On January 28, 1996, at 1537 hours Pacific standard time, a Piper PA-28-140, N992PK, experienced a loss of engine power in-flight and was substantially damaged in the ensuing off-airport emergency landing near Oroville, California. The private pilot was seriously injured. The flight had departed from Oroville about 1530 hours destined for nearby Paradise, California. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and no flight plan was filed. The pilot told an FAA inspector from the Sacramento Flight Standards District Office that he was ferrying the aircraft to Paradise for its annual inspection, a distance of 13 miles. Soon after takeoff the engine lost power. The pilot identified an open field 7 miles northwest of Oroville for an emergency landing. During the landing the aircraft impacted three posts of a barbed wire fence, and then traveled an additional 100 yards before coming to rest with the nose wheel collapsed. The same FAA inspector examined the aircraft and reported that the annual inspection (license) on the aircraft had expired October 31, 1995. He also reported that the engine controls were intact and the fuel selector was on the right-hand fuel tank. The right-hand fuel tank was 3/4 full, and the left tank about 1/2 full. There was no contamination found in either fuel tank or the carburetor bowl. The carburetor heat box was damaged by impact and the control arm was pushed to the partial-on position by impact deformation of the structure. The inspector later ran the engine after a new propeller and temporary gravity fed fuel system was installed. The engine ran normally at 1,500 rpm with a magneto drop of about 90 rpm. The pilot told the NTSB investigator that he thought the engine failure may have been caused by carburetor ice, fuel contamination (water), or blockage of the fuel vent system by insects. He said that he did drain the fuel tank sumps before the flight and that he had not applied carburetor heat when the engine failed. An inspection of the fuel vent system by maintenance personnel did not reveal evidence of insect blockage. Forty minutes before the accident, at Marysville, California, the reported temperature was 55 degrees and the dew point 41 degrees. According to a carburetor icing probability chart, the reported temperature and dew point are in the area of the chart annotated as "moderate icing - cruise power."