Fire Safety News
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Postal Customer PRSRT STD U.S. Postage Escondido, CA 92026 PAID Permit No. 273 Escondido, CA Fire Safety News ECRWSS Serving the communities of Castle Creek, Champagne Village, Deer Springs, West Lilac, Hidden Meadows, Jesmond Dene, Rimrock, and the Welk Resort Volume 4, No. 1 Spring, 2007 Fire Safe Council Voices Concerns Information Enclosed This newsletter contains valuable information The Deer Springs Fire Safe Council addressed the Deer Springs Fire Protection District Board expressing a about how you should prepare your family for desire to work closely with the district for the benefit of the residents. the next wild fire. According to experts, it is not a question of IF there will be another fire like we Craig Cook, president of the Fire Safe Council, presented a list of action items for the district to consider in had in October 2003 but WHEN it will occur. helping maintain a strong and efficient emergency response capability. The following is a summary of that Study the preparation checklists and take action presentation. today. Don’t just add it to your To Do List. Presentation by the DEER SPRINGS FIRE SAFE COUNCIL to the DEER SPRINGS FIRE PROTECTION BOARD March 14, 2007 Below average rain, low humidity, increasing fuel load, and a March that looks more like July all contribute to what is forecast by fire experts as one of the worst ever fire seasons looming before us. The Deer Springs Fire Safe Council, the Deer Springs Fire Protection Board, and CAL FIRE (new name for CDF) each have a unique role to play in pro- tecting our community from the next fire. While the Council’s role is principally to provide information and education to residents to help them establish and maintain safe and fire-wise properties, we have contributed more broadly to our community. For example, the Council: • Prepared and had approved our Community Wildfire Protection Plan. • Established and maintained our emergency communications program also known as Reverse 911. • Presented a number of fire safety educational seminars and workshops for residents. • Supported our Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) program. • Actively supported the tax increase to provide personnel for the planned Station 3. • Submitted grant proposals to obtain federal and local funding support for brush clearance and signs utilizing red flags warning of dangerous fire conditions. • Established a large animal evacuation program that has placed tracking micro chips in over 50 animals to date. With increasing fire danger on the way and the Council’s history of substantial contributions to our community, we come before the Fire Protection Board to emphasize critically important issues and urge you to put them at the very top of your action agenda. We know there are those in our community dedicated entirely to the issues of new development in the district and the potential danger to future residents. As important as this issue might be years from now, we are very concerned about the safety of the 12,000 people currently residing in our district. Therefore, the Council presents to this Board the following issues that we strongly recommend you immediately take action on to provide for the protection of our current residents: 1. Build Station 3 in Hidden Meadows. 2. Take a leadership role in formulating the Community Protection and Evacuation Plan. 3. Take a leading role to modify and reduce hazardous vegetation, especially in the vicinity of Moosa Canyon, North Broadway, and the West Lilac area. 4. Support CAL FIRE personnel by recognizing their good efforts, support their professional development and training opportunities. Stabilize the workforce by supporting “in-house” promotions and awards, and attend to quality of life issue relating to housing and personal needs while on duty. 5. Seek additional grant opportunities to enhance the resources for the District. 6. Support the educational mission of the Fire Safe Council. 7. Continue support for the District CERT program. Sensible Prices, We urge this Board to take immediate action on these issues to help protect the existing residents of our District. Amazing Service Thank you for the opportunity to express these concerns of the Fire Safe Council. Dry Cleaning Station $5.00 off 555 W. Country Club Lane your dry cleaning order of $20 or more. Escondido, CA 92026 Prepaid. Not valid with any other discounts. 760-747-7456 Offer valid through June 30, 2007. system. Clayton conceived the project Where Are You? Eagle Scout Proud and recruited helpers to earn his com- Steve Kerrin munity service merit badge, one of 21 Boy Scout Clayton Lester from Valley required for Eagle. In the outlying areas of our local fire district, and in many other rural areas, emer- Center Troop 619 initiated a gardening gency responders often encounter delays in reaching persons needing aid because project at Fire Station One last month. The Fire District Board of Directors those responders can’t navigate directly to the victim’s location. The most common Working toward his Eagle Scout badge, honored Clayton at their April 11th reasons for delay are unmarked or poorly marked house numbers and hard to locate Clayton recruited fellow scouts, par- meeting with a Certificate of Apprecia- private roads. Sometimes, the only indication of a home’s address is on a mailbox ents, an even our fire crew to eliminate tion. Chief Ned Nickerson is shown on a road when the physical location of the house is at the end of a long, overgrown weeds, trim trees, and install door mats. here with Clayton (right) and his driveway or even around the corner on an intersecting street. They even converted the sprinkling Scoutmaster Dave Bozer. Thank you system to a more efficient drip irrigation Clayton! Take a moment and ask yourself this question: “Could an emergency responder find my home in a medical, law enforcement, or fire emergency where there were no outwardly visible signs, such as smoke, to guide them?” If you are even slightly uncertain that they could, think about some of the ways you could make your home easier to locate. Here are a few suggestions: • Better road markings and making sure your driveway is identified with your address (number AND street) would be a good start. • Most fire protection districts carry detailed maps of the district on every piece of emergency equipment to assist them in responding directly to the location of an emergency. If you believe that your home could be difficult to locate, con- sider visiting your nearest fire station to make sure their maps have your address shown at the right location and that the best access is shown. • Think about and even write down how you could accurately tell an emer- gency services dispatcher how to reach you from the nearest well-marked intersec- tion or landmark. Keep this information near all telephones in your home. Hopefully, you will never need to call 9-1-1. But if you do, it is hoped that these suggestions will help you be better prepared and can be more easily located with a minimum of delay. Congratulations on a job well done! We appreciate you looking out for us. Local Author Designing with Succulents, by Debra Lee Baldwin of Hid- den Meadows, has just been released by Timber Press. The book includes 310 photos and the kind of detailed, informa- tive text that has positioned Timber Press as the top pub- lisher of horticultural books. The release is the culmination of a two-year process that involved a year of intensive research, writing and photog- raphy, followed by a year of editing and production. The result is the only book that presents these geometric, archi- tectural, drought-tolerant plants in container gardens and landscape applications. It’s visual, with a strong emphasis on design; a whole chapter, for example, is dedicated to colorful foliage. For more information about the book, please visit Timber’s website, www.timberpress.com, or Debra’s, www.debralee- baldwin.com. Large Animal Microchipping and Seminars Special thanks to the Our Fire Safe Council sponsored two successful microchipping clinics in 2006. Microchips were inserted into 48 horses and other large animals. These chips will help reunite them with their owners after an evacuation and Association of Resident Owners will provide positive identification in the event of abduction. The next mi- (ARO) crochip clinic will be held on July 21, 2007 from 9:00am to 12:00pm. Call 760-855-1641 for more information and to register. for their continuing support The first seminar of 2007 is “Trailer Handling During an Emergency” pre- sented by Marion Korn, a student of Parlelli Natural Horsemanship. It will be held on May 31st from 6:30 to 8:00pm at the Hidden Meadows Pavilion, 10141 Meadow Glen Way East. On June 20th, a seminar for “Emergency Evacuation Techniques” will be held from 7:15pm to 8:30pm at the Vista Palomar Riders Clubhouse, 973 Little Gopher Canyon Rd. For more information, check our web site: www.DeerSpringsFireSafeCoun- cil.com or call 760-855-1641. Red Flag Warnings In the event of a Red Flag Warning issued by the National Weather Service, the Fire Safe Council will post red flags at each Fire Danger sign throughout the District. To prevent unnecessary fires, Cal Fire has the following sugges- tions: * Don’t operate gas-powered tools like weed trimmers and lawn mowers. * Don’t drive in tall, dry grass. * Don’t have campfires or other open flames on your property. * Be extra careful if you smoke. Another Local Author A book about how to live in a Wildland-Urban Interface (WUI) neighborhood has been written especially for the young teens of Northern San Diego County.