BURNEY — At 2:41 a.m. We d n e s -day, June 27, Bur-ney Fire D e p a r t -m e n t u n i t s were dis-p a t c h e dto a re-port of ar e s i d e n -tial struc-ture fire

at 37472 Highway 299 East, across the street from the Tri County Communi-ty Center. CALFIRE, Shasta County Volunteers from Cassel Fire Company were dispatched to assist Burney Fire Protection District in the firefight. With the addition of to Shasta County Sheriff Deputies there were 13 person-nel on scene.

The residence was off the highway

behind another structure, and when the first engine arrived on scene, Bur-ney Fire Captain Robert May reported smoke coming from the entire struc-ture.

Donning breathing apparatus and armed with hoses and pike poles, the crews fought fire in the attic and around the rock fireplace chimney. When the fire was extinguished, the structure had major loss to the roof support and the wall around the fire-place insert. Damage to the structure was estimated at $20,000 and content loss about $7,000.

The family admitted to having a warming fire in the woodstove insert earlier in the evening. Then, in the night the smoke alarm went off alert-ing them to the danger. One of the oc-cupants got up and noticed fire on the outside of the house between the wood siding and the rock chimney.

The fire investigation showed the fire had been burning for some time prior to discovery and had indeed SEE FIRE, A-6

Article by Alex ColvinMountain Echo reporterTwenty-five health-

care providers, staff, board members, and community leaders came out on June 28 to celebrate the ground breaking ceremony for Mountain Valleys Health Centers (MVHC) new Fall River clinic at 43658 HWY 299 E, McArthur, CA.

MHVC CEO Dave Jones and Shasta County Supervisor Mary Rickert each spoke briefly.

Dave Jones said, “We look forward to serving the residents of the Fall River Valley by provid-ing quality patient care and are very excited about the new clinic. The much needed larger building will allow for us

to better meet the needs of our patients. We are committed to making the transition into the new facility as streamlined as possible.”

Supervisor Rickert said, “Rural areas face challenges for successful health care and this fa-cility will be a very wel-come addition for this community. As a resi-dent of Fall River Valley for 30 years, this project is particularly exciting for me.”

Then Jones, Rickert, and MVHC Board Chair-man Dan Bouse each took a shovel and broke ground.

Chairman Bouse said, “We want to provide the best health care environ-ment that we can for the area. Fall River Valley

deserves this.”The new facility will

boast 10 exam rooms with enough room for telehealth and behavior-al health services in ad-dition to providing basic primary care. Construc-tion on the project is ex-pected to be completed around February 2019.

MVHC expressed thanks the McConnell Foundation for their generous donation to the project.

Krystina Uribes, Proj-ect Manager for Aspen Street Architects who provided the design, was present to represent the company. The architect of record is Nate Mor-gan. Architect Ezra Ivey also worked on the de-sign.

SEE CLINIC & PIC’S, A-3

By Trevor MontgomeryContributing writerFALL RIVER MILLS -- A

motorist was seriously injured and life-flightedWednesday morning after smashing into a trailer at 43202 Highway 299 E., in front of the Shell gas station, in Fall River Mills. According to a CHP incident log, the victim was believed to have possibly suffered a medi-cal emergency just before the crash.

CHP, Cal Fire, and other emergency first responders were dispatched to the scene about 11:10 a.m., after multiple witnesses called 911 to report the crash. Callers told SHAS-COM emergency dispatchers that a beige 2006 Jeep Wran-gler had crashed into a parked, red horse trailer at approxi-

mately 40 mph. Officials arrived about five

minutes later and found Rob-ert V Davies, 57, of Burney still inside the Jeep, unconscious sand unresponsive. Based on the victim’s condition, High-way Patrolman L.P. Dahlen, Jr. requested an air ambulance to the scene.

An air ambulance arrived at about noon, landing on Hwy. 299 E which had been tempo-rarily closed. The victim was loaded onto the chopper and airlifted to a trauma center. He was reportedly doing well in the hospital Sunday..

Officials re-opened the roadway about 12:15, after the air ambulance left.

CHP is investigating the cause of the crash and their investigation is ongoing.

YUBA CITY, Ca. — Retired Fall River High School teacher Gerald (Ja-rie) Lowell Fowles, 86, died June 13, 2018, in Yuba City, California.

In high school he was the student director of a cappella choir, a member of the basketball and track teams, and a cheerleader. He earned his Eagle Scout award

He served for three and a half years in U.S. Air Force, serving aboard a C-47 as a “door gunner” during theKorean War. Returning from Ko-rea, he met Beverly (Bev) Jean Niel-son and they were married severalmonths later in the Salt Lake Templeon January 29, 1953.

SEE FOWLES, A-6

By Jeff HeadlyNews Co-PublisherKeith County NewsOgalleta, NebraskaNick Hansen, 28, of Fall

River Mills, California, died

from injuries suffered in a small plane crash Friday about 3-1/2 miles southeast of Arthur.

The crash, which oc-

curred between 11:30 and noon south of the Enfield Ranch, happened in a re-mote area of Arthur Coun-ty. An official at the scene said witnesses said the plane appeared to stall out before crashing nose-first in a grassy field. The plane was destroyed in the crash.

According to Arthur County Sheriff Bill Simp-son, the plane was flying from Iowa and refueled at Thedford on its way to Alli-ance.

The Champion single-en-gine, fixed-wing aircraft was owned by Last Pass Aviation, which is located at Alliance, according to the Federal Aviation Admin-istration’s plane registry website.

Hansen was pronounced

dead at the scene by Arthur County Attorney Rick Rob-erts of Grant. Once extricat-ed from the aircraft, Han-sen’s body was transported to Ogallala by Draucker Fu-neral Home.

Hansen was believed to have been working for UPS in the area, according to a local officials from Fall Riv-er Mills, California, and was a 2008 Falls River Mills High School graduate.

About a dozen Arthur County Volunteer Fire De-partment personnel, Simp-son and other local officials worked the scene. FAA offi-cials arrived later to investi-gate the crash.

Story and photo published with permission of Jeff Headly, Keith County News.

See Mountain Echo on the web at MountainEcho.com Published every Tuesday Vol. 42, No 27, July 3, 2018

The leader in local news and sports coverage throughout the Intermountain Area

BURNEY BASIN DAYS PROGRAM INSIDE

Nick Hansen (2008 Class Photo)

Mayers/Semsa employees revive victim

2008 Fall River grad killed in Nebraska air crash

Retired Fall River High teacher Jarie Fowles dies

Forgotten “warming fire” escapes insert and sets residence on fire

Mountain Valleys’ Fall River’s new Clinic celebrates ground breaking

Photo by Walt CaldwellMayers Chief Clinical Officer Keith Earnest holds a working Salene bottle up while Semsa Paramedics Zita Harrington and David Robb, and Mayers Chief Nursing Officer Candy Vculek administer the CPR that brought the victim back to life and prepared him for transport in the ncoming Air Ambulance.

Photo by Walt Caldwell(L-R) Mountain Valley’s CEO Dave Jones, Board President Dan Bouse and Shas-ta County Supervisor Mary Rickert officially break ground at the clinic site.

Jarie Fowles

Man airlifted to Redding Trauma Center

Rocky Ledge portion of Hwy 299 is paved butconstruction continues