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Benjamin Franklin's descendent helps invent plan to keep Crest residents safe during emergencies
March 20, 2011 (Crest) — Benjamin Franklin discovered the power of electricity, reportedly by flying a kite during an electrical storm. Now his descendant, Kandhy Franklin, is helping bring an electric generator to Crest, harnessing her famous ancestor's discovery to power her community in case of wildfire.
The Crest Fire Safe Council has been awarded a San Diego County Neighborhood Reinvestment Grant written by Franklin and community volunteer Faith Berry. Funds will be used to purchase a generator for a community clubhouse, providing emergency response during disasters and rolling brownouts.
The Crest Fire Safe Council has been very active in the community preparing residents for wildfire events in collaboration with the San Miguel Fire District. With grant funding from SEMPRA they have installed a ham radio station in the clubhouse. They have also completed a community fuel break in a critical area of the community with grant funding from the U.S. Forest Service through the California Fire Safe Council Grant Clearing House.
Kandhy Franklin, the facilitator from the Crest Fire Safe Council, through public education and community projects, educated her neighbors about the importance of preplanning in the event of a wildfire event. A descendent of Benjamin Franklin, she believes that, “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.”
Now is the time to make sure that you have taken responsibility for maintaining a fire-wise homestead, the Fire Safe Council advises. Make sure that you have completed proper vegetation management of the 100 foot defensible space around your home, made home retrofits on your roof, windows and gutters and elsewhere to make your home more defensible.
For more information about how you can make your home more defensible, or to donate to assist the Crest Fire Safe Council with this special project contact Kandhy Franklin at (619) 44-CREST.
Comments
Not in my community
The people in my community are to busy fighting with each other on growth / no growth to do something positive like this. They would rather leave all this free grant money to someone else than cooperate with other for the good of the community.