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– Weekend Edition – VOLUME 173 • ISSUE 96 | $1.00
mtdemocrat.com
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 4, 2024
Three homes and vehicles destroyed in Pollock Pines fire Odin Rasco Senior staff writer
Photo by Linda Sanchez
El Dorado County fire crews responded to a structure fire in Pollock Pines.
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Firefighters from across the county battled a structure fire in Pollock Pines that destroyed multiple buildings and vehicles the afternoon of Tuesday, Oct. 1. A column of black smoke billowed above a Pollock Pines neighborhood on Spruce Street, a narrow residential street neighbored by Highway 50 and Pony Express Trail as fire engines and other first responders rushed to the scene of the house fire. Firefighters first received a call about the fire at 1:31 p.m., and though they were able to achieve containment quickly, complications led to a lengthy battle to fully extinguish the flames. By the time firefighters arrived multiple buildings were already on fire, and flare-ups occurred throughout the fight with the flames as the houses contained many portable oxygen tanks and portable propane cylinders which ruptured and vented jets of flame, according to El Dorado County Fire Protection District Capt. Jacob Poganski. The fire was completely doused by 4 p.m. The residents of the home, Linda and George Tyler and two others, were able to evacuate without injury from the flames, though George did require medical attention from first responders due to smoke inhalation. He was transported by paramedics to Marshall Hospital. “I don’t know what we’re going to do,” Linda said while sitting across the street and looking on as ■ See FIRE, page A9
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Mountain Democrat photo by Odin Rasco
A member of an El Dorado County Fire Protection District crew heads toward a house fire in Pollock Pines which destroyed three buildings and multiple vehicles. Investigators later determined the fire had been caused by improperly discarded smoking material.
DECISION 2024
■ Meet El Dorado Irrigation District Division 1 candidates ✯ Paul Penn Dawn Hodson
Mountain Democrat correspondent Running for the El Dorado Irrigation District Board of Directors Division 1 seat is Paul Penn. George Osborne currently occupies that seat and is retiring after 23 years on the board. A longtime resident, Penn and his family moved to El Dorado County in 1988 and live on a bucolic
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ranch in Diamond Springs. He currently volunteers with the El Dorado County Fire Safe Council and the Diamond Springs Fire Safe Council.
With a master’s degree in environmental management, Penn has had a long career in emergency/ environmental health and safety management. Mostly retired, he continues as the president of a company called Global Vision Consortium, which he describes as a “boutique” consultancy providing emergency/health and safety planning, training and exercising to public and private ■ See PENN, page A5
✯ Noel Russell Dawn Hodson
Mountain Democrat correspondent Throwing his hat in the ring to be the new Division 1 representative on the El Dorado Irrigation District Board of Directors is Noel Russell. No stranger to either the county or EID, Russell has lived here for more than 50 years and recently retired from EID after 29 years in operations
with almost a decade of that time as EID’S water construction supervisor. After learning that Division 1 Director George Osborne would be retiring, Russell said
he decided running for the board would be the next best step — “an opportunity to continue to do some more good and because I didn’t feel I was quite done yet.” “I’m not a politician and I don’t have any ulterior motives or political reasons for running,” he said, adding that his campaign is entirely self-funded. Asked about any conflict of interest ■ See RUSSELL, page A5
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