A Folsom man suffered major injuries yesterday afternoon in a single vehicle collision involving him and his Harley. The accident occurred at about 12:13 pm on Sutter Creek Rd. The man, who remains unidentified, was airlifted from Westover Field to Mercy San Juan Hospital. The collision is under investigation by the California Highway Patrol.

Special fire restrictions will be implemented in the Eldorado National Forest beginning June 18, this is about a month earlier than normal.   Eldorado National Forest Supervisor Ramiro Villalvazo signed a forest order that restricts campfires and charcoal barbeques to designated developed campgrounds and prohibits other fire related activities until the end of fire season. The fire restrictions affect the entire Eldorado National Forest including wilderness areas. “Below normal annual precipitation has left the Forest drier and more susceptible to wildfire than last year,” said Eldorado National Forest Management Officer Bob Patton. “The current drying trend is heading us in the direction we went in 2001 and 2004 when we had fires that exceeded 10,000 acres in size. We passed a threshold this month where 100 acre fires are possible. It’s way too early in the season for that to occur.”

The Sutter Creek man facing vehicular manslaughter and Driving under the Influence charges for a wreck that killed his friend, remains in custody in the Calaveras County jail while awaiting his pretrial. At an arraignment last Thursday in Calaveras County Court Allen appeared along with his public defender- his next hearing date is June 7th. Jared Allen, 24 years old, was arrested after a May 1 accident on Hwy 49 in Mokelumne Hill in which his passenger, Jeremy Brown of Jackson, was ejected from the Jeep Allen was driving and killed. The California Highway Patrol arrested Allen at the scene for suspicion of DUI. According to the CHP report, Allen lost control of the vehicle after attempting to steer around a car that was stopped in the highway waiting to make a turn. Allen struck the other vehicle and drove off the roadway, rolling the Jeep and ejecting Brown who was not retrained by a seat belt.

At approximately 4:28pm yesterday afternoon a vegetation fire was reported at 17252 Shake Ridge Road at Stone Jug Road. According to Camino Dispatch the small grass fire was contained quickly. Local Fire Crews responded with 5 engines and a dozer.