Category Archives: Emergencies

Del Norte Ambulance Will Station A Vehicle, Crew In Klamath

Thumbnail photo courtesy of Del Norte Ambulance

(Updated at 5:07 p.m. to clarify that it was Walter Lara Jr. that helped facilitate a partnership between the Yurok Tribe and Del Norte Ambulance to open a station in Klamath.]

Del Norte Ambulance’s operations manager confirmed a statement District 5 Supervisor Dean Wilson made earlier this month — the emergency medical provider will have an ambulance and a crew stationed in Klamath.

“We are working with the Yurok Housing Authority on a partnership for securing housing for us on a trial basis of one year while we place one of our four ambulances there,” Charles Tweed told Redwood Voice Community News on Thursday. “Two people will be staffed in that ambulance at any given time.”

This news comes about two weeks after an independent consultant, EndPoint EMS Consulting LLC, delivered an analysis of Del Norte County’s emergency medical system, finding that Klamath residents often waited up to 45 minutes for an ambulance to arrive during an emergency.

Continue reading Del Norte Ambulance Will Station A Vehicle, Crew In Klamath

Analysis Finds Del Norte Ambulance Meeting ‘Minimal Requirements’ Though Response Time to Klamath, Gasquet Can Exceed 30 Minutes

Thumbnail photo: Del Norte Ambulance is meeting the terms of its contract with Del Norte County, an analysis of the emergency medical system found. | Photo courtesy of Del Norte Ambulance

Del Norte Ambulance is meeting the minimum requirements of its contract with the county, an assessment of the community’s emergency dispatch system found.

This conclusion is contrary to what several local fire chiefs reported to the Board of Supervisors more than two years ago when it considered awarding the ambulance company sole operating rights in Del Norte.

But the assessment, conducted by EndPoint EMS Consulting LLC, stated that the Del Norte County Sheriff’s Office is unable to provide emergency medical dispatch services or provide data on 911 medical call reports. Response times to remote areas in the county often exceeded 30 minutes, and there was a lack of understanding and coordination between Del Norte Ambulance and fire department personnel.

Continue reading Analysis Finds Del Norte Ambulance Meeting ‘Minimal Requirements’ Though Response Time to Klamath, Gasquet Can Exceed 30 Minutes

Moffatt & Nichol Engineer Discusses Next The Harbor’s Steps On Tsunami Recovery Road

Thumbnail photo: Crescent City Harbor’s H Dock took the brunt of the impact from the Kamchatka tsunami on July 30. | Photo courtesy of the Crescent City Harbor District

Though a 10-day window for an emergency declaration is drawing to a close, coastal engineer Rob Sloop urged Crescent City Harbor commissioners to factor the area’s vulnerability to tsunamis into their losses following last week’s surges.

“You’re suffering now from a long-term bias that this is a dangerous harbor so that needs to go into your equation of loss,” he said Friday. “When we talk about how much this may cost, there’s the structure. But there’s the people and then there’s the loss of revenue — all of those things compound.” 

Sloop, vice president for Moffatt & Nichol, the architect firm spearheading the rebuild of Citizens Dock, sought to help harbor commissioners figure out their next steps after the magnitude 8.8 Kamchatka earthquake produced a tsunami that barreled into the harbor in the wee hours of July 30.

Continue reading Moffatt & Nichol Engineer Discusses Next The Harbor’s Steps On Tsunami Recovery Road

Del Norte OES Manager Says Gasquet Neighbors Group Stepped Up During Tsunami Emergency; Scientists Start Collecting, Analyzing Data

Thumbnail photo: Wednesday’s tsunamis lifted H Dock off its pilings, temporarily submerging it, resulting in separation of its segments. | Photo courtesy of the Crescent City Harbor District

Two days after a magnitude 8.8 earthquake near the Russian Far East sent tsunami surges into the Crescent City Harbor, Del Norte County’s emergency services manager posted a big thank you on Facebook.

Deborah Otenburg praised first responders, local law enforcement, the city, school district and tribal partners as well as the county health and human services and building maintenance departments, which set up a temporary evacuation point at the Veterans Memorial Hall in Crescent City.

Otenburg also lauded the Gasquet Neighbors Helping Neighbors group and the Gasquet American Legion Hall — unusual recipients of her thanks when the only areas in immediate danger for most of Wednesday were the harbor, beaches and the Elk Creek, Klamath and Smith River mouths.

Continue reading Del Norte OES Manager Says Gasquet Neighbors Group Stepped Up During Tsunami Emergency; Scientists Start Collecting, Analyzing Data

Kamchatka Tsunami May Have Caused More Damage to Crescent City Harbor Than Thought, Assessment Continues

Thumbnail photo: Crescent City Harbor and Pacific Power staff assess damage done to H Dock from a series of tsunami surges spawned by an 8.8 earthquake near the Kamchatka Peninsula. | Photo by Heather Polen.

Crescent City Harbormaster Mike Rademaker said a series of tsunami surges that swept into the inner boat basin may have caused “closer to $1 million” in damage on Wednesday.

H Dock bore the brunt of the energy, Rademaker said, but the concrete structure of the docks are “mostly still in good shape.”

“The metal connecting plates are sheared all over,” he said via text message just after noon on Wednesday, “and the 1.5 inch electric cabling will have to be completely replaced.”

Continue reading Kamchatka Tsunami May Have Caused More Damage to Crescent City Harbor Than Thought, Assessment Continues

Del Norte County Weathers Tsunami With Minimal Damage; CCHD’s H Dock Did Its Job, Harbormaster Says

Thumbnail photo: The National Weather Service noted surge of 3.6 feet at about 4 a.m. Wednesday, enough to generate minor coastal flooding and inundation. | Image courtesy of the National Weather Service

The Crescent City Harbor District’s sacrificial dock did its job, taking the brunt of the energy spawned by a series of tsunami surges that arrived early Wednesday morning.

No injuries were reported from the tsunami, which occurred following a magnitude 8.8 earthquake off the east coast of Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula, Harbormaster Mike Rademaker said during a community briefing at about 8 a.m. Wednesday. But H Dock sustained significant damage.

“At approximately 2:40 a.m. we noticed a surge of water several feet in height,” he said. “That caused the decking of H Dock to lift along its pilings. As the water level rose, the decking lodged on the pilings and was eventually submerged, [which] resulted in major structural failure and the complete separation of the dock.” 

Continue reading Del Norte County Weathers Tsunami With Minimal Damage; CCHD’s H Dock Did Its Job, Harbormaster Says

‘We Need To Hear From People In Our Community’

Thumbnail photo: Courtesy of the North Coast Rape Crisis Team

Amanda LeBlanc issued a call to action last week.

Appearing before the Del Norte County Board of Supervisors, the executive director of the North Coast Rape Crisis Team accepted a proclamation declaring April as Sexual Assault Awareness Month. But with a $500,000 grant that pays for five sexual-assault response team nurses in Del Norte County at the mercy of the Trump administration’s federal funding freeze, LeBlanc urged local elected officials and other Del Norters to reach out to their state and national representatives.

“We’ve been told by our lobbying agencies that they are really sick of hearing from us because they understand that we like our jobs and we would like the funding,” she said. “We need to hear from people in our community who are not directly affected by these funds.”

Continue reading ‘We Need To Hear From People In Our Community’

Curry County Declares Emergency Following Weekend Atmospheric River

Thumbnail: In the wake of an atmospheric river that brought flooding to Curry County, the National Weather Service is warning of gusty winds on Wednesday. | Image courtesy of the U.S. National Weather Service Medford office.

A “severe rain event” that led to flooding and road damage in Curry County prompted the Board of Commissioners to issue an emergency declaration on Tuesday.

The same atmospheric river that brought gusty winds to Del Norte County over the weekend caused the Rogue River to flood near Lobster Creek as well as near the mouth, Curry County Director of Operations Ted Fitzgerald said.

Flooding plugged culverts, causing streams to wash out Floras Creek and Six Rivers roads, said Fitzgerald, who also serves as the county’s roadmaster. It also brought down a lot of debris, he said.

Continue reading Curry County Declares Emergency Following Weekend Atmospheric River

Federal Funding Freeze Puts Del Norte Fire Safe Council Fuels Reduction Projects In Limbo

Thumbnail: Del Norte Office of Emergency Services Public Information Officer Bill Steven snapped this photo of the Smith River Complex wildfires burning above Patrick Creek Lodge and U.S. 199 on Aug. 16, 2023.

(Updated at 12:03 p.m. Friday with a correction: The California Climate Investments grant is a state program and Cal Fire is a state department. There is a $70 million federal grant available, though Del Norte Fire Safe Council County Coordinator Aaron Babcock said he’s not sure how it will be distributed.)

Flames from the Smith River Complex crept within 600 feet of Aaron Babcock’s Gasquet home in August, 2023.

A former firefighter, Babcock is the county coordinator for the Del Norte Fire Safe Council. He said he and his wife chose not to evacuate from the smattering of wildfires burning around the Gasquet area. Instead, he and two of his Fire Safe Council colleagues helped clean out gutters and create extra defensible space for about 50 homes threatened by the fire.

“The houses we had worked on definitely got skipped over,” Babcock told Redwood Voice Community News on Tuesday. “Because they had firefighters preemptively clearing around people’s homes in case the fire came through, those homes didn’t have to have anything done [to prevent them from burning], which was great because it lowers the amount of firefighting resources that were needed and helped protect other homes.”

Continue reading Federal Funding Freeze Puts Del Norte Fire Safe Council Fuels Reduction Projects In Limbo

Del Norte Supervisors Endorse SitelogIQ’s Microgrid Proposal, Feasibility Still To Be Determined

Thumbnail: SitelogIQ laid out two proposed microgrid projects to supervisors back in September. | Screenshot.; Above: Pacific Power brought in large generators to restore power to Del Norte County during the Smith River Complex wildfires in August 2023. | Photo courtesy of Valerie Starkey

Four Del Norte County supervisors endorsed a plan to connect county facilities, including the sheriff’s office and jail, to community solar generation and microgrid projects that could provide backup electricity during emergencies.

But with SitelogIQ in early conversations with the utility serving Del Norte residents and other local potential partners, District 4 Supervisor Joey Borges was skeptical. He said he doubted that Pacific Power would be “OK with our microgrid running through their lines” during a major catastrophe.

“If they’re shutting down [electricity] for a safety reason, it’s going to be shut down, period,” Borges told Redwood Voice Community News on Tuesday after voting against a letter of agreement with SitelogIQ, the national energy efficiency provider spearheading local microgrid and solar projects.

Continue reading Del Norte Supervisors Endorse SitelogIQ’s Microgrid Proposal, Feasibility Still To Be Determined