The Cedar fire of October 2003 killed 15 people in San Diego County. It was the second largest wildfire in the history of the state of California (after the Great Fire of 1889) and one of 15 fires that started in late October 2003 and were fanned by Santa Ana Winds in Southern California burning a total of 721,791 acres (2,921 km²) and 3,640 homes, and killing 15 people.
There is a controversy over the causes of the deaths, and I don't propose to offer a magic bullet here that will provide a complete solution in future events of this type. However, there is a group of people working to help implement communications systems that will provide a better degree of functionality under the conditions that were experienced during the firestorm: rough terrain, thick smoke, high heat, etc.
I have received information regarding the efforts of this group of experimenters that they are being targeted by the Poway City council because in the course of their research and development they have built, or are attempting to obtain building permits for antenna structures at their homes (they usually perform this work on their own time). They have valid FCC amateur radio service licenses to operate communications equipment, and it is my understanding there exist Federal laws which allow the construction of this equipment, and there are no homeowners association conflicts.
Since 1999, the City Council has said over and over again that aesthetics, viz., property values, rule, and they perceive antennas as ugly. Well OK, I understand that only mad scientists view a transmitting antenna which will relay urgent messages to emergency responders and citizens as a thing of beauty. What about the public safety? Isn't there an obligation incumbant on the City council to consider that?
Smoke from the fires drift towards Arizona and Nevada
after the wind shifted on October 29
The following individuals lost their lives in the Cedar Fire of 2003:
·Galen Blacklidge, age 50, Lakeside, teacher, artist – Died October 26, 2003 while trying to escape in her vehicle
·Christy-Anne Seiler-Davis, age 42, Alpine - Died October 26, 2003 while in her home on Vista Viejas Road in Alpine
·Gary Edward Downs, age 50, Lakeside, small-business owner – Died October 26, 2003 while trying to escape the flames on Wildcat Canyon Road
·John Leonard Pack, age 28, Lakeside - Died October 26, 2003 along with his wife Quynh trying to escape the fire on Wildcat Canyon Road
·Quynh Yen Chau Pack, age 28, Lakeside - Died October 26, 2003 along with her husband John trying to escape the fire on Wildcat Canyon Road
·Mary Lynne Peace, age 54, Lakeside, nurse - Died on October 26, 2003 along with her sister-in-law Robin Sloan near the Barona Indian Reservation
·Steven Rucker — 38, Novato, firefighter, died October 29, 2003 in Julian fighting the deadly Cedar Fire
·Stephen Shacklett, age 54, Lakeside, construction superintendent - Died October 26, 2003 while trying to escape the fire in his motorhome on Muth Valley road
·James Shohara, age 63, Lakeside, correctional officer - Died October 26, 2003 along with his wife and son while trying to escape the deadly flames near San Vicente Reservoir, Lakeside
·Solange Shohara, age 43, Lakeside, correctional officer - Died October 26, 2003 along with her husband and stepson while trying to escape the fire near San Vicente Reservoir, Lakeside
·Randy Shohara, age 32, Lakeside - Died October 26, 2003 with his stepmother and father trying to escape the deadly flames near San Vicente Reservoir, Lakeside
·Robin Sloan, age 45, Lakeside, Walmart employee - Died October 26, 2003 attempting to escape the fire near the Barona Indian Reservation
·Jennifer Sloan, age 17, Lakeside, student - Died October 26, 2003 along with her mother Robin while attempting to escape the fire near the Barona Indian Reservation
·Ralph Marshall Westley — 77, Lakeside, retired retail clerk, discovered October 27, 2003 at 1088 Barona Road.
·Unknown, found mid-December in the I-15/SR-52 area.
3 comentarios:
Howard, KY6LA, provided a painful observation: "Remember.,… the Nasty Neighbor side only cares about their perception of aesthetics … nothing else…not public safety… not your legal rights.. not anything else matters to them… As a very good example when my La Jolla Nasty Neighbors heard that my antenna had been used for Public Safety during Katrina, they complained to SD City that I have violated my permit because it was used to save people outside of La Jolla…"
Comment sent via Email from Craig, W6CAW:
"It's sad to say but the people who died in this fire did so because they were not paying attention.
The firefighter who died was doing something he was told not to do in an area he was told not to go to! A typical city firefighter with little or no wildland fire training or experience.
The people who died in their cars either didn't leave when told to evacuate and then tried to run to [sic] late or tried to out run a fire going 300 yards a min. instead of sheltering in place.
Had they followed instructions or had even minimum training in shelter in place or made their homes fire safe, no one would have died.
My experience, over the past 3 years, trying to educate the public on the above is, in the next large fire more people will die as they are still not paying attention."
Craig A. Williams W6CAW
Public Affairs Officer, Campo Fire and Rescue
www.campofire.org
& Anything else they can get me to do for free!
& Information Technology Consultant
Craig Williams Consulting
craig at craigwilliam dot com
www.craigwilliams.com
Additional information from Craig A. Williams, W6CAW
Public Affairs Officer, Campo Fire and Rescue - www.campofire.org
OK. Let me add:
Generally, nothing will appear on the San Diego County site until the Office of Emergency Services (OES), Emergency Operations Center (EOC) is activated. The EOC is usually only activated when an incident exceeds the capability of normal resources. Since normal Fire or Law resources can be quite extensive, due to Mutual Aid Agreements, it's going to be a pretty big event before the EOC is activated to a level where the website is updated. There are 3 levels of activation for the EOC. Level 1 puts the EOC Duty Officer in the Sheriff Department Operations Center (DOC). Level 2 brings in more EOC staff and activates the basic Incident Command (IC) levels of Operations and Logistics. Level 3 is a full activation of all ICS positions at the EOC. Also as to maps. They had maps on the site during last years Horse Fire. Problem is they are usually 24 hours old. Not much help in a wind driven fire.
Summary. Most of your Fire or Law incidents are handled by local resources and never make it to the County website. If a citizen wants to track these incidents they need to monitor radio traffic on the responder frequencies used in their area.
Size also matters on the CDF website plus, nothing usually appears on their website for 24 hours. If something really big happens I assume they could update their site sooner but I don't remember seeing that recently. Their Public Information line is not normally manned till there is a very large event. During last years Horse Fire Campo Fire was the only station with someone answering the phone, me or one of my CERT / Ham crew.
On the County site, there is nothing wrong with your browser. That's all there is there, now.
On campofire.org. I don't post local events and in the past haven't even posted bigger ones. I tell people to look at the county site or call the Fire Station for information. If something is big in our area I don't have time to update our website. In addition to reverse 911 we have local phone trees to notify our key people in an area that there is a problem. Also, I am trying to get people to put their FRS radio on channel 1 to keep in touch with their neighbors and my CERT / Ham operators. Most of our key people have scanners. This same plan is in effect in all major communities on the 94 highway. The result of efforts put in place since 9/11.
Publicar un comentario