Ledger-Dispatch

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

CAL FIRE Battalion Chief Brian Kirk = leads a=20 simulated evacuation of Burke Ranch on Thursday.

Photo by: Jerry = Budrick

CHP officer Ron Vollhardt and his=20 state-of-the-art Incident Command Vehicle were ready for action at = Thursday's simulated evacuation of Burke Ranch.

Photo by: Jerry=20 Budrick
Depending on one's perspective, = last=20 Thursday's mock evacuation of Burke Ranch provided Amador County with = either one=20 small step into the 21st century or a giant leap forward for Big = Brother.=20

The Amador County Sheriff's Office of Emergency Services = conducts an=20 exercise every year to test the readiness of fire and law enforcement, = as well=20 as numerous other agencies, to deal with a simulated disaster.

As = OES=20 Coordinator Lynne Olson explained, "We do a disaster preparedness = exercise every=20 year, because you do what you practice, so you have to practice." = Practice=20 exercises may focus on flood, earthquake, epidemic disease, hazardous = material=20 spills or fire, as Thursday's exercise did.

This year's = simulation was of=20 a wildfire sweeping through the southern part of the rural community of = Burke=20 Ranch, east of Plymouth. Participants in the hour-long evacuation = included=20 sheriff's deputies and CAL FIRE personnel, teamed with representatives = from the=20 state Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, Amador County = Probation=20 Department, District Attorney's office and local police departments.=20

Behind the scenes, in equally important roles, were the other = essential=20 members of the huge team gathered for the exercise. "It takes an army to = run an=20 incident," Olson said, and an army is what had been assembled, with = participants=20 from multiple organizations.

The Red Cross was there, along with = the=20 American Legion Ambulance team. Animal Control played a major role, as = calls=20 came in for assistance with horses or other domestic animals, which are = among=20 the many creatures that would be endangered by wildfire.

County = Counsel=20 Martha Shaver has a little-known additional role in the county as public = information officer. "If an incident such as this really happened, the = PIO would=20 be called," Shavers said.

Amador Air District representative = George=20 Bartich clarified his presence with, "In case of fire, the air becomes=20 smoke-laden and dangerous to the health of residents."

Amador = Fire Safe=20 Council participated, lending its support, along with Amador County = Social=20 Services and the Department of Public Works.

CAL FIRE Battalion = Chief=20 Brian Kirk had the helm of the command center. Kirk spoke with pride = about the=20 California fire organization. "California was in advance of others," he = said.=20 "When 9/11 occurred, we already had tools in place. Fire had mutual aid = up and=20 down the state."

And mutual aid was the order of the day on=20 Thursday.

On loan from the California Highway Patrol, the = technologically=20 advanced pair of vehicles known as AIR 21 and the Incident Command = Vehicle=20 displayed their ability to send crystal-clear images of the evacuation = to the=20 command center.

The Incident Command Vehicle, also known as the = Rapid=20 Response Vehicle, or RRV, is a television studio on wheels, complete = with a=20 multitude of monitors, radio communications systems, telephone, = Internet,=20 e-mail, fax and satellite television services.

The RRV's partner = is a=20 Cessna 206, known by the name AIR 21. The name is derived from federal=20 legislation in the U.S. House of Representatives. House bill H.R. 1000, = the=20 Aviation Investment & Reform Act for the 21st Century, became law in = 2000,=20 providing an avenue to grant funding for the CHP air = upgrade.

Acting upon=20 instructions from the ICV operator, CHP Officer Ron Vollhardt, the = airborne crew=20 of AIR 21 focused their high-resolution, gyro-stabilized camera on = scenes of=20 rescue vehicles on the ground in Burke Ranch. From an elevation 3,500 = feet above=20 the action, the image on the screen in the ICV was so clear that one = onlooker=20 remarked, "You can see what kind of sandwich that firefighter is=20 eating."

The ICV is further connected to all units from the = various=20 departments through an integrated communications system that uses a = universal=20 radio frequency that fire and law enforcement personnel refer to as=20 CLEMARS.

The words behind the acronym were provided by sheriff's = Lt.=20 Charles Ray, who quickly filled in the blanks with, "California Law = Enforcement=20 Mutual Aid Radio System."

With images on the monitor and radios = crackling=20 all around, word came in of activities in the evacuation exercise. No = one was=20 actually evacuated.

Burke Ranch resident Cameron Duggan told of = his=20 interaction with the evacuation force. "The sheriff's deputies gave out=20 information about keeping weeds down," said Duggan, "but I feel like I'm = being=20 watched." He did go on to say, "It's nice to know that they have a plan = in place=20 in case something happens."

There clearly is a plan in place, = with an=20 army available to put the plan in action. "The OES can mission-task any = agency=20 in case of emergency," said CAL FIRE's Phyllis Banducci. "We have a list = of=20 deliverable resources."

Further reassurance came from CAL FIRE = Battalion=20 Chief Dennis Tremelling. "If we have a real fire and CHP can't get out = here in=20 time, they can helicopter a suitcase-sized unit to us," he explained. = "With=20 that, we can tie into the AIR 21 images from any of our=20 vehicles."

Cooperation was the most visible aspect of the = disaster=20 preparedness exercise. The stated goal of the OES in conducting the = simulation=20 was "to bolster interagency cooperation, establish communications and to = provide=20 for a more efficient use of limited resources." The display of = efficiency and=20 amiability seemed to reach that goal with ease.

Jerry = Budrick