STACIE ALBRIGHT BRINGS RELIEF TO 2018 CAMP FIRE

Stacie Albright on Relief and Recovery After the “Camp” Fire

2018 Recap of the Destructive Mega-Fire Called the Camp Fire

Wildfires in the West, especially California, have blown out of control - literally. The raging infernos of 2018 are beyond the capability of the fire service as it exists today. The fuels are too dry; too many people live in the wildland that needs their homes protected; there are too few resources to go around when hundreds of thousands of acres are involved; and the radical environmental groups have pressured politics to the point where we can no longer manage our forests and wildlands.

Be that as it may, wildfires are also causing evacuations like never before. ModernJeeper Stacie Albright decided to jump in the middle of the evacuations and help people with relief, shelter, and recovery.

As of November 2018, the Camp Fire is the deadliest and most destructive wildfire in California history. Named after the origin, Camp Creek Road, this inferno has destroyed 12,000 structures, homes, and apartments. Displaced residents are fleeing the area looking for help, relief, food, a place to stay, and someone who cares.

Churches, fairgrounds, town halls, and community centers become evacuation sites, relief locations, and donation drop-off places. But guess what? Someone has to organize all these relief centers and drop-off locations. Clothes, shoes, coats, food, water, and more started arriving in Yuba City and Oroville nearly immediately. Hundreds of truck and car loads.

To the rescue -- Stacie Albright and dozens of like-minded citizens wanting to help. Stacie hooked up her vintage Terry trailer to her 1988 Jeep Wagoneer and headed north to help.

First of all, she will be the first to tell you that you should know where you’re headed before you try to drive into a fire area. It’s best if you have a club group or organization you are reporting to duty for as a volunteer.   Online resources and Facebook are a wealth of info on what YOU can do to help.

The job of a volunteer in a relief center is multi-tasking: Sorting, organizing, being a parking lot attendant, finding places to pile and store stuff, answering thousands of questions from evacuees, helping people find their pets, labeling piles of clothes and sizes; and more.

Here is how Stacie described the experience:

“I’ve never seen so many people left homeless, stranded, evacuated, and feeling hopeless in one area. It looked like a nuclear bomb went off. You could see folks everywhere, walking in the ashes with a glazed look in their eyes. It was awful. But boy, were they glad to see me bringing supplies, water, clothes, and more. When they went to base camp, we gave them some hope in an awful situation. I’m so glad I was able to volunteer and help the victims.”

 MORE HELPFUL LINKS:

DEL'S BOOKS (LAND USE, WILDFIRE, DEATH VALLEY, COWBOY POETRY, AND MORE)

WEBSITE (HOME PAGE)

PINTEREST (BOOKS, ARTICLES, AND MORE)

FACEBOOK

INSTAGRAM

DEL'S ARTICLES (LAND USE, LIFE, WILDFIRE, VOLUNTEERISM, AND MORE)

 More land use and volunteerism help here:

• MEETINGS:
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DISASTER PLANNING AT HOME

DON'T BE LEFT IN THE DARK!

Plan, Prep and Practice.

by Del Albright

Disaster planning and prepping are key to surviving major messes in today's world. Fire, flood, hurricane, you name it, the lessons I learned in 30 years of fire service, including "strategic planning and responses to disaster management" are simple -- but usually neglected by most of us. It's never too late. Here are my (past Fire Chief) suggested 10 things to save your life (and help you recoup) in disasters:

1. PICS: Take pics; lots of them. Videos too. Of your house, your prepping, your current/before condition and save them for insurance purposes later, especially before a fire or flood evacuation.

2. INSURANCE: Make sure your insurance DOES in fact cover the messes you might face.

3. HOMEWORK: Talk to experts who have lived thru whatever disasters are common in your area -- or like floods that only happen once in several decades. Ask what lessons they learned. What about pets like horses, dogs, cats, etc. Where do they go?

4. GO-BAGS: Have go-bags that include medical supplies, water and food -- in every car/rig. Get a good first aid kit as part of this -- not a $20 blue light special. Get Water treatment kits that let you drink collected water without worrying about virus/bacteria -- cheap kits readily available nowadays. Learn to use the items that will save your life from infection, bleeding, etc.

5. TABLE TALKS: Discuss evacuation planning with your family and friends nearby. Especially with kids when it comes to fire. "Table Talk" scenarios and role playing are great ways to be ready for anything. you'd be surprised at what you come up with if you sit down, spouse to spouse and ask "what would you do if we were separated and a disaster of major proportions hit?"

6. COMMUNICATIONS: If you are a HAM radio person, carry it and a charger -- even if you don't use it (Go Bag) -- especially during fire season or flood season. But for sure, keep a charger with your phone in every car. And speaking of that, car batteries can be killers if they are in bad shape and don't do their job when you need them.

7. FEMA: Get the free material in your area from folks like FEMA, your fire department, OES, whatever. Read it and use it.

8. PLAN: Make a Plan! Red Cross has a sample template (there are others as well):http://www.redcross.org/get-help/prepare-for-emergencies/be-red-cross-ready/make-a-plan

9. WORST CASE:Hope for the best, plan for the worst. Your
"what if" planning should include worst case scenarios and what you would do. Hospital ER rooms might be full; evacuation centers may not be adequately organized; cell towers could be down; and you may lose contact with family members. Ouch. Now what?

10. COMMON SENSE: Never lose sight of your common sense, and STAY CALM. Like in the old days of the Boy Scouts -- BE PREPARED; be alive.

Hope this helps.
Del.

• RUN A BETTER MEETING
• LEARN MORE ABOUT NEPA
• WRITE A LETTER
• GIVE A SPEECH
• LEARN TO FACILITATE MEETINGS
• WHY JOIN A CLUB
• ORGANIZE A CONVOY
• JOIN THE RIGHT GROUPS
• GET VOLUNTEER TRAINING
• LEAD VOLUNTEERS
• CHOOSE THE RIGHT JOB FOR YOU

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