171
C ali forn ia’s Olde st Ne w spaper
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Volume 171 • Issue 95 | $1.00
mtdemocrat.com
Monday, August 15, 2022
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Murder-suicide suspected in Placerville A father and son were found dead Thursday night in this Placerville home at 3118 Wiltse Road.
Eric Jaramishian Staff writer Two men were found dead inside a Wiltse Road home in Placerville Thursday night, according to the Placerville Police Department. Neighbors told police a father and his adult son lived in the residence. Investigators say evidence indicates the son may have murdered his father before taking his own life. The decedents, aged 57 and 35, were found after neighbors reported a suspicious odor to police dispatchers. That call came in at about 7:12 p.m. Neighbors also told dispatchers they
Mountain Democrat photo by Eric Jaramishian
had not seen the two men in several days. Arriving to the home on the 3100 block of Wiltse, officers said they looked through a front window to see a man in the living room with “obvious signs of death.” As officers entered the house a second man was located, also deceased. Next-door neighbor Ellie Powell, 25, told the Mountain Democrat the father and son often argued so loud she could hear them from inside her own home ever since she moved to the neighborhood about one year ago. n
See Murder-Suicide, page 7
Courtesy photo
A California Highway Patrol officer stops a Dollar General delivery truck on Highway 49.
Highway 49 troubles Dollar General trucks Eric Jaramishian Staff writer El Dorado County authorities have received numerous complaints regarding Dollar General delivery trucks traveling on Highway 49. The issue is the trucks are too big, according to Shawn Callaway with the Placerville office of the California Highway Patrol. Recently CHP reported that one of its officers stopped an over-length truck going into Cool. A Caltrans truck network map shows that trucks 65 feet and longer are not allowed to travel Highway 49. According to a press release from District 4 Supervisor Lori Parlin’s office, Planning and Building Department Director Karen Garner reached out to Dollar General warehouse PLACE ADDRESS LABEL HERE
management to urge compliance with county conditions of approval for deliveries. Part of that means trucks that meet length requirements must be used, according to Callaway. “The officer in question has had to pull over a few oversized trucks in the area leading up to the American River Confluence,” Callaway said. “When we ask truck drivers to check their routes, we say that so drivers can utilize the proper-sized trucks so there won’t be any problems.” The only way to get to Cool is through either north or southbound Highway 49. Both the highway to the north and south have the 65-foot regulations in place, as well as a 30-foot, kingpin-torear-axle advisory in place set by Caltrans, noted Department of Transportation Senior Civil Engineer Adam Bane. The Dollar General is a new addition in Cool, having just recently opened its doors. Conditions of approval for the north county Dollar General agreed upon by county leaders state delivery trucks are only to access the property via right turns from Highway 49 onto Northside Drive, along which the discount retailer sits. The conditions also expect n
See Highway, page 3
Courtesy photo
Little remains of a Shingle Springs Band of Miwok Indians Tribal Fire Department crew buggy that burned Aug. 6 in the Six Rivers Lightning Complex in Trinity and Humboldt counties.
Tribal firefighters safe; transport trucks destroyed Eric Jaramishian Staff writer A fire crew returned home safe last week after fast-moving flames of a lightning complex fire in the Six Rivers National Forest destroyed their firefighting equipment and two transport trucks Aug. 6. In mere seconds Shingle Springs Band of Miwok Indians Tribal Fire Department firefighters lost everything they brought with them to the firefight. Burning in Humboldt and Trinity counties, the blaze is actually several separate fires sparked by lightning Aug. 5. More than 13,900 acres had burned with no containment reported as of Friday morning. “I think what ended up happening is they had one little micro area where they were working and the temperature inversion lifted and that caused the fire to get enough heat on it to create its own little chimney and
Photo courtesy of American Red Cross Gold Country
Fire crew members rest at an American Red Cross shelter in Willow Creek after their transport vehicles and gear were lost. race up the hill very quickly,” said Dave Whitt, the crew’s chief. Whitt explained that the crew thought they had parked in a safe spot. “(The fire crew) kept doing their thing and thought, ‘We’re OK. We’re in a pretty good spot,’ and the fire went from this little ground fire down below them
to ladders, to torch, to crown, in what the crew boss told me was a 15-20 second period,” Whitt told the Mountain Democrat. All personal items, equipment and a tent in addition to their transportation, about $1 million worth of equipment, according to Whitt, were gone in less than one minute.
“They were doing everything they’re supposed to and all the right things,” Whitt said. “Hindsight is always 20-20 and we can say, ‘Hey, you parked in the wrong spot,’ but they were just doing what they were trained to do and doing good work.” n
See Fire crew, page 7
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