Emergency Preparedness
FireWise Trailer has become a reality
The Fuel Reduction Committee has obtained a box trailer for the purpose of educating and training homeowners in how to protect their homes from the devastation of a catastrophic wildfire.
Wildfire Evacuation
On June 17th at 6:30 PM a meeting was held at the Senior Center Dining Room hosted by the Pine-Strawberry Fire Dept. Fire board member David Burkhart started the meeting with an overview of what each family needs to plan prior to an emergency evacuation.
Suggestions offered were; make up a kit that can be ready to load at a few moments notice, comprised of all necessary items needed to sustain your needs for several days; i.e. medications, toiletries, important papers, credit cards, and clothing. The main point is to do it now while you are calm, not in the panic of the moment when an evacuation order is imminent. Perishable items such as prescription drugs may need to be rotated in the kit from time to time.
Some items will need to be added at the point of leaving, items that you use daily that cannot be stowed away beforehand. You don't want to forget at the last moment things like cell phone chargers, reading glasses, laptop computers or portable hard-drives. Make a list now of things you will need the most. You will not likely have room for all the items that are valuable to you, you need to set priorities.
Coordinate with family members as to where to meet during the evacuation. Place in a safe place (like a safe deposit box) important papers such as birth and marrige certificates, insurance certificates and information regarding utilities, etc. Some services you may need to cancel if indeed your home was destroyed.
One important point is to always keep your vehicle gas tank as full as possible, do not let it set at less than 1/2 tank. In this type of emergency, the power will be shut down, the two gas stations in town will not be operating and you may need to drive 50-100 miles before finding a ststion to fuel up. You do not want to run out on the highway during an evacuation. It would cause you to have to abandon your vehicle and the emergency provisions you had packed.
The next speaker was PSFD Chief David Staub who covered what can happen during a fire emergency, how we need to respond and what our options are. The reality is that we could have a wildfire disaster like the Wallow fire that is currently ongoing in the White Mountains. Our best protection is to have our homes as fire resistant as possible. Creating a cleared area around the house, using building materials that are fire resistant, removing woodpiles and other fuel items (weeds, pine needles and brush) from the close proximity to the home will all improve the defensibility of your home.Fire fighters have a good chance of saving a well prepared home, almost no chance of saving one that is closely surrounded by brush and combustible material.
In any evacuation order, you as adults, can refuse to leave but if so you will have to sign a waiver of responsibity on the part of the emergency personnel, they will not be able to come back to rescue you. You also will be ordered to stay on your own property during the evacuation period, if found outside of it, you will be arrested as possible looter. If you have children under 18 you will not be able to keep them from being evacuated.
In the event of a wildfire appoaching or starting within our community, deputies, firefighters or volunteers will be attempting to notify everyone of the conditions and what to do. They will have instructions that you must follow, they will have to move quickly so do not delay them. You can assist them by sharing with friends and neighbors whatever information you receive.
If the fire has started within the developed areas, the emergency sirens will sound and you need to tune your radio to KMOG 1420 AM for detailed instructions. The siren system is good but not perfect, some people may not hear them, some people do not have the ability to access KMOG radio, so please let others in your circle know when you hear them.
If the fire is a distance from town and we have a day or so to prepare, the sirens will not be utilized. Their purpose is for immediate catastrophic notification.
Cooperate with authorities so that everyone can be evacuated as safely and quickly as possible. Do not delay leaving, wildfires move quickly and no one can predict just how they will act. We only have two evacuation routes out of this area, Highway 87, North and South. We will be told which way to go, the other direction will be blocked, all traffic except emergency vehicles will be stopped from moving toward the communities so that possibly two lanes of traffic can be leaving town. Be courteous toward other drivers, assist the elderly and infirm and be patient; everyone is going to be suffering stress and fear.
The third and final speaker was Mike Blaes of CERT (Community Emergency Response Team), a volunteer group that serves the Fire Dept to assist in emergencies. During an evacuation we do not have enough deputies and firefighters to go door-to-door so they will be doing that job; notifying all residents to evacuate and providing all details in regard to that. They will have credentials so you know they are official, cooperate with them and act quickly, so they can move on to the next house.
They also will be assisting the fire dept in other ways as the needs during an emergency are many. The CERT group can use more volunteers so if you wish to be involved and offer your time and service, contact Mike Blaes at Edward Jones Investments, 4010 N. Hwy 87, Pine, 928-476-6427.
To recap;
Printed guideline material is available at the Fire Dept and CERT.
Hopefully this situation will never happen to our community but the odds are not in our favor. Fire conditions are as bad as they have ever been and anything could ignite an inferno.