helicopter

4:30 p.m. update: The name of the male taken into custody is 23-year-old Dominic Gonzalez from Newark, Calif. Gonzalez is currently being held at the Washoe County Jail on a felony charge for possession of stolen property as well as reckless driving, driving without a driver’s license, fail to stop at the scene of an accident, fail to give information to party at accident and failure to obey a peace officer.
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Heavy snow stranded two snowmobilers and a vehicle in the Sierra Nevada during recent storms, bringing out search and rescue volunteers from both El Dorado and Alpine Counties in the last ten days.

A father and his five children were rescued by the California Highway Patrol after becoming stranded in a wooded and snowy area of El Dorado County for hours, according to officers.

The family of six went on an off-road excursion about 8 a.m. in the Ice House Reservoir area, but realized they were lost soon after.

The Elk Grove father named Ed called the CHP about 2:30 p.m. and told them that his pickup truck had begun sliding toward a cliff, and that he had been holding the brake pedal with both feet for some time to prevent it from going over the edge, the CHP said.

The El Dorado Savings Bank on Pleasant Valley Road in Diamond Springs was robbed on Friday, November 13 at about 6:00 p.m. The suspect reportedly fled on foot, last seen running east on Pleasant Valley Road.

A Friday evening head-on collision near the town of Kyburz on Highway 50 claimed the life of one woman and sent four others to area hospitals.

At 5:44 p.m. October 16, the California Highway Patrol (CHP) responded to the accident 18 miles east of Pollock Pines. A woman was driving eastbound when, for unknown reasons, she crossed into the westbound lane and hit an SUV carrying four people.

The solo driver was killed. Her identity has not yet been released.

A large illicit marijuana grow in the mountains of Lincoln County, NV was eradicated after law enforcement found 6,476 marijuana plants in the remote area. The plants had an estimated street value of $17 million.

It appears that individuals had operated the site for several years and was capable of producing large quantities of illegal marijuana intended for sales and distribution. In addition to the marijuana plants, law enforcement personnel recovered and removed nearly two miles of black irrigation piping, along with various chemicals, used during the growing process

A twisted chunk of metal, a file of yellowing newspapers and a million memories from 35 years ago are constant reminders of the Harvey’s Casino Resort bombing for retired FBI agent Bill Jonkey.

“It’s something you never forget,” said Jonkey, the FBI’s lead investigator on the $3 million extortion case, who lives in retirement in Carson Valley.

Update 8/7/15: The body found off the OHV Trail west of Slate Mountain in the El Dorado National Forest was positively identified today as 45 year-old Edward Cavanaugh of San Francisco. The identification was done by a forensic odontologist, who compared Cavanaugh’s dental records to the upper and lower jaw bones found near his motorcycle. The cause of death is still under investigation.

You're hiking along the trails of Lake Tahoe, fall and break your ankle. How do you get to the hospital? You're exploring the valleys and canyons of the Sierra, it gets dark and you don't know where you are. How do you get to safety? You've fallen on the slippery rocks of a waterfall and can't get out. Who do you call?

El Dorado Search and Rescue (SAR) is the answer to all of these questions and dozens more. Annually, the volunteers and deputies that make up SAR handle between 150 and 200 calls in the county portion of the Tahoe basin (AKA the east slope).

The Kyburz Fire is burning about 25 miles west of South Lake Tahoe. It has burned both sides of Highway 50 near and around the American River. It started on Highway 50 near Whitehall.

10 a.m. update 7/27/15:

The Sand Flat Campground has reopened as firefighters can almost total control of the fire lines. They now have 98% of the fire contained.

An updated infrared look at the scene has again reduced the amount burned to 75 acres.

They will not be updating the fire command website after Tuesday as they transfer o a forest Type 4 organization.

There are nine small lightning caused fires currently burning in or around the Lake Tahoe Basin, the largest one is one-half acre in size.

Staff from the U.S. Forest Service is at each scene with firefighters from the Tahoe-Douglas and North Lake Tahoe Fire Protection Districts, working to extinguish them. Most of the fires are single-tree fires with some ground fire.

Winds are calm, and the Lake Tahoe Basin received substantial rainfall in the area of the fire starts, so the rate of spread is low.

Future pilots for the U.S. Marine Corps Cobra and Huey helicopter fleets will get their training in skies above South Lake Tahoe during a 13-day training mission between July 27 and August 8.

South Lake Tahoe is the optimal training location for the Marine Light Attack Helicopter Training Squadron 303 out of Camp Pendleton, CA. The high altitude will better prepare the Marines for future missions, such as the recent humanitarian relief efforts in the mountains of Nepal.

A lightning-sparked wildfire has grown to 1,000 acres and led to a handful of evacuations in rural Northern California.

The blaze is burning for the third day Thursday in the Shasta-Trinity National Forest about halfway between Eureka and Redding.

The U.S. Forest Service says 17 helicopter and two air tankers are helping 160 firefighters take on the wildfire.

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Federal prosecutors have dropped charges against a Tuolumne County man accused of starting a massive 2013 wildfire that burned for more than two months and eventually charred more than 257,000 acres in the Stanislaus National Forest and Yosemite National Park.

Smoke in the sky in El Dorado County was from 14-acre wildfire on Thursday, according to Cal Fire.

The Gold Fire was off 8201 Highway 49 in the area of Sand Ridge Road.

The location is near or where the Sand Fire burned in 2104.

Cal Fire tweeted the fire was 100 percent contained as of 5:30 p.m. Friday afternoon.

The flames were in a hard-to-reach area, Cal Fire reported. One helicopter was initially working the fire and additional firefighting resources had been requested.

A New Year's Day head-on collision on Mt. Rose Highway left one person dead, two sent to Renown Hospital by helicopter with major injuries and one taken by ambulance with serious injuries. The accident happened when a 1998 Isuzu Rodeo crossed over the center line and struck a 2003 Jeep Liberty. All three occupants of the Liberty were taken to the Reno hospital.

The driver of the Isuzu left the scene on foot after the accident which occurred just after 6 p.m. Witnesses said he was bleeding and looked injured.

An early morning collision on Pioneer Trail in South Lake Tahoe left one person dead and sent two people by helicopter to the hospital.

At approximately 4:30 a.m., South Lake Tahoe Police and Fire personnel responded to the accident and found a vehicle had crashed into a retaining wall. Two accident victims were still in the car and one person was lying in the roadway.

There was a female driver, female front passenger, and a male in the street. Police believe the male had been a passenger in the backseat of the 4 door sedan.

9/29/14 update: Heavy precipitation over the weekend allowed firefighters to achieve 90 percent containment of the Cascade Fire near Snow Lake in the Desolation Wilderness. Crews will begin repairing impacts from fire suppression activities and will monitor the fire to detect any renewed activity later this week due to drier, warmer and windier conditions.

Bayview Trailhead and Campground and TaylorCreek Sno-Park on Hwy. 89 have reopened. The cause of the 20-acre fire is under investigation, but it has been determined to be human-caused.

Shawna Brekke-Read has been named the City of South Lake Tahoe's new Development Services Director. She is heading to the Sierra from the Bay Area where she has been the Town of Moraga's Planning Director for the last three years.

City Manager Nancy Kerry made the announcement Thursday. “I am very pleased to announce the selection of Shawna Brekke-Read to join the City’s organization leadership team. We are fortunate to recruit a professional of her caliber, experience and tenacity. I am confident Ms. Brekke-Read will serve the community and City Council well.”

5:35 p.m. update: Fire crews are getting a hand on a brush fire that was burning on the valley side of Kingsbury Grade. Hwy 207 is still closed at the top.

Two heavy air tankers, one single engine air tanker and one helicopter responded as well as multiple fire agencies. Containment is expected soon on the fire.

According to the U.S. Forest Service, fire numbers were near six acres and they have reevaluated it to be 1.5 acres. There is no threat to homes or structures at this time.

Two fires were quickly extinguished by the South Lake Tahoe Fire Department in the early hours on Sunday.

In the first incident, a fire was reported off Echo Road behind the power substation near the Stateline Raley's. When firefighters arrived at about 12:20 a.m., they found five foot flames coming from what was later determined to be an illegal campfire at a transient person's camp. They quickly cut a line around the fire and contained it to a 10 foot square.

7/23/14 update: After a manhunt lasting several hours, Douglas County Sheriff’s Deputies located Anthony Robert Diaz on July 22, 2014 at approximately 11 p.m. walking near Pine Nut Road in Gardnerville. Diaz’ 12 year old son was with him, and was safely recovered and returned to his mother. Diaz was arrested for ex-felon possession of a firearm, and child endangerment. Diaz remains in custody in the Douglas County Jail in Minden, and his bail has been set at $50k.

A two car accident on Kingsbury Grade Thursday afternoon resulted both drivers being transported to Renown Medical Center by helicopter.

The Nevada Highway Patrol is investigating the head-on collision which occurred about halfway down on the valley side of the State Route 207/Kingsbury Grade.

The crash happened about 12:45 p.m.and the road was closed for about two hours.

The El Dorado County Sheriff's Office patrol boat and search and rescue volunteers responded to the call of kayakers in distress on Lake Tahoe's wind whipped waters on October 3. In a report released today, Sgt. Steve Fleischmann of EDCSO reported that they received a call saying that multiple kayakers were in the water and needed help near Camp Richardson. When the rescue team arrived they found two kayakers in the water, two overturned kayaks and an additional kayaker still in his boat attempting to assist the others.