Jerry Davies
Farmers Insurance
Jerry,
I wanted to give you an update on the use of the Emergency Notification Network that you allowed us to purchase for the benefit of the Crescenta Valley.
Your commitment to the Crescenta Valley Fire Safe Council occurred in the last week in May. We promptly implemented the One Call Now notification system to invite residents in the calling area to attend our Surviving A Wild Fire Expo held on May 31st. The resulting attendance was far greater than anticipated. During our 4 hour event, we had upwards of 300 residents attend and learn about Fire Safe Practices. The following week we captured Front Page newspaper coverage of the event in the Local LA Times edition of the Valley Sun.
The resultant outreach of this event continues to snowball into a strong grass routes evolution of Neighborhood Fire Watch program, based on our basic tenant of “Neighbors Helping Neighbors”. We have two follow up meetings this coming week, one a committee meeting to create an emergency evacuation route from within Briggs Terrace (a one way in one way out community that we’ve been told is very reminiscent of Oakland Hills), the second is a Neighborhood Fire Watch meeting with a few blocks of residents with potential block captains from adjacent areas in attendance. These meetings stress taking personal responsibility to assure ones safety and protection of property. Pre – Evacuation strategies are discussed at length. Attention is also given to analyzing ones property and implementing appropriate materials to harden ones home against ember and fire attack.
On June 7 ( one week after our Fire Expo) I received a call @ 4 PM stating that the Sheriffs had been searching for the last 2 hours for an Alzheimer’s afflicted resident to no avail and wouldn’t I call the watch commander who expressed interest in the reverse calling program. They had employed several units , some from outside the area, including a helicopter.
I called the watch commander and he gave me the descriptive information and within a few minutes I made a call to our database.
Within 5 minutes of having placed that call I was called by the watch commander notifying me that our lost resident had been found and it was a direct result of our call. The person had wandered a couple blocks away and entered someone’s rear yard where he had found a chase lounge to lie on. Upon receiving our call the family looked around their house and so located our missing person. The call back from the Sheriffs’ department was so soon after placing the call that I was ready to believe it was a coincidental event… not so according to those in charge.
We had occasion to assist County Fire and Sheriffs departments in launching and Evacuation Drill carried out in the Briggs Terrace area on August 1st. That event was well attended because of the work done by all in getting the word out. Our notification system was used as well as the lynch pin to begin the evacuation. Stephanie English of County Fire recorded 2 messages that we used, one to remind residents of the coming event, and the second to kick it off at 9 AM on Saturday morning.There is a good write up of the event on the County’s following page: http://www.fire.lacounty.gov/home_story2.asp . There is a great thank you note referenced in the last line of the article which bears being read by linking to it.
What we’ve learned since committing to the One Call Now system is that it has so many potential uses to assist our community over and above its basic intended purpose. Our commitment to you to make this a one time grant, has also motivated us to use the One Call Now Notification System as a key reason for neighbors to pay a $10 annual sponsorship to the CV FSC. So far we’ve raised an additional $800 to go towards next seasons cost of the system and the $10 checks keep rolling in as we spread our Neighborhood Fire Watch program through the community.
All of this has happened because you had the courage to grab the ring of opportunity as it was passing by one Friday night in May when I placed my call to you to ask for support. Thanks again for your support and I look forward to that Photo op of holding that large cardboard check early in September.
Regards,
Roger Young
CV FSC Chair
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