LAKESIDE RESIDENTS SHARE FIRE PREPAREDNESS IDEAS FOR COMMUNITY

Printer-friendly versionPrinter-friendly version Share this

 

Phone-Tree, Hardy Board, fire gel and other readiness steps for community discussed

By Dennis Richardson

 

October 14, 2010 (Lakeside) Some East County residents are geared up to defend themselves against the next wildfire. Those who live in the fire prone areas are forming a common alliance,  sharing their innovative ways to defend against the next wild-land fire.  In the Wildcat Canyon area, a growing number of neighbors met over a potluck dinner this past weekend, sharing ideas on better ways to prepare for fire-season.

 

Captain Chuck Palmore of the Lakeside Fire Department was the guest speaker. Captain Palmore shared his fire knowledge and presented information on defensible space around homes, how to prepare for evacuation, and recommended residents to leave early before a fire gets close. Later, he told the attendees how to shelter in place as a last resort. Captain Palmore then answered some thoughtful questions from the audience. Lakeside Fire Department under the command of Chief Andy Parr is a concerned partner in Lakeside’s – Fire Safe, Educational Programs and welcomes citizens to get involved: http://www.lakesidefire.net.

There was a presentation on fire gel and how to use it. Fire gel stops the heat of the fire from burning your home. The gel comes in one gallon containers and can be sprayed on any structure and will protect for eight hours, said a resident who had used the gel during a recent fire. The gel product can be re-wet with a garden hose many times if needed. Clean up is easy with water. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fire-retardant_gel.

 

A representative from the Blue Sky Ranch prepared an elaborate phone tree calling system to alert people of danger. Those on the list are trained on how to put the system in-use. Those who first see the smoke of a threatening fire, will begin the calling process. For the system to work, it is necessary for individuals who are in phone contact to make a few calls from the list in a predetermined order.
 

The calling order is as follows:

• Anyone who sees a threatening fire calls all the number one name on the list, or number two person if number one is not reached They also makes contact with one person of a greater number in their own group.  The ones call the twos, twos call threes, threes call fours, and so on.

Here is a fictitious example of the calling list
Group A
1. Dave Z. - Muth Valley 999-0000
2. Sue P. - Wildcat Canyon 999-0000
3. James L. - Moreno 999-0000
4. Tom W. - Eucalyptus Hills 999-0000
5. Sally Q. - Barona 999-0000
Group B
1. Alex V. - Wildcat Canyon 999-0000
2. Linda K. - Willow Road 999-0000
3. Kathy J. - Eucalyptus Hills 999-0000
4. Luke T. - Barona 999-0000
5. Susan B. - Muth Valley 999-0000
Group C
1. Harry W. - Willow Road 999-0000
2. Dory E. - Eucalyptus Hills 999-0000
3. Harold I. - El Monte 999-0000
4. Pete J. - Muth Valley 999-0000
5. Amy X - Wildcat Canyon 999-0000

 

The final presentation should be taken note of by anyone who lives in a fire prone area. Many structures are lost in a wildfire because the heat of a fire normally breaks the windows of a house; the fire then engulfs the interior of the house as a result.
 

To overcome this, the use of Hardie-Board was proposed to cover all the structure’s windows. During fire season, the pre-fitted Hardie-Boards are laid out near the windows and are ready to be installed in a moment’s notice. A per-installed mounting system is mounted to each window, it only takes a few minutes to install them. The Blue Sky Ranch is already using this procedure to protect their houses and out-buildings. http://hardieboard.org/how-to-cut-hardie-board
 

Needless to say, if you live in a fire prone area, you should be planning for the next fire.

 


Error message

Support community news in the public interest! As nonprofit news, we rely on donations from the public to fund our reporting -- not special interests. Please donate to sustain East County Magazine's local reporting and/or wildfire alerts at https://www.eastcountymedia.org/donate to help us keep people safe and informed across our region.