Your Wednesday Paper: 103 junior lifeguards hit Big River Beach + Shark attack update + Model Railroad fun + Covelo fire‑warning problems
WHAT WENT WRONG WITH NIXIE LAST NIGHT? HELP US FIND OUT
At 7 p.m. Tuesday night, phones across Fort Bragg lit up with a barrage of screeching bells and whistles — the county’s emergency warning system announcing a fire in Covelo. We were on the Coast, but we’re glad the disaster‑alert network covers the whole county. The problem: the fire had started before 4 p.m., and the Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office had already issued a press release. Evacuations were underway, then lifted. Crews on land, in the air, and on foot had contained the fire for hours.
Yet Nixie delivered all of that — the fire alert, the evacuation order, and the cancellation — in a single split‑second burst.
We found four other Fort Bragg residents who got the same barrage: warnings of the fire, notices of evacuation, and notices that the evacuation was no longer needed, all at once. Did Covelo residents experience it this way too? We’ll be looking into it.
For everyone spending hours a day arguing about national politics, this is the kind of issue that actually affects people here. WHAT WENT WRONG WITH NIXIE LAST NIGHT? HELP US FIND OUT. If you dig into it, we’d be glad to publish your findings.
GRADUATE OF JUNIOR LIFEGUARD PROGRAM HELPED SAVE SHARK VICTIM, NOW WORKS TO PREVENT RESCUES
Kao Chamberlin, (center) off duty California State Parks Lifeguard works on shark attack victim James Eastman in March. Chamberlin first learned his first aid skills as in the Junior Lifeguard program and mastered them when hired as an adult lifeguard. He was helping the youngsters learn on Wednesday at Big River Beach.
Kao Chamberlin was one of the crew teaching the big crowd of Junior Lifeguards about the joys and dangers of safe use of the ocean.
Kao would know. He was a Junior Lifeguard himself back when he was a Fort Bragg High student. Later he landed one of the most coveted jobs among surfers and ocean lovers — becoming a paid California State Parks ocean lifeguard. He was one of the three off‑duty State Parks lifeguards who helped save pal and fellow surfer James Eastman after the Mendocino High teacher was bitten by a shark on March 18 of this year at Big River Beach in Mendocino.
“The whole attack happened right next to me while I was surfing. I was the farthest one out and deepest. I caught the wave, I kicked out, and I saw the end of the shark right there with the tail thrashing, and then James popping up from under it. If I hadn’t caught that wave and been up on it, I probably would have been bitten.
The whole situation kicked in what I do and live and all my training as a lifeguard. A big thing is learning to stay calm in a situation like that so you can do what you know how to do and just hope the person can be saved,”
Chamberlin went to school in Fort Bragg up through the 9th grade, then finished online during the pandemic years. He’s never liked being far from the ocean, and he’s built his life around it — surfing, working, and teaching others how to safely enjoy the edges of the Deep Blue Sea. His work now centers on prevention, helping people understand the conditions, risks, and habits that keep rescues from ever being needed.
There are now 103 youngsters between 9 and 15 doing what Chamberlin once did.
Mendocino Coast Junior Lifeguards
Chamberlin and the others were off duty at the time of the shark attack, but they were the ones who led the lifesaving effort. Chamberlin can be seen working steadily to help Eastman in our exclusive photo.
We don’t often hear about ocean lifeguards doing dramatic rescues, and that’s because they’re simply doing their jobs. These are the same trained State Parks lifeguards — Chamberlin, Eastman’s helpers, and the rest of the off‑duty crew who stepped in at Big River — who quietly handle emergencies up and down the coast without seeking attention.
“We spend most of our time preventing water rescues from happening,” Chamberlin said.
“We were at MacKerricher and saw a family just playing in the surf there. The shore break there is like 15 feet. There is no way they can know how steep the beach is there beyond the water line. They are just dipping their toes in. But its a place if you are knocked off your feet, that amount of energy in the water is very likely to just take you out. We talk to them and explain the dangers, That’s really what we do is prevent rescues, not make rescues.”
A shore break is simply the spot where waves hit the sand and break. Farther out, the water gets deep enough that waves don’t break at all.
The Junior Lifeguard program has doubled in size since it began five years ago.
“Yes its a little bigger this year than last. Kids are just hearing about it. That’s great. We’re excited.” ” said the man in charge of the Junior Lifeguard Program, Cesar Martins. He was busy organizing all those kids but took some time to explain to us the medical and water skills they learn, from safe waterboarding to first aid and CPR.
There are 16‑ and 17‑year‑old helpers in the program, along with the Junior Lifeguards who are between 9 and 15. Ocean safety is lifelong learning, and doing this work is good for both health and survival. The Junior Programs will be training on Big River Beach most weekdays in July from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. We’ll have much more on white sharks and the March attack in the days ahead.
PAST COVERAGE: We’ll have much more on white sharks and the March attack in the days ahead.
The post–Fourth of July holiday rolled straight into the 7th, and while Frank and Linda — and the doggos — live out loud here every day, they took to the streets this week as tour guides for visiting relatives from Pennsylvania. Galleries, surf shops, restaurants, shopping, and more beach stops than anyone could count filled the schedule. It was one of those quick Mendocino Coast stretches where you pack in everything at once — a little local color, a little tourist fun, and a lot of family time — all squeezed into a few days of summer visiting.
JOIN THE SCAVENGER HUNT AT THE MODEL TRAIN MUSEUM
Travel back to the days when lumber and the railroad took logs from bearded men and delivered mail to isolated camps along the tracks. You can see it all among the hundreds of scenes recreated in great detail by the Mendocino Coast Model Railroad & Historical Society. Nestled behind the Skunk Train Station is a massive 1,300‑plus‑foot G‑scale layout at 100 W. Laurel Street. There is a new house in the display and other surprises. The exhibit is always changing so be sure to go back and see it! It recreates the Coast’s 1885–1950 logging history with trestles, coastal towns, and miniature redwood camps built in careful detail. For a limited time, museum is also running a full scavenger hunt through the display. The Hartzell clan formed a quick strategic attack, divided the list, and conquered all 29 items — ringing the bell, blowing the whistle, and claiming a Model Railroad sticker for each of us. We left a donation for the fun and headed off to Glass Beach to keep the day rolling.
The Model Railroad is always there, but the scavenger hunt isn’t. Go hunt — we had a blast.
Mendocino Coast Model Railroad & Historical Society
WE ALSO WANTED TO TELL YOU ABOUT IMPORTANT STUFF UPCOMING. ON THURSDAY NIGHT, SOME GREAT MUSICAL ACTS WILL BE PERORMING ON REDWOOD STREET.
KY SHEALOR TO HOST FUNDRAISER YARD SALE ON SOUTH WHIPPLE ON THURSDAY
It’s short notice, but I’ll be hosting a treat sale tomorrow starting late morning/early afternoon while supplies last. All profits will go to my sister Amber Denney for the expenses of her trip to San Francisco for her surgery. We will not have change this time around since it is last minute, but I’m having my own (minor) surgery in a couple days so I have to do it now.
I will make the prices solid ($1,$2, and so on instead of $1.50, etc.) I have Venmo in case anyone donate or pay with Venmo at the treat sale. She also has a GoFundMe set up
For the lifeguards, the Junior Lifeguards, and the teens stepping up to help, ocean safety is just part of growing up on this coast — a quiet discipline that turns into action when it’s needed most. July will put them back on Big River Beach day after day, learning the same skills that saved a life in March. And as we bring readers more on white sharks and the attack in the days ahead, the holiday week reminds us why all this matters. Families visiting, locals guiding, dogs trotting from gallery to surf shop to beach — life here rolls on, stitched together by the people who know these waters best.
