By PETE BENNETT - Contra Costa Watch EMAIL
Phone: 510-460-5641
Posted: 06/13/2013

Reposted to Protect My Sons
Arson Murder - Magalia / Paradise CA
Related: Arson / Arson
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5:30 p.m. Update: Man dies in Magalia fire

By Rick SilvaManaging Editor

Posted:   06/12/2013 10:58:01 AM PDT

Click photo to enlarge

A member of the Butte County Crime Scene investigation unit carries a bag... (Rick Silva/The Post)

The Butte County Sherriff's office and Butte County Fire Investigation Team are investigating a fatal fire that at a single wide mobile home on Drexel Road in Magalia.

The fire, which authorities say was the second one at the home in two weeks, occurred at 2:47 a.m. and began in the back bedroom.

The name of the man who died is being withheld until deputies can get a positive identification, though Sgt. Jason Hail said they believe that they know the name of the victim.

Firefighters were called after a neighbor Marion Prevatt, 40, was awakened by his growling dog as if someone was in his yard.

But when Prevatt looked outside, he saw the mobile directly across the street from his emanating smoke and ran across the street to help his neighbor.

“About the time I got there to the front door, there

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as like an explosion,” he said. “Something went boom and fire just came out the window and of everything else.”

Despite the fire and the explosion, Prevatt said he still tried getting to his neighbor.

“I got to the ice box near his back room,” he said. “But it got so hot that I started to choke out. I went in three different times … I barely made it out myself.”

Prevatt said he tried yelling for the man to come out and went down to his knees at one point. He said the man never responded to his calls and never yelled for help of any kind.

“I hollered his name but he never responded,” he said.  

Prevatt said the man usually sleeps on the couch and when he entered the house, he noticed the man wasn't there.

“I've never seen him go back there,” he said. “I knew something was wrong when I could find him.”

That is when he made his way to the back of the house, but was overcome with smoke and heat.

“It was so hot, I could see the orange glowing under the door,” he said. “I tried everything I could do to bring the guy out. I just couldn't do it.”

He said the man was a frequent visitor to his home and traded movies with him.

“He was kind of like my father,” he said. “But then my father passed away. He was kind of a role model.

CAL Fire Capt. Joe Tapia said the fire is still under investigation and says it could a month to get finish the investigation.

Tapia said last week's fire at the home and Wednesday morning's fire were both being investigated but would not deem them suspicious.

Hail said that deputies were there for a very in-depth coroner's report and that they are waiting an autopsy to determine cause of death.

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Bacterial Meningitis - Paradise High School

By PETE BENNETT - Contra Costa Watch EMAIL
Phone: 510-460-5641
Posted: 06/13/2013

Reposted to Protect My Sons
Arson Murder - Magalia / Paradise CA
Related: Arson / Bacterial / Viral Meningitis

Two PHS students infected with viral meningitis, precautions taken

By Anthony Siino Staff Writer

Posted:   04/19/2013 01:39:29 PM PDT

Two students at Paradise High School became infected with viral meningitis, Butte County Public Health announced Monday, but no new cases have been reported and the infected students are OK.

The school notified parents of the two sick students Monday, said Co-Principal Michelle John. While the students aren’t back in school yet, they did not require hospitalization and should be healthy soon. It’s currently unknown how they caught the virus.

“It’s limited to those two cases, and there’s no further cause for concern,” John said.

Viral meningitis is related to but not as dangerous as bacterial meningitis, according to Monday’s release from Butte County Public Health. While the bacterial form requires specialized treatment, sufferers of viral meningitis generally recover without medical treatment.

Proper precautions to prevent any further spread of the virus have been taken at the school, John said.

“We have hand-cleaning signs up everywhere, and the custodians are well aware and are taking extra precaution to wipe down hard areas,” she said.

Viral meningitis is generally spread through sharing food, drinks, eating utensils, lip gloss, or by other means that allow contact with saliva or secretions of the nose and throat. Those near sufferers of viral meningitis may become infected with the virus that made that sufferer ill, but the chances of developing viral meningitis as a result of that illness are low.

Parents should be on watch for symptoms of viral meningitis, which include sudden fever, stiffness of the neck, and severe headaches, according to the release. More severe cases may display symptoms of confusion, sensitivity to bright light, disorientation and lack of hunger.

The press release from Butte County Public Health can be found at

http://phs.pusdk12.org/documents/Parent%20and%20Student%20Page/viral%20meningitis.PNG

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Three dead bodies discovered in burned car on upper ridge

By PETE BENNETT - Contra Costa Watch EMAIL
Phone: 510-460-5641
Posted: 06/13/2013

Reposted to Protect My Sons
Arson Murder - Magalia / Paradise CA
Related: Arson / Arson/Murder
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For five painstaking days I waited for word from the Butte County Coroner on whether or not this was my sons who live 4.3 miles from this murder scene.  No one would return my calls, not the school board members, not Rick Silva, not my sons as they've been cut off from me.

12:45 p.m. update: Three dead bodies discovered in burned car on upper ridge

By RICK SILVA - Paradise Post

Posted:   06/13/2013 08:44:29 AM PDT

Click photo to enlarge

With a burned patch of ground in the background from a vehicle fire,... ((Bill Husa/Staff Photo))

DeSABLA — Fire crews discovered three dead bodies in a stolen, burned car on Skyway early today, the Butte County Sheriff's Office said.Two of the bodies were found in the trunk and a third body was found in the back seat, according to Undersheriff Kory Honea.
The burned vehicle was a stolen green 2000 Acura TL, reported stolen by the Sacramento Police Department. Honea wasn't sure when it had been stolen.

Just after 12:15 a.m., fire units were dispatched to a vehicle fire just above Powellton Road between DeSabla and Stirling City, threatening the vegetation on the Skyway at Hupp Coutolenc Road, according to Capt. Scott McLean, Cal Fire-Butte County spokesman. On arrival the firefighters discovered a car engulfed in flames. The fire had extended a short way into the surrounding vegetation.  The fire was quickly extinguished and in the process of finishing the job the firefighters "popped the trunk," explained McLean. On opening the trunk they discovered the bodies, according to the Sheriff's Office, which is investigating. Rhonda Maehl and her husband, David, who live nearby, were getting ready to go to bed around midnight when they heard a "big boom."  They began to investigate to make sure it wasn't around their home. Rhonda Maehl said her husband then looked out the back door and heard a car horn blaring.
They both assumed it was no car accident.

Maehl said her husband arrived at the burning car first, called 9-1-1 and tried making
his way to the car, a four-door sedan."He couldn't see anybody in the car, couldn't see anything in it," she said this morning. "But there wasn't much of anything we could do."

They heard no screaming and saw no movement, so called 9-1-1. She said she did not hear any other vehicles at the time of the accident.

Example - screw these people 

Maehl said the sedan's driver-side tires were still in the roadway.
"It was like they just pulled over to just sit," she said. "It was just parked and burning."
Maehl said the fire seemed to emanate from the back seat to the front.

"The rear tire on the passenger side was already melted to the rim on the ground when we got here," she said. "We watched and listened to the other tires explode later on."

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