“Those power lines are going to be a detriment to the air attack program and the ground program…More country is going to burn. It’s obvious.” – Bob Robeson, retired Division Chief, California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal-Fire)

By Miriam Raftery

June 1, 2010 (Lakeside) – Swift attacks by aerial drops and ground crews narrowly succeeded in saving threatened homes Saturday along Highway 67 in the Slaughterhouse Canyon area of Lakeside, where several small fires started by a vehicle's catalytic converted merged into a 30-acre brush fire. But ECM columnist Dennis Richardson, an eyewitness to the firefighting efforts, raises a troubling concern.
Fires were burning directly along the route of the Sunrise Powerlink high voltage lines planned by SDG&E, he noted. (See map; fire was located between CP37-2 and CP31-2): http://www.cpuc.ca.gov/environment/info/aspen/sunrise/pmr/sdge_final_pmr_fig38.pdf .

“The Cal-Fire aerial firefighters would not have been able to work this fire until it burned out from under the transmission wires,” Richardson stated. Saturday’s fire occurred in spring, when grasses were still green and winds were only 5 mph. Had it occurred in dry conditions during summer or fall, with even moderate winds, Richardson warned, “No telling how many homes and lives could have been lost.”

By Bob Kipper, Vietnam War veteran and owner, KIAC Insurance Agency, San Marcos

Editor’s note: Last week we ran an article titled “Prop 17 would hurt veterans and consumers, experts warn.”  The Yes on Prop 17 campaign has responded by submitting the editorial below.

June 1, 2010 (San Diego) – The Marine Corps Air Station Miramar Fire Deparment will be conducting a series of prescribed burns on base property through June 30th. A scheduled burn is slated for tomorrow, June 2, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., weather permitting. Miramar Fire Department Crews will be on a ridge top in east Miramar and smoke will be visible along SR-52, SR-163, from Interstate 15 as well as in local communities.

Update 9:50 a.m. CHP reports a fatality and several patients transported to a trauma center.

June 1, 2010 (San Diego’s East County) – A SIG Alert has been issued for Highway 125, where a Border Patrol vehicle has overturned and is on fire, Incident Page Network reports. Three to four other vehicles are also involved in a collision, blocking all lanes. 

Conflicting reports list the nearest exit as both Palm and Jamacha.  Onramps from 94, Spring Street and other areas are being shut down.   According to dispatch reports, a beige SUV came from the north lanes into the south lines, colliding with other vehicles. CHP is on the scene and rescue crews are in route.

May 31, 2010 (El Cajon) -- The San Diego East County Chamber of Commerce will present its“Conversations with the Candidates” legislative dinner on June 1st. All candidates running for the 36th Senate seat and the 77th Assembly district have been invited. Both are important electoral positions for the East County community and both are open seats this election cycle.

Update 3 p.m. Cal-Fire reports that both fatalities were visitors to the home. Four other people escaped the fire, including one female who was transported to an emegency facility for treatment of smoke inhalation.

May 31, 2010 (Shelter Valley) – A modular home fire iat 7523 Gunslinger Trail in Shelter Valley near Julian overnight has resulted in two fatalities, the County Coroner's office reports. “When firefighters arrived, the modular home was fully involved,” said Cal-Fire Battalion Chief Nick Schuler.

Nothing but the Truth!

By Will Power

 May 31, 2010 (San Diego) -- On Memorial Day we pay tribute to those brave souls who risk life and limb that we may live in a free, democratic society. But those who serve often sacrifice more than life and limb.

May 30, 2010 (San Diego’s East County) – A hawk flew into power lines today in Mira Mesa, igniting a fire that briefly threatened homes. The fire is now extinguished. This evening, Cal-Fire is at the scene of a small fire started by a riding lawn mower on Haverford Road in Ramona. The fire is surrounded and is expected to be out soon.

Creative learning model is part of agenda at June 8 forum on Alpine's new high school

By Megan Werland
Alpine resident and member of the 12th HS Design Team

May 29, 2010 (Alpine) -- On June 8th, the GUHSD’s 12th High School Design Team will introduce its curriculum and architectural design to the community of Alpine and Blossom Valley (BV).

People will see innovation that will inspire them and may even make them a little nervous. Because after all, a school of the future will not look like the high school we attended when we were younger. Not to worry, parents!

May 29, 2010 (Lakeside) 4:30 p.m. – A 30-acre fire centered at Slaughterhouse Canyon Road just north of Lakeside has been 100% contained at 30 acres. The fire was caused by pieces of a malfunctioning catalytic converter expelled from a vehicle, according to Cal Fire spokesperson Roxanne Provaznik.

‘Now is the time of year to keep your vehicles properly maintained, so that fires like this don’t happen,” say’s Fire Investigator Captain Preston Fouts. Also to help prevent fires now that it’s camping season, R.V. owners are asked to check safety chains on the tow hitch and make sure they are tight and not sagging onto the pavement, causing sparks.

1 p.m. update:  ECM publisher Mark Hanson, whose home overlooks the San Vicente Reservoir, says the fire appears to be out in his area following air drops on the blaze.  The U.S. Forest Service has also been called in to assist, Incident Page Network reports.

May 29, 2010 (Julian) -- Stephanie Brehm-McCabe, 44, was found dead May 27 n her vehicle in a remote mountain area near Julian. Cause of death has not yet been released by the coroner's office.

A resident of Santa Margarita, she had been reported missing by family on May 25.  She was last seen May 24 at approximately 8 a.m. after putting a knife to her wrist. She left in her truck, then phoned an acquaintance and left a message indicating she intended to commit suicide.

May 29, 2010 (Sabre Springs) BreAnna Erickson, 17, died from injuries sustained in a head-on crash with a truck on Sabre Springs Parkway near Creekbridge Place at 5:39 p.m. last night. A friend was driving the car at a high speed but lost control, according to the Coroner’s office. Four other young people were also in the car, San Diego Police report.

INSURANCE-BACKED INITIATIVE DECEIVES CONSUMERS, SAY PUBLIC INTEREST GROUPS 

By Miriam Raftery

May 28, 2010 (San Diego) – Mercury Insurance is the sole sponsor of Proposition 17, though it hides its identity behind the deceptively name Campaign for Consumer Rights. Mercury wants to repeal portions of a law that prohibit it from charging higher rates to consumers who dropped insurance coverage for 90 days, missed a single payment, or were not previously insured (even if a teen had a perfect record driving a paren'ts car).

Yesterday, Assembly Veterans Affairs Committee Chair Mary Salas held a press conference with Votevets.org chairman Jon Soltz to warn that Prop 17 unfairly penalizes veterans who drop coverage while serving overseas or in the U.S. “Soldiers and veterans would be required to pay up to $1,000 more a year for auto insurance when they sought to restart coverage,” Salas cautions.