During the Paradise fire hundreds of people had to evacuate with almost no warning. Two people died as a result.
Two VC women want to make sure that never happens again.
Lynne Peterson and Audra Johnson at first wanted to interest the fire district in buying large sirens that could broadcast a warning over several miles.
“This is not the first time we’ve had a fire during the Santa Ana season,” said Mrs. Peterson. “But maybe next time we can evacuate faster. Even ten minutes could have made a difference.”
They researched audible sirens “and found them to be quite pricey (just one could cost $128,000) to put throughout the eighty-four square miles of the district,” Mrs. Peterson told the Valley Center Fire Protection District board Thursday night.
Then they talked to someone who told them about “Reverse 911.”
This system, using phone banks, can call hundreds of people in a few minutes and warn them they are in the path of a fire.
Even though phone lines do go down in a fire, they don’t go down right away, Peterson told directors.
“We could have alerted thousand of people,” she said, adding that it takes five minutes to program the system to send the message. It can be re-programmed as the fire moves.
The system will call back several times. It is currently being used successfully in Mariposa County, where it warns of fires, hazardous materials spills, rabies outbreaks, lost children, road and school closures.
It can send text messages to volunteers or fire reservists or even invite people to an upcoming fire board meeting.
Director Mel Schuler, who is assistant principal at the high school, said it sounds similar to a system the school has for calling parents when their child misses school.
Mrs. Peterson said she had received estimates of $51,000 to set the system up.
“We’re not asking for much money compared to how much this cost our community,” said Mrs. Peterson, who has offered to contact the local FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) to see if the fire district is eligible for funds based for this program based on the number of houses that were lost.
Someone will need to figure out how much property was lost , how many injuries and deaths happened because of delays in warning residents.
“I’ve talked to many people who didn’t know there was a fire until they looked out their window and saw their neighbor’s house on fire or heard their dogs barking or saw flames licking at their homes,” Mrs. Anderson told the board.
Directors seemed primed to embrace the idea.
“I applaud them for all the work they did," said director Dan Thornton. “I had never heard of it. It’s actually rather fascinating.”
Thornton asked to be appointed to liaison with the two women in pursuing the system.
Schuler said he’d like to get a representative of the company that manufactures the system to brief directors on it.
“Fifty-one thousand dollars is a steal if it works,” he said.
Mrs. Anderson later told The Roadrunner that she has contacted Sigma Communications, which has agreed to send a representative to the Dec. 18 meeting.
“For myself I think it’s a great idea,,” added board Pres. Patrick Garcia.
The community of Valley Center will celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Wright Brothers’ first flight and, at the same time, mark the town’s own unique contribution to the pioneer days of aviation at a special event on Thursday, Dec. 4.
Retired pilots now living in Valley Center and the Pauma Valley will recount their first flight experience at a program called “My First Flight” in observance of the Wright Brothers’ Centennial.
The program, open to the public without charge, will be held in the Seminar Room of the Valley Center Branch Library at 1:30 p.m.
The event is jointly sponsored by the Library and The Valley Center History Museum. Both facilities are located at 29200 Cole Grade Road.
Valley Center’s role in early aviation began in 1920, when pioneer aviator David Gordon began flying his 1908 vintage craft from an airfield on Cole Grade at Cool Valley road. Gordon is credited with the first motorized flights west of the Mississippi, all within six years of the Wright Brothers’ first flight. Parts of his early planes are on view at the History Museum.
Following the talks, guests will move from the Library to the History Museum next door to view an expanded tribute to Gordon and the early days of aviation in Valley Center.
The exhibit will include some never-before-seen photos of Gordon flying over Valley Center. A side trip to the original airstrip, still undeveloped, will follow.
Questions? Call the Valley Center Library at 749-1305.
This is much better than what you’ll get in a money market fund: Donate $100 (or more) to the Valley Center High School theater (Joint Use Project) fund and you’ll see your donation matched by the State matching grant.
That total amount will then be matched by a local benefactor who wishes to remain anonymous.
School Supt. Karen Jobe, chairman of the Valley Center-Pauma Joint Use Project Fund is this week sending out letters to past donors informing them of the success of the current fund-raising efforts and asking them to dig into their wallets again.
Fund-raising efforts have so far raised about $700,000. To qualify for a matching $1.7 million grant from the State’s facilities fund, the district is working to raise $1 million more towards the project during the next 17 months.
“Swift progress will allow us to begin the project as early as next summer,” commented Mrs. Jobe.
She points out that donations will be doubled, and then doubled again.
Your donation of $100 will then contribute $400 towards the joint use fund, which is a partnership between Valley Center Parks & Rec. and the school district.
This offer expires Dec. 2004. So persons who feel that donating to fire victim relief is more pressing at this time will still have the opportunity to contribute to the theater fund next year if they are so inclined.
This does offer a unique opportunity to those who want to maximize the effect of their charitable donations. They can donate before the end of this year and then donate again next year to get maximum tax benefits.
By DAVID ROSS
From the moment that the first refugees were created by the Paradise fire, local volunteers of the American Red Cross were there to help.
Chris Manning, a Valley Center resident who has volunteered at numerous scenes of disaster, including 911 in New York City, found herself put in charge of coordinating Family Services for fire victims.
When I interviewed her at the Local Assistance Center (LAC) last week, she was just coming off from working 25 days, 12 hour shifts ever since being awakened in the dead of night on Oct. 26 to set up an evacuation center at the middle school.
She and her staff have processed 525 cases and are still processing six new cases a day. Each “case” can involve from one to 14 individuals.
If that number seems high in light of the official count of houses burned at 223, that’s because many of those applying for aid were not living in “official” housing. Some were living in tents, trailers or shacks on the two reservations that were affected (San Pasqual and Rincon). Some were literally living in their cars, which burned.
Whether survivors lived in expensive houses or vehicles, the Red Cross helps them all. When a client makes a a claim a volunteer is sent out to visit their home and do an assessment. This information is used by several other agencies, such as FEMA, in deciding what aid to offer.
“Many of our clients have homes destroyed or damaged,” said Manning. “They need everything, food, clothing, counseling, medical assistance. Some come in and say, ‘We saved our clothes but we need groceries.’ We work on an individual needs basis.”
Manning considers herself extremely fortunate to have been put in charge of helping so many of her neighbors. “It’s a very poignant thing for me,” she said.
She is aided by a staff of 20. Except for a few paid staff members, they are all volunteers who sign up to serve anywhere in the country during an emergency. Almost all of those 20, with the exception of Manning are from out of San Diego. Many are from out of state.
But it was all local VC Red Cross volunteers, members of the Disaster Action Team (DAT) that responded those first few hours. Manning chairs the local DAT team. She is also San Diego County’s Disaster Duty Officer and has responded to several local fires, including last year’s Pines fire in Julian.
The volunteers, Shawneen Burdick, Terrell Burdick, Tom Linley, Barbara Crosby, John Roth, Kelley Townsend, helped set up shelters and move people when the shelters had to move.
Those first chaotic days of the fire, with the evacuation center opened at the middle school, moved to the high school when the middle school was threatened by flames, and moved again to St. Peter’s Church in Fallbrook when black smoke approached the high school, provided moments of high adrenaline for Manning and her people.
One such moment occurred when they were told they had half an hour to move the evacuation unit from the middle school. They did this with the assistance of school Supt. Karen Jobe and middle school Principal Chris Sommer.
They turned right onto North Lake Wohlford and followed the Sheriff’s deputies on Woods Valley Road, through the smoke, to Valley Center Road, before turning right to double-back to the high school.
The atmosphere at the high school gym was somewhat surreal, with the Homecoming decorations still up from the night before.
A few days later the volunteers witnessed a particularly emotional moment when the Roach family and the high school had a memorial for Ashleigh Roach, a 16 year old student who died in the fire.
During the memorial the Red Cross stopped its casework and moved to one side of the gym.
According to Manning, the case workers were very moved by the memorial and considered themselves fortunate to have witnessed it.
Until Oct. 31 the Red Cross simply providing places to sleep and food and water for over 100 people suddenly displaced from their homes.
Case work began on Oct. 31. and has continued ever since.
Because the disaster was so vast, volunteers from out of town and out of state had to be brought in.
Survivors who are certified by the Red Cross can get a Red Cross credit card which is loaded with money depending on how many people are in a family and how bad the need is. Amounts can range from $95 to several hundred dollars.
This method of payment, as opposed to vouchers, “gives clients more options,” according to Manning. “Any store that takes credit cards will take these.”
Payment for hotels and rentals are still done with vouchers.
There also a bulk distribution tent rent on site where victims can get water, food and clothing. The selection changes daily, depending on what has been donated.
Also available are clean up supplies such as sand bags, shovels, rakes etc. These are also there for anyone helping to clear away fire debris, such as civic groups.
On the day that I visited, Manning rounded her fellow workers for a photo.
“Chris is the best boss in the world,” said Paulla Weddle, of Carlsbad as they lined up and smiled weary smiles.
This was the first time they had been photographed together. As I lined up the group shot, several of them brought up their own cameras and placed them on top of a metal barrel next to me—Until there were about half a dozen cameras of all types, including a disposable camera.
It was a scrapbook moment for people who have devoted their time to helping others and wanted something to remember it by.
“This is particularly poignant to me to be able to work with fire Red Cross volunteers from my community and to work in Valley Center to help victims, many of whom I know. It’s wonderful,” says Manning.
The Valley Roadrunner
P.O.B. 1529, Valley Center, CA 92082
Tel. 760.749.1112 Fax 760.749.1688
Website: www.valleycenter.com
Email: editor@valleycenter.com
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