The 5-1-2 BULLETIN June 05 - No. 57
TO: OR-NorCAL-NV ARES and other EMCOMM Stations, ARRL Officials, other EMCOMM
and Public Safety Officials; in Oregon District 5, California SV Section
Districts 1, 2...and BEYOND.
FROM: D.W. Thorne, K6SOJ, ARES SEC, SV Section (North), editor.
Assistant ACS Officer MAR III California OES
INTERNET: www.qsl.net/k6soj E-MAIL:
k6soj@arrl.net
CA OES ACS INLAND REGION WEBSITE: www.acs.oes.ca.gov/Inland/
+ SHORT CIRCUITS - Brief
(important) announcements:
REMINDER TO ALL ECs: Your monthly reports are due :-)
(Butte/Glenn, Modoc, Siskiyou, and Tehama are in for May.)
+ A CONFLAGRATION AVERTED
THE “BUCKEYE FIRE” - by Jerry Boyd K6BZ
ARRL Section Manager, Sacramento Valley
On the evening of June 1st the City of Redding experienced an urban interface
wildfire (IZONE) in the northern part of the city. ARES personnel from two
counties under the direction of EC's W1SAR (who was on duty with the police
dept) and KF6KDD along with DEC WO6P assisted in coordinating the effort. Law
enforcement, fire, medical, and the American Red Cross were assisted by ARES as
the fire forced several hundred evacuations.
As a local volunteer Fire Chief I was on standby, staffing our
fire company in the event our response was necessary. During that time, I had
occasion to monitor over a dozen public safety radio channels as well as the
frequencies being used by ARES personnel. I concur fully with the assessment of
police and fire personnel on scene that ARES did an outstanding job. The
positive relations they built last night with a city that, in the past, has
under-utilized the amateur radio resource cannot be measured. My congratulations
to all involved for a job well done. Our "system" may not be perfect,
and we constantly try to improve it.....but it is doggoned good and I'm proud of
all involved.
------------------
AND NOW...A “FIRST PERSON” ACCOUNT
by Drew Witham, W1SAR Shasta County
Emergency Coordinator. (Drew is also with the Redding PD)
“I was at work, and driving the second police vehicle
dispatched to the incident. I was flagged down enroute and advised of fire
immediately threatening the Repco installation on Lake Blvd. - I saw that flames
were right at the back wall of the building and requested additional fire
response to protect those structures, before being directed to control traffic
on a major intersection - and was still doing that when I saw Jake's (KF6KDD
Tehama County EC) smiling face on the scene! He did a sterling job. The police
mobile command post was brought to the same area, and became the focal point of
the evacuation. Over 200 homes were evacuated - and three homes were lost to the
fire. I received very positive comments regarding Jake and Paul, (K6PTT), and
all of the ARES in general. In particular, their 'professionalism' was
mentioned. I have now been advised that I am to be a member of the RPD Emergency
Response Team, with responsibility for the RPD Incident Command Vehicle. As soon
as next week, I will be submitting a spec. for the installation of Voice, Packet
(and hopefully APRS) equipment - and will now be on call 24/7 for deployment of
the vehicle. For EMCOMM 2001, RPD couldn't find someone to bring the vehicle
along - next year I can bring it myself! I have sent a short press release to
the local paper in the hope that they will include it with the fire report. It's
almost 2 AM now, and it will shortly be time to go back to work. In any event -
everything started to roll tonight - in spite of my absence. A great job by
everyone involved!”
SV ARES STANDS BY FOR MA DURING THE “BUCKEYE” FIRE Following
telephone “heads up” calls from N6SSQ and W6MAC, K6SOJ activated the SV
Section ARES net on 3987 kHz, 145.350- (Burney), and the 443.050+ (Shasta-Bally)
/ 443.900+ (Hammaker Mt.) repeater system at 2120L as a precautionary measure.
ARES operators participating were: Chuck, WD6BXN, Burney; Tim, KD6MPV,
Sacramento; Dick, WO6P, (District 2 DEC, mobile, responding); and W6MAC,
Redding, who handled a “DWI” very quickly and efficiently, for a ham in
Cottonwood who was very concerned about his sister who lives in the fire area.
The MA net was cancelled at 2213L when it was determined that the Shasta and
Tehama ARES teams could handle the EMCOMM for the Red Cross and the City of
Redding. - de K6SOJ
+ LASSEN COUNTY FOR DEVIL FIRE
SUMMARY
by Terry Cobb, K6ME, AEC Lassen County and CDF/VIP HAMCO for the Lassen-Modoc
Ranger Unit.
Sunday, 05-27-01: Fire dispatch at about 2:20 PM Sunday. I sent
email and
HF & VHF notification to Lassen ARES and CDF VIP members and SEC Dave
Thorne, K6SOJ. Met with Fire Dispatch center manager at 4:00 PM and in
conjunction with Lassen ARES EC Benny Morrow we placed Lassen CDF/VIP and ACS/ARES
members on alert. I Received a briefing from IC/OES Officer Sunday evening and
again reported to fire dispatch center. I was informed that the fire was burning
towards Susanville at a high rate of spread. It was determined auxiliary
communications was not necessary at that time, but that we would be notified if
needed. Regular up dates were made to our SEC via HF on 3987 and VHF 146.910
(relay via N6SSQ Alturas) regularly, until 9:30 PM.
Monday, 05-28-01: Went to Fire briefing at 7:00 AM in Susanville. Fire at 1,500+ acres, no control or predictions. Heavy fuels, low humidity and expected 30/35 mph winds from NW early afternoon. Met with OES IC. ARES/VIP “not needed”, but two tentative evacuation centers and ACS/ARES involvement discussed. Updates provided to SEC and others on HF, VHF, phone and e-mail.
Voluntary/Precautionary evacuations began at 12:48 PM as fire approaches city outskirts and river view homes. Lassen ACS/ARES activated by OES IC as mandatory evacuations ordered at 3:20 PM for several roads near West city limits. We are asked to pick up staged Red Cross U-100 trailer at dispatch. Set up Red Cross shelter at local high school gymnasium and awaited arrival of Red Cross team from Redding CA. Two ARES members activated at that time as County and City staff members and local Star team activated also. Evacuation center opened about 4:00 PM and ready for 100 evacuees by 5:00 PM.
Everything went as planned. High School did a wonderful job. Can't say enough about the volunteers at the evacuation center and the many others who signed up to offer time, skills, their homes, food, clothing, pet boarding, etc.
Tuesday 05-29-01,Red Cross shelter was notified to close Tuesday by 6:00 PM.
ARES members present: KE6REA/Vic, K6GMC/Gloria and K6ME/Terry. Nine other members were ready for relief and possible second shelter opening.
Remember... it can happen to you. Were we ready? No!! Are you
ready?
----------------
For a slide show featuring photos by Terry go to: www.qsl.net/k6soj.
USFS update(s) - (They have a nice picture page and map)
http://www.r5.fs.fed.us/lassen/incident/devilfire/index.htm
CDF update(s)-
http://www.fire.ca.gov/incidents/webs/Devil/IncidentInformation.html
+ FEEDBACK - FROM OUR “WEBMASTER
EXTRAORDINAIRE” - KC7REK:
“I have the ‘problem’ fixed on both K6SOJ and W6SOJ web sites. (I wish
that Netscape would start processing html information the same way as Internet
Explorer - It would make life much easier.) I found a newer script that does the
same thing, but adds more code to be Netscape compatible. The pages look almost
the same in both browsers except the ‘picture’ is not centered under
Netscape. Please pass the information on to anyone that wants it - that most of
the sites are set up for Microsoft Internet Explorer 4.x and above. Netscape and
older browsers don't process the newer JavaScript information correctly and they
may get the ‘errors’ when they try to look at the slideshow.”
+ NET REMINDER - 5-1-2 REGIONAL ARES
AND NWS NETS
UPDATED (May 9) LEADERSHIP 5-1-2 NET ROSTER AT:
http://www.qsl.net/k6soj/nets/net.htm
DAILY:
1200 to 1230L: Jefferson Noon Net on 7232 SB (3987 LSB alternate)
WEDNESDAYS:
1915 to 1930L: NWS WX SPOTTER NETS (see NWS-SKYWARN section below)
1930 to 2000L: A.R.E.S. LEADERSHIP NET on 3987 LSB (1982 LSB alternate) (NOTE TO
ALL ARES and other EMCOMM LEADERS (including, but not limited to SECs, DECs, ECs,
AECs) in any section, district or county: Although this net is primarily
for District 5 (OR) and Districts 1 and 2 (SV); you are all cordially invited to
check in and participate in the discussion(s). A wide range of EMCOMM
topics are covered.)
+ ARES and other
EMCOMM NETS
list at: www.qsl.net/k6soj/nets/index.htm
+ ICS COURSE IN JACKSON COUNTY,
OREGON
Medford, OR. July 23-27, 2001.
Info: Kelly Jo Jensen at: (503) 378-2911 or kjensen@oem.state.or.us
+ IN CASE YOU MISSED IT -
(ECs may want to “share” this with their local Emergency Manager(s)
From The ARRL Letter; Vol. 20, No. 22; June 1, 2001:
Florida ARES group activates to cover 911 outage: On May 13, a water leak
shorted out Jacksonville Fire-Rescue Department's telephone and radio systems,
including the 911 trunk to the Jacksonville Sheriff's office. This event knocked
out all emergency radio and telephone traffic. All police and rescue traffic was
diverted to the single UHF repeater normally used for routing private ambulances
to area hospitals--resulting in an instant frequency overload. JFRD officials
turned to Amateur Radio. The ARES Quick Response Team was on-scene within 30
minutes of the call-up. In all, 21 hams assisted in passing continuous fire and
rescue radio traffic over the 146.76 MHz repeater for nearly three hours. Duval
County Emergency Coordinator Miller Norton, N4RYX, told the ARES volunteers,
"We are the last defense and simply cannot fail to respond when called. Job
well done."
+ AND NOW...THIS
WEEK’S TRAINING:
The article: “DISASTER / MAJOR EMERGENCY -- WHAT CAN WE EXPECT? by Lt.
Dan Blackston, Chula Vista Police Department” appeared in its entirety in
BULLETIN # 36 (January 9) and is archived at www.qsl.net/k6soj.
Below are excerpts from that article with comments.
41. There will not be enough handie-talkies; batteries will soon go dead.
COMMENT: The first part of the above comment need not be true for hams.
Every EMCOMM operator should have at least one “handie-talkie” primarily for
tactical, personal field use...usually on simplex. Unfortunately the last
part of the statement is often true. “Ni-cads are nice, but alkalines are
always ready.” If you use your HT daily the Ni-cad battery and charger system
works well.
But for EMCOMM use you may not be able to re-charge your Ni-cad batteries in the field. At least not very quickly. It is suggested that all EMCOMM operators have a alkaline battery box, or adapter for their HT. The shelf life of an alkaline cell is up 5 years (give or take), and they are readily available everywhere. Personally, when my Ni-cads that came with my HTs “died”, I did not replace them. Since I use my HTs only on an occasional basis, I ordered alkaline battery packs and use them exclusively.
TRAINING BULLETINS that appear in this bulletin
are also archived at:
www.qsl.net/k6soj (PLUS A
“PLETHORA” OF ADDITIONAL TRAINING MATERIAL)
+ NWS-SKYWARN NEWS
Jim Reynolds, KD7MLO, Warning Coordination Meteorologist, Medford NWS
Gary Peterson, N7GK, Asst. Medford SKYWARN Coordinator
D. W. Thorne, K6SOJ, Asst. Medford SKYWARN Coordinator
NWS WEATHER SPOTTER CLASSES:
The pre-summer schedule of WX SPOTTER training classes for southern Oregon and
northern California area has been completed.
MEDFORD NWS SKYWARN PAGE:
http://www.qsl.net/wx7mfr/SKYWARN/index.html
CURRENT NWS WEATHER BULLETINS AND WARNINGS ARE AVAILABLE VIA A LINK AT: www.qsl.net/k6soj
SKYWARN is the National Weather Service program of trained volunteer
spotters reporting severe weather The ARRL/ARES has a national “memorandum of
understanding” (MOU) with the NOAA/NWS.
MEDFORD NWS WX SPOTTER NET WEDNESDAY NIGHTS.
The Medford NWS WX SPOTTER NET is on Wednesdays at: 1915L on 147.26+ (Mt.
Ashland repeater - WX7MFR/R); SIMULTANEOUSLY ON: 146.55 SIMPLEX (Siskiyou and
Klamath Counties); AND 146.97- the Likely repeater (Modoc County). FROM 1920 to
1929L: on 3987 LSB (1982 LSB alternate), relays and other check-ins will be
accepted and forwarded. ALSO, a packet WX SPOTTER NET is being developed to run
concurrently SKYWARN will be activated on these frequencies during severe
weather events.
The NWS PACKET NODE ON MT. ASHLAND is on 145.030 MHz, ID is: skywrn. NWS is asking for SKYWARN and ARES packet stations to connect and let them know your location, the type of antenna and power you use to access the Mt. Ashland node. The “connect” to NWS packet bbs (direct) is 145.090 and the ID is NWSMFR. Then connect to NWSBBS, e.g., c nwsmfr. Then, c nwsbbs. The NWSMFR at nws mfr is a node.
Questions? contact Gary, N7GK < gpederso@orednet.org >
The NWS/Medford “service area” consists of nine counties: Coos, Curry, Douglas, Klamath, Jackson, Josephine, Lake, (OR); Modoc and Siskiyou (CA). If you have any questions about the SKYWARN program, contact: Gary/N7GK < gpederso@orednet.org > via e-mail or on 147.26+ (Mt. Ashland).
REGIONAL ARES WEATHER AND ROAD NETS (ARESWARNS) for SV Districts 1 and 2 are on the MUTUAL AID FREQUENCIES of 7232 LSB (daytime) and 3987 LSB (nighttime). 1982LSB (nighttime alternate). Up/down QRM. OREGON District 5, and all ARES stations elsewhere, are CORDIALLY INVITED to participate.
During a SEVERE WEATHER EVENT, the HF WARN meets hourly AT THE BOTTOM OF THE HOUR, until all information and traffic is passed, (more often as needed).
LOCAL ARESWARNS are activated by a local EC or AEC per your
local plan.
Check with your EC for more information about your area. It is recommended
that they meet at the TOP OF EACH HOUR, and include a local HF - VHF station for
relay / interface duty with the regional net.
Check in to the JEFFERSON NOON NET daily at 1200L on 7232 //
3987 LSB for announcements regarding anticipated severe WX.
IF YOU HAVE AN ANNOUNCEMENT OR SOMETHING OF INTEREST TO REPORT
about your ARES team or other EMCOMM unit...and would like it posted in the
5-1-2 BULLETIN...send it to: k6soj@arrl.net
+ COMING ATTRACTIONS ...
WHAT CAN WE EXPECT? THE SERIES CONTINUES
HOW PREPARED ARE YOU? - A FUN QUIZ
+ EMCOMM 2002:
April 20-21 2002 - Bishop Quinn High School, Palo Cedro, CA.
+ FIELD DAY 2001 - JUNE
23-24.
2001 FIELD DAY RULES AND FORMS: www.arrl.org/contests/forms/index.html#FD
or check the May issue of QST
p. 112. If you haven’t reviewed and familiarized yourself with this
information...please do so.
NOTE: Announcements of field day sites sponsored by EMCOMM groups and
special service clubs will be listed below. (Send the name of the sponsoring
group, the approximate location of your FD site, a contact person, and an email
or web address, or phone number.) Listed below are some of these...
FIELD DAY sites sponsored by EMCOMM groups:
+ CALIFORNIA OES/ACS
WHO: “Anybody and everybody from any ACS/RACES/ARES/VIP/REACT
organization statewide.”
WHERE: El Dorado N.F. (5 miles from Silver Springs
Campground )
CONTACT: Bill Pennington, WA6SLA <Bill_Pennington/OES@oes.ca.gov>
+ The SOJOURNERS
(State Of Jefferson Operators United Relay Network and Emergency Radio Service)
www.qsl.net/w6soj
WHO: Members, (guest operators by permission only), visitors
welcome. WHERE: Klamath N.F., Goosenest R.D., Juanita Lake.
CONTACT: D. W. Thorne, K6SOJ <k6soj@arrl.net>
+ Sierra Foothills
Amateur Radio Club
WHO: All operators are welcome
WHERE: Nyack, CA. I-80 @ Nyack across from the Nyack general
store.
CONTACT: Matt Diridoni, KC6RUO, President SFARC at:
916-632-4084;or, Wayne Mikel, KE6DJE, Placer County ARES EC at: 916-645-0565
+ Lassen Amateur
Radio Club, <www.qsl.net/k6lrc/>
WHO: All visitors are welcome, operator training rotations.
WHERE: Highway 139, Antelope Summit Day Use Area.
CONTACT: Terry L. Cobb SR, K6ME <k6me@arrl.net>
+ The “5-1-2
BULLETIN” - Copyright (c) 2001 - D.W. Thorne, K6SOJ
Permission is hereby granted to reproduce and re-circulate items from this
bulletin providing appropriate credit is given to the “5-1-2 REGIONAL ARES
BULLETIN” and/or the author or originator of the material. Send
corrections, updates, etc. to: k6soj@arrl.net
+ PLEASE REMEMBER TO CONSERVE ENERGY!