The Supervisors met briefly on February 11. They began with a Special Meeting concerning the explosion in a trailer in an unincorporated area west of Redding, resulting in an injury to the resident that occurred last week.
The Board adopted a resolution ratifying the local emergency proclaimed Feb. 7 by Sheriff Tom Bosenko. The resolution includes a request to the Governor to also proclaim a state of emergency, which might make additional resources available to the county.
The most apt response to this declaration was made later in the meeting by Terri Love, Director of Shasta County Child Support Service. She was present to recognize one of her staff as the February Employee of the Month: “As a lifetime resident of Shasta County, I’m just honestly surprised by some of the things that go on in our community any more. Very sad situation…”
Indeed.
The sheriff’s office responded to an explosion on the night of Thurs., Feb. 6 that resulted in the owner of the mobile home losing a hand. The resident, D. Ray East, is still in the hospital. He may have been producing explosives to propel rockets. The sheriff’s office found 40 pounds of explosives plus additional precursor explosive material on the premises.
The sheriff, with the assistance of the FBI, has determined that the explosive material cannot be safely removed by a bomb robot. As a result, residents from 28 homes within a 1000 foot radius of the trailer were requested to evacuate. Those that left have not been allowed to return to the area. Based on a similar house bomb in San Diego County in 2010, it may take weeks to safely resolve the situation.
The Board also heard an informational report from Kristen Gray, Director of the Lassen Park Foundation. This group provides philanthropic support to preserve and interpret material and cultural resources of Lassen National Park and its environs. The Foundation has initiated a $530,000 capital campaign to develop facility resources to serve the youth camp program that operates in Lassen Park.
For more than 20 years, youth organizations have held outdoor camps of 3 days to a week in Lassen Park. Children aged 6 through 18 camp, hike, and watch wildlife and the stars. In many cases, these children are camping and/or going to a national park for the very first time. The camp area is now simply an outdoor space with barbecue facilities. The capital campaign will add tent cabins, a cooking shelter, a shower facility, food storage lockers and a fire circle. Although the Foundation provides low income or special needs young people with small grants, groups must provide their own food, transportation and, for many young people, camping equipment. The new camp facility will reduce some of these costs for participating groups and improve the camping experience. The National Park does not provide funds for the youth camping program. The Foundation is soliciting community support.
More information may be found at their web site, www.lassenparkfoundation.org.
Note: The 2/18/14 Shasta County Board of Supervisor’s meeting has been cancelled.
<em><strong>Catherine Camp is currently retired. During her career, she worked as a policy and budget analyst for the California Assembly and California Senate, in health and human services fields. She worked as a policy analyst and advocate for California’s public mental health system. Early in her career, she worked in the Community Action and Head Start programs in Shasta County.</strong></em>
