bigotry and racism, it is a history for which most of the chapters have yet to be written as Black Americans contribute to the American promise.”
The proclamation also notes that, “for generations, African Americans have strengthened our Nation by urging reforms, overcoming obstacles, and breaking down barriers,” and cites the contributions of individuals including Martin Luther King Jr., Elijah Cummings, Harriet Tubman, Sojourner Truth, Rosa Parks, Cicely Tyson, Hank Aaron, Kamala Harris and Rev. Rafael Warnock.
Mendocino College also is celebrating Black History Month.
“As we continue to face a global pandemic, allow the celebration of Black History Month to serve as a reminder of the multiple contributions made by Black Americans and other ethnic communities,” says Mendocino College President Tim Karas. “We commemorate Black History Month by continuing the essential work of self-reflection and strengthening our resolve to stay engaged in equity work in our district and to work harder against racism (overt and structural) and toward social justice.”
On Feb. 24, a webinar titled “You Don’t Know Who We Be: A Conversation about the Pre-enslavement & Pre-Colonial History of Africans in America” will be hosted by BCC Speaker Series with Dr. Edward Bush, President of Cosumnes River College. Register for this webinar here.
The Mendocino College librarians have also put together a LibGuide for Black History Month and the Black Lives Matter movement specifically. View the page here.
A team of astronomers, including associate professor Chad Trujillo of Northern Arizona University's Department of Astronomy and Planetary Science, have confirmed a planetoid that is almost four times farther from the Sun than Pluto, making it the most distant object ever observed in our solar system.
The planetoid, which has been nicknamed "Farfarout," was first detected in 2018, and the team has now collected enough observations to pin down its orbit. The Minor Planet Center has now given it the official designation of 2018 AG37.
Farfarout's nickname distinguished it from the previous record holder "Farout," found by the same team of astronomers in 2018.
In addition to Trujillo, the discovery team includes Scott S. Sheppard of the Carnegie Institution for Science and David Tholen from the University of Hawai'i Institute for Astronomy, who have an ongoing survey to map the outer solar system beyond Pluto.
Farfarout will be given an official name (like Sedna and other similar objects) after its orbit is better determined over the next few years. It was discovered at the Subaru 8-meter telescope located atop Maunakea in Hawai’i, and recovered using the Gemini North and Magellan telescopes in the past few years to determine its orbit based on its slow motion across the sky.
Farfarout's average distance from the Sun is 132 astronomical units (au); 1 au is the distance between the Earth and Sun. For comparison, Pluto is only 39 au from the Sun. The newly discovered object has a very elongated orbit that takes it out to 175 au at its most distant, and inside the orbit of Neptune, to around 27 au, when it is close to the Sun.
Farfarout's journey around the Sun takes about a thousand years, crossing the massive planet Neptune's orbit every time. This means Farfarout has likely experienced strong gravitational interactions with Neptune over the age of the solar system, and is the reason why it has such a large and elongated orbit.
"A single orbit of Farfarout around the Sun takes a millennium," said Tholen. "Because of this long orbital, it moves very slowly across the sky, requiring several years of observations to precisely determine its trajectory."
Farfarout is very faint, and based on its brightness and distance from the Sun, the team estimates its size to be about 400 kilometers across, putting it on the low end of being a dwarf planet, assuming it is an ice rich object.
"The discovery of Farfarout shows our increasing ability to map the outer solar system and observe farther and farther towards the fringes of our solar system," said Sheppard. "Only with the advancements in the last few years of large digital cameras on very large telescopes has it been possible to efficiently discover very distant objects like Farfarout. Even though some of these distant objects are quite large, being dwarf planet in size, they are very faint because of their extreme distances from the Sun. Farfarout is just the tip of the iceberg of solar system objects in the very distant solar system."
Because Neptune strongly interacts with Farfarout, Farfarout's orbit and movement cannot be used to determine if there is another unknown massive planet in the very distant solar system, since these interactions dominate Farfarout's orbital dynamics.
Only those objects whose orbits stay in the very distant solar system, well beyond Neptune's gravitational influence, can be used to probe for signs of an unknown massive planet. These include Sedna and 2012 VP113, which, although they are currently closer to the Sun than Farfarout (at around 80 AU), they never approach Neptune and thus would be strongly influenced by the possible Planet X instead.
"Farfarout's orbital dynamics can help us understand how Neptune formed and evolved, as Farfarout was likely thrown into the outer solar system by getting too close to Neptune in the distant past," said Trujillo. "Farfarout will likely strongly interact with Neptune again since their orbits continue to intersect."
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – The Lakeport City Council this week will honor a former planning commissioner and consider extending the contract with a company hired to recruit retailers to the city.
The council will meet in closed session at 5:30 p.m. to discuss labor negotiations before the public portions of the meeting begins at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 16.
The meeting will be by teleconference only. The city council chambers will not be open to the public.
To speak on an agenda item, access the meeting remotely here or join by phone by calling toll-free 669-900-9128 or 346-248-7799. The webinar ID is 973 6820 1787, access code is 477973; the audio pin will be shown after joining the webinar. Those phoning in without using the web link will be in “listen mode” only and will not be able to participate or comment.
Comments can be submitted by email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. To give the City Clerk adequate time to print out comments for consideration at the meeting, please submit written comments prior to 3:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 16.
Indicate in the email subject line "for public comment" and list the item number of the agenda item that is the topic of the comment. Comments that read to the council will be subject to the three minute time limitation (approximately 350 words). Written comments that are only to be provided to the council and not read at the meeting will be distributed to the council prior to the meeting.
The council on Tuesday will present a proclamation honoring Ken Wicks Jr. for his years of service to the city of Lakeport, including nearly a decade spent on the planning commission. His term ended in December, and last week he was commended by the commission for his work.
Under council business, City Manager Kevin Ingram will seek authorization to execute the first extension in the form of an amendment to the professional services agreement with The Retail Coach for retail strategies.
Ingram’s report to the council explained that the city hired the company in July 2019 to conduct an assessment of the Lakeport area “and provide targeted data sets and education opportunities focused on sustaining and enhancing existing businesses as well as recruiting new ones.”
He said the company’s proposal contained eight phases: Analyzing the market, determining retail opportunities, identifying development and redevelopment opportunities, identifying retailers and developers for recruitment, marketing and branding, recruiting retailers and developers, downtown revitalization and retail recruitment coaching.
The majority of the items in the first five phases were completed but the COVID-19 pandemic “severely limited The Retail Coach’s ability to begin recruitment, revitalization efforts and education opportunities,” Ingram wrote.
Ingram said the company agreed to “pause” the contract.
“As businesses seek to return to a degree of normalcy, City staff has begun conversations with The Retail Coach to work towards completion of the original proposal,” Ingram wrote in his report.
He said The Retail Coach has agreed to extend the contract at a reduced rate of $25,000 rather than $30,000.
The council also will hold the traffic safety biannual review in which it will discuss observed trends in received traffic safety-related complaints to the city.
Police Chief Brad Rasmussen also will give a police statistics and training summary report for 2020.
In other business, Community Development Director Jenni Byers will ask for approval for staff to initiate a text amendment to the zoning ordinance to address microenterprise home kitchen operations and work with county staff so that the text amendment would be in effect if the county proposes to continue with a permanent program after July 1.
On the consent agenda – items considered noncontroversial and usually accepted as a slate on one vote – are ordinances and minutes of the regular council meeting on Feb. 2.
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.
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – This week one of Lake County’s members of the House of Representatives will give an update on funding available through President Joe Biden’s American Rescue Plan.
Rep. Mike Thompson (CA-05) will hold a virtual press conference at noon Pacific Time on Tuesday, Feb. 16.
This event will be held over Zoom and interested participants must email Thompson’s office at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. in order to join. Interested participants will be notified via email with instructions on how to join.
The event will also be streamed on Facebook Live via Thompson’s page.
During the event, Thompson will highlight the importance of the state and local funding that was included in the American Rescue Plan.
Thompson will be joined by leaders from across the Fifth Congressional District that support this legislation.
The Fifth Congressional District includes all or part of Contra Costa, Lake, Napa, Solano and Sonoma counties.
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Two people were injured in a Thursday night structure fire that destroyed a home in Nice.
The fire, at 3550 Lakeview Drive, was first dispatched at about 6:30 p.m. Thursday, according to radio reports.
Northshore Fire Protection District Battalion Chief Dave Emmel told Lake County News that the home was a singlewide trailer.
Firefighters arriving on scene minutes after dispatch requested an ambulance for the first of two burn victims.
The first victim was a woman who was reported to be 70 years old and suffering from second- and third-degree burns over most of her body, Emmel said.
Due to the weather, an air ambulance couldn’t respond, based on radio traffic.
The woman and a second burn patient were transported to the hospital, Emmel said.
Emmel said firefighters knocked the fire down pretty quickly. The trailer, however, was a complete loss.
In addition to the singlewide trailer, a travel trailer next to it also was burned, Emmel said. No other nearby structures were damaged.
Firefighters at the scene also requested Pacific Gas and Electric send out a crew, as wires were down, according to scanner reports.
Besides the two people transported to the hospital, Emmel said the fire displaced one other person.
As to the cause of the fire, “We believe it was accidental,” Emmel said.
He said the source has so far been traced to a heater coming in contact with a couch.
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.