Category Archives: Emergencies

Articles, Emergencies, Infrastructure

Del Norte Teams Up With CalOES, Crescent City On Tsunami Education Kiosks For Visitors

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Tsunami information kiosks like this one will be at seven locations popular with visitors throughout Del Norte. | Image courtesy of Del Norte County Office of Emergency Services

Thumbnail photo: H Dock damage at the Crescent City Harbor from the July 30, 2025 Kamchatka tsunami. The harbor will host one of seven tsunami information kiosks throughout Del Norte. | Photo courtesy of Mike Rademaker

Del Norte County is stepping up its tsunami preparedness efforts, focusing on visitors who may not be aware that they’re in a hazardous location or how to evacuate.

Seven kiosks will be installed in areas popular with visitors. They will highlight the natural warning signs that a tsunami is imminent, the immediate actions to take as well as a simplified evacuation map leading folks to a safer spot, Emergency Services Coordinator Jessica Seaman said Tuesday.

“Each evacuation map will be site specific and developed with assistance from the subject matter experts to ensure accuracy and clarity for the exact location,” she told the Board of Supervisors. “The kiosks will also include a QR code that links directly to Know Your Zone and Prepare Del Norte (which has) additional preparedness information.”

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Articles, Emergencies

Last Week’s Waldo Fires Likely Set Maliciously, Fire Chief Says

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Thumbnail photo: Debris left behind by a fire that burned RVs and other makeshift structures on Waldo Street on Jan. 30. | Photo by Heather Polen

A week after his firefighters responded to multiple blazes near Waldo and State streets, Crescent City Fire and Rescue Interim Chief Bill Gillespie says it’s likely they were maliciously set. 

Gillespie, who returned to the fire chief role in December, said the department is still investigating the origin and cause of fires that occurred on Wednesday and Friday. In one incident, there were two separate fires burning 100 yards or more apart, he said, which is too much of a coincidence for it to be incidental.

“(Firefighters) responded into the area, they got there, they had two well-established fires burning in trailers and vehicles around the whole configuration,” Gillespie told Redwood Voice Community News on Thursday, adding that he spoke with Battalion Chief Ray Rook and others who responded. “The fires wouldn’t have been that well advanced if one had spotted from another fire.”

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Articles, Emergencies, Humboldt, Klamath

Search Continues For McKinleyville Fisherman Who Was Swept Into The Ocean In Klamath

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Thumbnail photo: Maximo Macanas | Photo courtesy of Macanas family

The search continues for a McKinleyville man who was swept into the water near the mouth of the Klamath River on Saturday.

Maximo Macanas was fishing from shore with his family on the south side of the river when a sneaker wave swept him into the ocean at about 4 p.m., according to a message posted on Facebook by Macanas’s family.

Del Norte County Sheriff Garrett Scott said the U.S. Coast Guard brought a helicopter to the area to assist in the search, both on Saturday and Sunday. Macanas was last seen in a black puffy jacket and green waders, Scott told Redwood Voice Community News on Monday.

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Articles, Crescent City, Emergencies

Sheriff’s Office, Fire Department Investigating Blazes In Encampment Area Near Waldo

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Thumbnail photo by Heather Polen

Eight individuals were displaced due to fires that burned “at least two RVs” and other structures in the Waldo Street area Friday evening, Crescent City Fire and Rescue Battalion Chief Ray Rook told Redwood Voice Community News.

Rook said he and six firefighters arrived on scene at about 9:21 p.m. to find two fully involved fires about 100 to 200 yards apart. The larger fire involved at least two RVs and other structures, including one that someone was living in. The blazes were down toward the end of Waldo Street on the gravel portion of the road in an area that houses several homeless encampments, Rook said.

The cause and origin of the fires are still undetermined, the battalion chief said. There were no injuries.

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Articles, Emergencies, Infrastructure

Newsom Issues Disaster Declaration For July 30 Tsunami; Damage Estimates At CC Harbor Range From $2-5 Million, Harbormaster Says

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Thumbnail photo: The tsunami that struck Crescent City on July 30, 2025 caused complete separation of the harbor’s H Dock. | Photo courtesy of Mike Rademaker

Five months after an earthquake near Kamchatka sent a tsunami into Crescent City, the harbor has received the state disaster declaration needed to begin making repairs, Harbormaster Mike Rademaker said.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom issued a statement Dec. 23 declaring a state of emergency in Del Norte County due to the tsunami that struck early the morning of July 30. The California Office of Emergency Services on Monday confirmed that the Crescent City Harbor District’s request for disaster assistance funding was approved, Rademaker told Redwood Voice Community News via email Tuesday.

The next phase, according to Rademaker, is for the Harbor District and Del Norte County to coordinate with state emergency officials to figure out a project list as well as scope and cost estimates so the Harbor District can be reimbursed. He said he hopes “things will happen within the next couple of weeks.”

Continue reading Newsom Issues Disaster Declaration For July 30 Tsunami; Damage Estimates At CC Harbor Range From $2-5 Million, Harbormaster Says →
Articles, Education, Emergencies

Del Norte Unified, Office of Ed Launches Emergency Communications Protocol

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Thumbnail image courtesy of the Del Norte County Office of Education

Del Norte education officials are launching a new communications protocol officials say will present a “united and effective approach” to their messaging during emergencies.

Del Norte Unified School District and the Del Norte County Office of Education have adopted the Standard Response Protocol (SRP). Developed by the “I Love U Guys” Foundation, the platform will use shared language and procedures for communicating with students, staff, families and first responders at all of its campuses during an emergency.

Staff will begin practicing the new protocol starting Jan. 5, DNUSD spokesman Michael Hawkins said Monday. The public launch will be held Jan. 9, according to the district’s SRP web page. 

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Alerts, Articles, Emergencies, Youth

(Update) Amber Alert Issued For 12-year-old Boy Missing in Crescent City

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Update at 5 p.m. Wednesday: Shea Ramsey was found about an hour the California Highway Patrol issued an Amber Alert in the Crescent City area on Wednesday. The 12-year-old boy is back home with his parents, Del Norte County Sheriff Garrett Scott confirmed.

Scott credited the alert as well as new technology that allowed the sheriff’s office to put out a notice that Shea was missing so quickly.

“We appreciate all the public support — the people that reached out and gave us information, it’s amazing,” he said. “This is why we were able to find him, it was somebody that got that alert and they called us.”

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Original Post:

California Highway Patrol issued a localized Amber Alert in response to a 12-year-old boy that went missing from his parents’ Crescent City home Tuesday evening.

Shea Ramsey was last seen at about 9 p.m., according to the alert CHP issued on behalf of the Del Norte County Sheriff’s Office. The boy’s parents reported him missing at about noon Wednesday, saying that he had walked away from the family home after a disagreement, DNSO Capt. Melanie Curry told Redwood Voice Community News.

Shea is about 5 feet 1 inch tall and weighs roughly 90 pounds. He has blond hair and green eyes and was last seen wearing a black sweatshirt, black pants and black shoes. 

The Amber Alert went to phones within a five mile radius of the Shea’s residence, which is near Crescent Elk Middle School, Curry said. If anyone sees him, they can call dispatch at (707) 464-4191 or they can contact 911. Any law enforcement agency will respond and make sure Shea is returned to his family, Curry said.

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Articles, Community News, Emergencies

SNAP Gap Was Emergency Food Task Force’s First Test; DNUSD Will Feed Students During Thanksgiving Break

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Thumbnail photo: Marina MacNeil and Dominique Richcreek, staff members at Pacific Pantry, visited Smith River’s Howonquet Hall in this 2024 file photo. | Jessica C. Andrews

With CalFresh benefits fully restored for nearly 4,000 Del Norte families, a local emergency task force targeting food insecurity had officially demobilized as of Friday.

But Julie Bjorkstrand said she and her team with Del Norte Unified School District Nutrition Services would be busy over the weekend assembling 600 food bags that will keep youngsters fed during the Thanksgiving break.

Each bag will have five days of breakfast and five days of lunch and will be available for anyone who’s under 18. They will be distributed from 10 a.m.-noon at the Family Resource Center of the Redwoods, the Yurok Tribal Office in Klamath, the American Legion Hall in Gasquet and at Howonquet Hall and Smith River School.

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Articles, Emergencies, Local Government

Greenough Urges Councilors To Reach Out to U.S. Senators To End Government Shutdown

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Thumbnail: Marina MacNeil and Dominique Richcreek, staff members at Pacific Pantry, distributes food in Smith River in this September 2024 photo. Pacific Pantry has expanded its hours in the wake of uncertain SNAP benefits as a result of the federal government shutdown. | File photo by Jessica Cejnar Andrews

Crescent City Councilor Jason Greenough argued that writing to the U.S. senators who represent California, urging them to help end the federal government shutdown wasn’t political.

In response to concerns from his colleague Candace Tinkler, Greenough pointed to the disruption in food stamps, potential impacts to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, which funds the Crescent City Housing Authority, as well as federal employees who are going without pay.

“Our senators have both decided to continue to vote to keep the government shutdown,” Greenough told his colleagues on Monday. “So we at least need to have a discussion about communicating with them to hopefully get this fixed if it is still shut down by our next meeting.”’

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Articles, Crescent City, Crime, Emergencies, Law

Three Children Are Safe After Law Enforcement Arrest Male Suspect Following Hours-Long Standoff

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Thumbnail photo: Law enforcement with the Crescent City Police Department, Del Norte County Sheriff’s Office, Pelican Bay State Prison’s CERT Team and others secure the scene after an hours-long standoff ended with four children being taken into protective custody and a male and female suspect arrested. | Photo by Heather Polen

Four children are in protective custody Monday evening after officers from multiple agencies engaged in a standoff with a 50-year-old man that lasted more than seven hours.

Three of the youngsters, ages 1, 2 and 4, were in the Crescent City apartment with Robert William Thraen when officers responded to the area to conduct a welfare check at about 10:30 a.m., Police Chief Richard Griffin told Redwood Voice Community News. 

Griffin said they were able to get the children to safety and arrest the suspect after he decided to have his officers break the window to open the front door — a technique he called a breach and hold. 

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