|
Events like this shake a community, and they test the resources of the agencies tasked with mitigating them. Your paid and volunteer fighters began their response at 5:20am on Thursday, May 22. The engine from Burrell station was first at scene. LPVFR's water tender followed shortly thereafter, along with many other engines and hand crews. But with the wind gusting to 40 MPH or more and heavy fuels that hadn't burned in many years, conditions were right for something big, and it happened, despite the quick response.
In a certain sense, though, we got lucky. As awful as the consequences of the Summit Fire are, it's easy to envision scenarios that are much worse. Those fierce winds might have continued, or changed direction, thus threatening many more homes and increasing the the chance of injury and loss of life. And lest anyone become complacent, there are many other places here in the Santa Cruz Mountains where similar risks exist. In fact, given our dry spring, most of the area is at risk.
But regardless of where events like this take place, the effects are severe for those impacted. Injury or death, the loss of home and possessions, the time and effort needed to rebuild, and the damage to the community; these are - or should be - major concerns for us all. We need to help our neighbors affected by the Summit Fire, and help ourselves be ready for the next incident of this kind.
What have you done to prepare you and your family? Do you have an escape plan from your home and from your neighborhood? Do you have agreed upon emergency contacts to call if you're separated when it happens? Have you trimmed and cleared your property to make the chances of your home still being there when you return that much greater? Have you worked with your neighbors to know who needs assistance in these events? Do your kids know what to do if they are at school or a friend's home when it happens?
Several of these questions have been addressed in columns published here in the MNN, and that's a fine place to start if you haven't already done so. Additional information is available through your local fire station or from Santa Cruz County Fire itself. The Santa Clara Fire Safe Council website - www.sccfiresafe.org - and the CAL FIRE website - fire.ca.gov - can both help as well. Perhaps there are people interested in forming a Santa Cruz County Fire Safe Council out there? If so, consider contacting the Santa Clara Fire Safe Council and asking for advice on how to get going.
The trend in Santa Cruz county is toward larger fires. Whatever the cause of that trend, we need to be prepared. The Summit Fire was unusually large for our area, and occurred early in fire season, but we can be certain that other big fires will happen here eventually. Our fire season is generally worst in September and October, so we still have three or four dry months to get through. Please plan ahead, be careful, and keep safe.