Ledger-Dispatch

By Jerry Budrick (jbudrick@ledger-dispatch.com= )=20

The Electra fire charred roughly 800 = acres in the=20 Mokelumne canyon before being contained last month. While many = things went=20 right with regard to the response by emergency officials, they = have looked=20 at glitches in the system to better prepare for the next big=20 emergency.

Photo by: Bill Lavallie

Fire officials' anticipation of a blaze = in the=20 Mokelumne canyon helped them contain it relatively quickly last=20 month.

Photo by: Bill=20 Lavallie
Even as the smoke-filled skies = over=20 California begin to slowly clear, the distant glaze is a stark reminder = of the=20 imminent danger of the next big one. With temperatures hovering in the = 90s, the=20 rainless spring of 2008 may be leading into the fieriest summer in = recorded=20 history.

"Unprecedented," is the word used by CAL FIRE Captain = Bob=20 Strazzo to describe this year's fire situation, the most active he's = ever seen.=20 In his 29th season as a California firefighter, Strazzo knows what he's = talking=20 about. Nearly 300 fires are still actively burning in the state, = stretching=20 firefighting resources incredibly thin.

Strazzo had just returned = from=20 the raging blaze in Butte County, which has destroyed 50 residences and=20 threatens thousands more. Personnel from Amador County are still there,=20 including CAL FIRE Battalion Chief Dennis Tremelling.

No one = really wants=20 to talk about the impossible nature of what has always been thought of = as a=20 seasonal preparation problem. California has always had a fire season. = At the=20 end of the rainy season, be it March or May, fire stations are reopened = and=20 readied for action, as soon as the seasonal need is recognized. Official = fire=20 season in 1999 was from June 1 to Jan. 18. In 2001, it began on May 22 = and ended=20 on Dec. 3. Those days may be gone forever, as Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger = recently said very clearly.

"Now there is no more fire season," = he said.=20 "We have fires all year round. What we see now means that we will need = more=20 resources."

Glitch in the toolbox

In early June, = the Amador=20 County Sheriff's Office of Emergency Services conducted a practice = wildland fire=20 evacuation of Burke Ranch, the rural subdivision near Plymouth. Shortly=20 thereafter, on June 13, county emergency personnel were given the = opportunity to=20 utilize their expertise on the real thing - the Electra = fire.

"What the=20 exercise did is make us aware of what to do in a wildland fire," said = OES=20 Director Lynne Olson. "It was a reminder of what we have to be ready=20 for."

Emergency personnel were highly prepared for the Electra = fire,=20 except for one major, unanticipated problem. The fire turned off the=20 electricity, which snowballed into a significant communications=20 problem.

In 2005, Amador County purchased a telephonic warning = system=20 called Reverse911. Activated by the OES during an emergency, the system=20 automatically dials the phone numbers of everyone in a geographical = area,=20 informing them of the type and severity of the looming danger. Through=20 interfaces with the Volcano Telephone Company and AT&T, OES placed = calls to=20 277 numbers within the area threatened by the Electra = fire.

Answering=20 machines picked up 100 of the calls and 10 people hung up on OES = Director=20 Olson's voice, informing them that she was calling from the sheriff's = office to=20 warn them of approaching fire danger.

Olson readily admits that = the=20 Reverse911 system needs tweaking. "In Electra, we called people," she = said, "and=20 they started panicking. Where should I go? What should I = do?"

Rumors that=20 the system had battery or generator problems proved unfounded. "Each = system is=20 set up to run with a battery or generator," explained Duke Milunovich, = marketing=20 director for the Volcano Telephone Company. "We had one sub-area with a = slight=20 glitch."

Milunovich also said that Volcano Telephone is in the = process of=20 installing more backup generators, one of which will be powered by = hydrogen fuel=20 cells. "We take emergency services very seriously," he said, "and we'll = keep=20 doing all we can to keep people informed."

"Reverse911 is just = one tool=20 in the toolbox," Olson continued. "We also have door-to-door and=20 neighbor-calling-neighbor. We need to concentrate more on our Web page. = The=20 Internet is becoming more and more important every = day."

Supply and=20 demand

A second, less life-threatening emergency situation = led to=20 another activation of the Reverse911 system during the 800-acre blaze. = The power=20 outage caused by the Electra fire turned off the pumps in the Amador = Water=20 Agency's Central Amador Water Project.

Residents in the CAWP area = depend=20 on the Buckhorn Treatment Plant for potable water. The water treated at = Buckhorn=20 is pumped up from Tiger Creek Afterbay by 250-horsepower = pumps.

Power=20 outages are not unusual, but they normally last only a few hours. = Storage at=20 Buckhorn and the massive pumps have always been a cushioning = combination, so=20 much so that no generator is installed at the Tiger Creek Afterbay. On = that=20 fateful Friday the 13th in June, the fire prevented Pacific Gas and = Electric Co.=20 from restoring power for nearly 36 hours.

AWA Operations Manager = Chris=20 McKeage looked back on those trying times in his report to the agency's=20 directors on Thursday, highlighting the obstacles faced and the lessons=20 learned.

An extended power outage upcountry has two water- and=20 pump-related effects that can become disastrous. Without pumps or = careful=20 conservation measures, storage supplies can last only 24 hours and = pumped septic=20 systems can fill quickly to dangerous levels. The storage level at = Buckhorn fell=20 rapidly, so Reverse911 was activated, placing more than 4,000 calls to = customers=20 who might be unwittingly exhausting their own water supply. Warning = signs, which=20 McKeage believes should be replaced by larger ones, were set in=20 place.

Due to the time of day and the modern world of cell = phones,=20 cordless phones and answering machines, a disappointing 25 percent of = the calls=20 reached their targets.

Agency staff relocated generators to Tiger = Creek=20 Afterbay and Silver Lake Pines, raising the number of operating = generators to=20 11, all of which required refueling as the outage continued. A tanker = truck of=20 diesel made the rounds.

The generator brought to Tiger Creek was = provided=20 by the Federal Emergency Management Agency during the emergency caused = two years=20 ago by the collapse of hundreds of feet of the pre-transmission pipeline = ditch.

Enough customers became aware of the extreme need for = conservation=20 and the emergency generators did their work, so that there was no break = in=20 service to water customers on the CAWP system.

Should this happen = again,=20 the agency should be even better prepared, as the lengthy power outage = has=20 spawned improvements to the emergency system. Installation of battery = backups,=20 larger fuel tanks, bigger batteries and modernized septic tank alarms is = underway.

"Most of the time, customers don't even know that there = was an=20 incident, because there was no interruption of service," said a relieved = Jim=20 Abercrombie, general manager of the water agency.

Commenting on = plans for=20 tweaking their system in preparation for the next emergency, Abercrombie = added:=20 "The only way you get better is to identify the areas that need=20 improvement."

Heightened public awareness is the agency's mission = for the=20 future. Water users are likely going to be bombarded with advice in = agency=20 newsletters and media announcements. The lesson seems clear and simple: = no=20 electricity, no power for water or wastewater systems.

Power = to the=20 people

Olson had a suggestion for everyone. "Put together a=20 neighborhood emergency watch program," she said. "We need people to take = responsibility for themselves and for their neighbors. People shouldn't = wait for=20 us to tell them what to do."

Many people aren't waiting. The = Amador Fire=20 Safe Council is comprised of concerned volunteers from the community. = Director=20 Cathy Koos Breazeal, the non-profit council's sole employee, has worked = with the=20 Pine Grove-based council for three years. "We've got a mission and we're = going=20 for it," said Breazeal. That mission is, "To Protect the people of = Amador County=20 and their property from the effects of catastrophic wildfire through = education,=20 cooperation, innovation and action."

During her tenure, the = council has=20 partnered with numerous state and federal agencies to make strides in = not only=20 educating people about the need to create defensible space around their = homes,=20 but actually helping them to create that space. The Bureau of Land = Management=20 funded completion of four firebreaks through Pine Acres. The U.S. Forest = Service=20 financed senior citizens' defensible space projects in Buckhorn, Rabb = Park and=20 Silver Drive.

"The good thing (about the Electra fire) was no = houses were=20 lost and no one was injured," said Breazeal. She did point out that the = power=20 outage crippled HomeTownRadio, a major force in emergency communication, = though=20 it didn't disable non-powered phones owned by savvy folks who live = upcountry and=20 have experienced this before.

Breazeal has been thrust into the = public=20 eye by all the recent fire activity. She has high hopes for increased = awareness=20 and cooperation in the firefighting community and would like to invite = everyone=20 to attend a public meeting of the Amador Fire Safe Council at 3 p.m. on = July 16=20 at the General Services Administration Building in Martell, at 12200 = Airport=20 Road.

Defensible space is variously interpreted by insurance = companies,=20 with some now demanding 1,000 feet, according to AAA Insurance Sales=20 Representative Connie Gonsalves. "Some companies," she said, "are = canceling=20 insurance in our upcountry due to brush and defensible space." AAA = Insurance=20 only insists upon 50 feet, while the California Department of Forestry = is=20 pushing for 100.

With the fire danger hovering over everyone, = Gonsalves=20 had some words of advice for all who live in forested areas. "Having an = escape=20 plan is extremely important," she said, "as is making sure you have an = updated=20 insurance policy, with a full inventory of the home's = contents."

Renters=20 have an added danger. "A landlord's policy does not cover renter's = contents or=20 liability," Gonsalves explained. "Renters should get their own contents=20 policy."

Insurance was also on CAL FIRE Captain Strazzo's mind. = Asked=20 about his opinion of the tax increase for paid firefighters in Amador = County, he=20 at first thought the question referred to the governor's proposed 1.25 = percent=20 property tax surcharge to fund CAL FIRE. "It's such a paltry sum, $12 on = home=20 insurance," Strazzo said in support of the proposal.

On the topic = of=20 Amador County's upcoming half-cent sales tax measure, targeted for the = November=20 ballot, Strazzo expressed greater interest in the possible efforts = toward=20 consolidation.

"Riverside County," he explained, "has a = consolidated=20 county fire department. Five or six cities contract with the county, = which=20 contracts with CAL FIRE. They can get 30 engines get together=20 quickly."

Amador County's autonomous fire districts and = departments have=20 been discussing consolidation for some years. The Amador Fire Protection = Authority was formed in 2003 to enhance inter-departmental = communication,=20 perhaps someday leading to consolidation.

Jerry = Budrick