UPDATE at 1:10 p.m. The California Highway Patrol has opened one lane of traffic on Highway 243 and is escorting vehicles through. UPDATE at 10:58 a.m. the fire is reported to be 100 percent contained. UPDATE at 10:39 a.m. The Twin Fire is now 45 acres and 80 percent contained. UPDATED at 9:49 a.m. The…
The Idyllwild Fire Protection District commission appointed Patrick Reitz as the next idyllwild Fire Chief. The vote was 4-0, Commissioner Jerry Buchanan was absent. Reitz was was the Fire Chief and Emergency Services Director for the City of Sheridan, Wyoming. He was laid off from this position in February 2012 to help the city save…
Assembly Bill 341, which the California Legislature passed and Gov. Jerry Brown signed in October 2011, requires any business, multifamily residential dwelling of five or more units, industrial facility, and school or special district that generates more than four cubic yards of solid waste per week to recycle. Although the law’s regulations and requirements took…
California Highway Patrol Officer Ron Esparza said a solo traffic collision occurred around 12 p.m. on Tuesday afternoon. Kathryn Ramsey Fagan, 63, of Hemet, was heading west on Highway 74 near mile marker 57 in her 2005 Nissan Murano when she missed a turn and catapulted 20 to 30 feet into the air landing about…
At the June 20 special meeting of the County Service Area 38 Advisory Committee meeting, Idyllwild Fire Commissioner Dr. Charles “Chip” Schelly addressed the committee and the community lamenting the lack of agreement, comity and teamwork between Pine Cove and the Idyllwild Fire Department. He suggested investigating ways in which Pine Cove residents might have…
A female hiker was rescued from Tahquitz Rock in Idyllwild after sustaining injury to an extremity, according to Riverside County Fire Department spokesperson Jody Hagemann. The injured female was extracted from the area by a helicopter hoist and was transported by ground ambulance to an area hospital in stable condition, according to Hagemann. RCFD, CAL…
The Riverside Mountain Rescue Unit completed two rescues on the Fourth of July. Long accustomed to interruption of holiday celebrations, the RMRU team began one mission around 9 p.m. on Tuesday, July 3rd. Two hikers from the San Francisco area had left the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway mountaintop station at 2:15 p.m. for a day…
Fire log Hill fire stations responded to the following calls, Tuesday to Monday, June 26 to July 2, 2012: Idyllwild Fire Department and Ambulance June 26 — Medical aid, John Muir Road, Idyllwild. June 27 — Walk-in medical aid. June 28 — Two walk-in medical aid. June 28 — Medical aid, Overlook and Big Pine…
Editor’s note: This letter was sent to Idyllwild Fire Department interim Chief Mike Sherman. Commissioner Schelly read it aloud at IFPD’s June 26 meeting. Chief Sherman: After 16 years of grateful service, I submit this as my retirement notice effective May 31, 2012. As I look back, I am thankful to all the people that…
The Idyllwild Fire Protection District Commission is considering instituting a patient satisfaction assessment in the future. Commissioner Dr. Charles “Chip” Schelly suggested the idea to his colleagues and agreed to further research the concept. “It’s an outcome assessment,” Schelly explained. “After our care of a patient is through, what was the quality of that care?”…
