WEEICENDER: 'Magic of the Night' returns to Sonora MORE IN WEEKENDER:SecondSaturday Art Night features Ventana photographs; TheBandPerry next up in Ironstone series
THE MOTHER LODE'SLEADING INFORMATION SOURCE SINCE 1854 • SO NORA, CALIFORNIA
THURSDA Y
AUGUST 6, 2015
TODAY 'S REABiRBOA RB BRIEFING
Stanislaus National Forest fires
Out-of-area gersonnel dolster Ioealresourees nel are helping bolster Stanislaus National Forest fire squads who are down one In the midst of a statewide engine crew since a July 12 emergency due to drought- crash outside Fresno. fueled fires with more than Four of the five firefight10,000 firef ighters battling ers who were in the Sunday 23 active blazes up and down morning multi-rollover crash California, additional person- of Engine 346 are still off By GUY McCARTHY The Union Democrat
Acingthetest-
duty and recovering, Division Chief Steve Baran, acting deputy fire chief for the Stanislaus National Forest, said Wednesday. One of the injured firefighters has returned to work. The Stanislaus National F orest fire engine in t h e
crash, a new 2015 International, was totalled, and it willcost$267,000 to replace, ForestServiceoffi cialssaid. The Engine 346 crew was based at Hodgdon Fire Station near the Highway 120 entrance to Yosemite National Park, Baran said.
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CalaverasCounty
SierraVieWS: MICKEYWALLACE
Law seizes 324M in pot plants
Hospital lab passes inspection with flying colors.A2
Book seriesCa laveras County author releases fantasy book trilogy.A2
"Normally we have 12 enginesavailablefortheforest," Baran said. "With Engine 346 down that brings us down to 11. We do support the region when there are other fires, and there are right now."
By JASON COWAN
Upcoming events in the Mother Lode.A3
Tuolumne man was a member of forest's first crew
OPlhlOh —Retroac-
By ALEX MacLEAN
tive morality discouraged; The next president will owe Obama big time.A4
The Union Democrat
Water waste-
Back in the summer of 1959, a fi re truck rolled into a campground near
State and local law enforcement ofticials seized 12,000 marijuana plants in Calaveras County Tuesday. Officials said the plants had astreetvalue estimated at about $24 million. Although the number of plants seized is a significant
Pinecrest where a 17-year-
amount, it is not uncommon
old Mickey Wallace was staying with some friends. A firefighter said he was looking for a b le-bodied men to help battle a blaze burning near Schoettgen Pass. Wallace volunteered. Little did he know that choice would lead to him jumping and hanging from helicoptersas part of an elite firefighting crew a few years later. "That's how it all started for me,"said Wallace, 73,
on privateproperty — most busts can range anywhere I'rom 1,000 plants to the tens of thousands, said California Department of Justice spokeswoman Michelle Gregory. The plants were found on land adjacent to Bureau of Land Management property, she said. The Mountain and Valley Marijuana Investigation team, which coordinates efforts against drug traffickers, assisted the Campaign Against Marijuana Planting, a task force that works to eradicate large- and smallscale marijuana sites from public and private land. The Calaveras County Sheriff's Department was
News Notes-
SaveWater.CAGov lets residents report incidents anonymously. Back Page
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The Union Democrat
who spent six years as one
of the original members of the Bald Mountain Helitack crew, a team of fire• FOOD FOR THOUGHT:Study finds children who are picky eaters are more likely to be anxious or depressed as adults.B1 • OBAMACARE:Tax issues could jeopardize health law aid.B1
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fighters transported by helicopter to battle wildfires in the Stanislaus National Forest.
Wallace was born and raised in Modesto, not far from Tuolumne County. He and his high school friends frequently went to Pinecrest Reservoir for fun during the summer. After helping on that first fire, Wallace spent the rest of the summer battling wildfires and got a job with the Summit Ranger
involved in the operation as
well. Courtesy photo(above); Maggie Beck /union Democrat ibelow)
Mickey Wallace (above, at left) was one of the original members of the Bald Mountain Helitack crew. A photo circa 1966 shows him and crew members Toby Markusen and pilot Skeet Northern aboard one of the first helicopters. Mickey Wallace (below) and his wife of 50 years, Mattie, live in Tuolumne.
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Woman denies stabbing coworker
District in the Stanislaus
Forest in 1960. Wallace went to smokejumper school later that year in Missoula, Montana, with the hope that the experience would help him become a part of the Stanislaus National Forest's first helitack team. "I heard we were going to be establishing a he-
By TORI THOMAS The Union Democrat
A Sonora woman accused of stabbing her coworker in May is set to appear in Tu o lumne County Superior Court Aug. 14 for a preliminary hearing. Meghan Myra H a rdin Har din, 21, of Sonora, is charged with
litack crew on the StanPHONE: 770-7153,984534
NBNS:editor@uniondemocrat.corn FEATUR ES: faaturasluniondemocrat.cor n SPORTS: sporlsluniondamocratcom EVENTS ANDWEEKENDER: weekend erluniondemocrat.corn LElTERS: latiers@uniondemocratcom CAlAVERAS BUREAU:770-7197
islaus National Forest, and I knew that becoming a smokejumper was a way into helitack," he said. Smokejumpers to this day are an important part See VIEWS / Back Page
NEWSROO MFtN: 5324451 SUBSCR IBERSERVICES: 533-3614
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