Cal Fire closes 2 rural Mendocino County stations after firefighters test positive for coronavirus

Cal Fire closed down two stations in northern Mendocino County on Saturday after six firefighters in Leggett tested positive for COVID-19.

Both the Leggett and Laytonville stations will remain shuttered over 12 days for deep cleaning, however, since personnel at the rural outposts work so closely together, Mendocino County Administrator Carmel Angelo said.

Angelo said three of the COVID-positive firefighters experienced symptoms, and all six are in isolation. Six others who were tested were negative but are home in quarantine. Four of the firefighters live outside the county.

“We are very thankful for the strong, coordinated effort between the County of Mendocino and CAL FIRE to respond to the recent outbreak at the Leggett Fire Station,” county Health Officer Noemi Doohan said in a news release. “Chief (Brandon) Gunn’s leadership in this rapidly evolving situation has been invaluable, and there is a strong indication that the outbreak has been contained due to the swift response and cooperation between the two agencies.”

Also Saturday, Mendocino County officials said they may have to record their first coronavirus-related death in the next few days — an 80-year-old man sickened as part of a Mother’s Day outbreak at the Redwood Valley Assembly of God Church.

But the county is only working from second- and third-hand information and on Saturday had yet to receive formal notification about the individual, who died at an out-of-county medical facility weeks after his transfer from Adventist Health Ukiah Hospital, County Administrator Carmel Angelo said.

It’s also unclear what caused his death, Angelo said.

“The reports out there that this gentleman died, I believe, actually came through the family and through the media,” she said. “As of today, we do not have any formal notice that he died or that COVID is listed on his certificate of death.”

If his death resulted from complications of COVID-19, he would be the first of Mendocino County’s at least 85 cases to succumb as a consequence of the virus.

Neighboring Lake County, which has had 87 confirmed cases, reported its first death on Friday.

At least nine people, including the church pastor, became ill or tested positive for the virus through exposure to one another, apparently beginning with a socially distanced, virtual Mother’s Day service at which singing occurred in the church, officials said.

One man who was hospitalized and never fully recovered was described by a family member in a recent Facebook post as having been strong and healthy when the virus struck, only to die six weeks later.

Some residents have been impatient with the county’s failure to post his death.

But Mendocino County Supervisor Ted Williams said officials need some confirmation first.

“We’re trying to be careful not to speculate, just because we don’t know,” he said.

You can reach Staff Writer Mary Callahan at 707-521-5249 or mary.callahan@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @MaryCallahanB.