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Mariposa's only daily updated online newspaper
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Ponderosa Basin Fire Meeting - June 27, 2008 |
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On Friday June 27, 2008 a meeting was held at the Ponderosa Basin Fire Station where an overflowing audience with a lot of questions got to talk with the leaders of the different branches of government who are involved with the Oliver Fire. CalFire Incident Commander Bill Hodson mentioned that the Sierra National Forest just did not have enough help and that is why they took over the Oliver Fire. He said the initial threat was the Ponderosa Basin but that he now feels very comfortable but not a 100%. The weather has been helpful for the firefighters and because of the terrain they are challenged to get a line around it. Mr. Hodson said that the fire crews will stay in the area until they are confident the fire is contained. Also that the Mariposa area is in pretty good shape right now as there is equipment and manpower in the area, but later in the year they could be called out somewhere. So far there have been nine injuries with none of those serious. Everyone was curious to see on the huge map on the wall where the fire was and where it is going to go. Dave Martin, District Ranger, Bass Lake Ranger District, Sierra National Forest said that they normally have seven engines but when the fourteen fires all broke out they only had five. He said he does not care about the color of the fire trucks as long as it can put out fires. Also the fires in Fish Camp that started at about the same time as the Oliver Fire was a big concern. Mikel Martin for CalFire said that they and the other agencies are constantly planning for these types of operations, that a good rapport has been built up and they can go through a checklist of items to be done. He said they plan for the worst and pray for the best. Also that this is only June and to hang on and get your 100 foot clearance. Mariposa County Supervisor Bob Pickard said that all the agencies have done a terrific job and that the residents are in great hands, plus the community outpouring with food and supplies has really paid back. Mariposa County Fire Chief Jim Wilson said that the Ponderosa Basin Fire Station was overwhelmed with just two fire trucks when the fire broke out and by Monday an incident command had been formed, that the weather and resources were against us. Mr. Wilson commented that the elite of the fire mangers were on the Oliver Fire and he would gladly put his home in their hands. When asked if there was a threat to 35 homes at one time, Mr. Wilson responded that yes at the time there was a real threat depending on how the fire was going to move. CHP Commander, Dave Price mentioned that on Monday the fire brought in a lot of traffic and a lot of outsiders that wanted to see the fire and they were getting in the way, that is why they closed off the entrance to Ponderosa Basin to residents or someone who had business being there. Mariposa County Sheriff Brian Muller said he was not there to talk about the fire as that was not his expertise but that he wanted to talk about the Reverse 911 System that is used to alert the residents if there is an emergency. He said that the system is only as good as the people who input the data for Pacific Bell. That their data entry is tied in with the county GIS system and if there is an anomaly then the call will not be made. If the data entry person puts down Whitlock Road instead of East Whitlock Road, the system will not match up. Will evacuation calls be placed through the Reverse 911 System? Yes Mr. Muller said and also face to face with the residents. He also said to listen to the whole message because misinformation can start when the whole message is not listened to, also that they do not play games with the messages so do not try to read in to the message more than what it says. The Sheriff Department's main goal is to protect life and property. They will not force you to leave your property but if you have children they will take the children as they have the legal authority to do that. The Sheriff also said that if you are fighting a fire and the flames are three feet from you, that he will take you! They are also going to institute another Reverse 911 call after the first message plays to everyone. Also if you want to be called at another location, say a work place or a cell phone just contact the sheriff and they will manually enter this information into the 911 system. Mr. Muller also commented on the system put together by Dana Tofoya with Dr. Mosher for the county that let's the residents call the Community Line at 966-1133 and find out the current information of an emergency/fire. This system is still being worked on and can handle hundreds of calls. This lets a big load off of the dispatcher as the county only has one or two on duty at a time. On the question of why was the information not being updated more often Mr. Muller said that at times not much was changing so there was not a need to update and that the Sheriff Department has been really busy running 90 miles an hour. Also sometime the system being new would glitch but he assured everyone that if something critical was happening that the information would be updated. When asked about what a person should do if they leave their house he said that a piece of paper should be at the house saying where you went, with a phone number and who went with you. Also the Sheriff has a form for this information. He ended by telling the residents to applaud themselves for what you have done, their has been no panic or problems. As the meeting came to a close, a standing ovation for those out fighting the fires was cheered on. |
