The 5-1-2 BULLETIN - 31 July 01 - No. 65
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:
The ARES, CDF/VIP teams in Lassen and Shasta Counties have performed admirably
during the recent fires. As Colonel John "Hannibal" Smith
(George Peppard) of the A-TEAM used to say:
“I LOVE IT WHEN A PLAN COMES TOGETHER!”
+ FIRE REPORTS - (raw,
unedited)
“Big Bend Fire” (AKA Powerhouse Fire) near Pit River Powerhouse #5,
North West of Burney, CA - (Received 30 July 01 @ 1037L)
Reported by Dick Cloyd, WO6P, District 2, SV Section EC:
“The fire began at around 1500 hours on Saturday (7/28). The fire burned
approximately 400 acres. One house was lost as well as an unoccupied
trailer. The fire was slow burning, no wind either day. As of today
(7/30), approximately 30 per cent contained. Four firefighters were
slightly injured. One vehicle accident occurred near highway 299, damage
minimal. Cause of fire is under investigation.
Saturday, a total of four Shasta County ARES members were called
out by the CDF VIP coordinator, and positioned by 1600 hours local time, NCS,
Mac (W6MAC); CDF-Redding, Steve (K6KSS); Round Mountain Relay, Steve (KQ6CS) and
Shadow-1, Dick (WO6P). During the evening at approximately 1800 hours, the Red
Cross called out two additional ARES members. One member was stationed at the
evac center, Steve, (KQ6CS). He moved from being a relay to the evac center. One
member shadowed a Red Cross official, Larry (N6HDC). Early on, only three
individuals reported to the evac center. At
midnight, Saturday, all ARES positions were secured.
Sunday morning at approximately 1100 hours, Shasta County ARES was again called out by the CDF. Initially, CDF-Redding, CDF Stillwater and a shadow was required. Three ARES members provided coverage as CDF-Redding/NCS, Del,(KF6IBX); CDF Stillwater operations, Chuck, (WD6BXN); shadow-1, Dick (WO6P). All ARES positions were secured at 1800L.
Both days, standbys were monitoring in case all evening/night
manning was
required. We were able to include the Burney area amateurs in this fire.”
-------------
“Stream Fire” - Lassen County - (Received 29 July 01 @
1233L)
Reported by Terry Cobb, K6ME, ARES AEC and CDF VIP Lassen-Modoc RU:
“Containment is near. Lines holding well Saturday with predicted winds not materializing as previously predicted. Overflow crowd at public information meeting held at the Janesville Fire District Main Street Station Saturday evening at 7:30 PM.
An overflow crowd listened intently as the Stream Fire IC, the Type 1 Team Management team leader and other local fire and government officials gave an overview of the fire. Law-in-Forcemeat and Fire officials tactfully answered numerous questions from homeowners obviously fearful of the fire and the lack of up to date information available locally.
The good news: Is that the Fire is nearly contained with most lines holding well through Saturday. There were some anxious moments for fire fighters as the Fire jumped scratchy lines at the head of the fire and several spots were up to 1/2 mile outside lines.
With close to 1,500-fire personal, 14 dozers, and 52 Engines they would maximize the suppression efforts Saturday night and Sunday.
The bad news: Several more days of light to moderate smoke and with predicted high storm front winds there is still a chance the fire could get out of control. (Very slight) Winds gusts have increased to 25 MPH in Janesville at 12:00 noon.”
USFS updates: www.r5.fs.fed.us/plumas/incident/streamfire/summary.html
+ FEEDBACK -
FROM: Ed Ryan, N7VEX (Peoria, AZ)
“I wish to pose a question regarding last week's training item. If the originator is savvy enough to place (or indicate) an EMERGENCY priority on a piece of traffic, how can the operator help but send it as written? The best anyone can hope for during a catastrophic disaster communications situation is that there IS communication.”
COMMENT: Well Ed, that can be a “vexing” problem. (Sorry, I just couldn’t resist - HI.) My answer is: “not much”. If the HX box is marked “C” or “D” that might help. (However, that only creates more congestion on the air for the reply.) Of course, PREPAREDNESS will help.
Skilled operators regularly participating in ARES and NTS
nets...will promote more effective handling of formal traffic. But I am
not overly optimistic. Even a well run net is often QRM’d by under prepared
and/or undisciplined “interlopers”. Any other comments...anyone?
de K6SOJ
+ NET REMINDER - 5-1-2 REGIONAL ARES
AND NWS NETS
DAILY:
1200 to 1230L: Jefferson Noon Net on 7232 LSB (3987 LSB alternate)
NOTE: ALL STATIONS ARE ENCOURAGED TO MONITOR AND/OR CALL ON 146.52 MHZ DURING
THE NOON NET TO RELAY CHECK-INS OR TRAFFIC.
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) ALL ARES
and other EMCOMM leaders are welcome. A net roster is available at: www.qsl.net/k6soj/nets/net.htm
+ ARES and other EMCOMM NETS - list at: www.qsl.net/k6soj/nets/index.htm
+ 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 . Below are excerpts from that article with
comments.
52. Some field units will "disappear"; you will not be able to reach
them and will not know where they are or what they are doing.
COMMENT: This happens more frequently than it should! While it is not necessary to advise the NCS of your every move, it isn’t a bad idea to let the NCS know if you are going to be away from your radio for more than a few minutes. Also, if you turn your volume down for any reason...please remember to turn it back up! NC may call mobile or portable stations periodically to check on their current status. Stay alert.
TRAINING BULLETINS that appear in this bulletin are archived at:
www.qsl.net/k6soj
+ 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
NEW! MEDFORD NWS SKYWARN PAGE HAS CHANGED TO: www.qsl.net/mfrskywarn
The August QST (p.138) has a nice report on NWS-SKYWARN WX Spotter activity in
the San Joaquin Valley Section. Their NWS office is in Hanford, CA.
In addition here is an additional report from the:
State of California OES ACS Newsletter July 30, 2001
Ken Bourne, W6HK, Southern Region ACS Officer, Editor
“As a recipient of the ACS newsletter and Chief Radio/Chief Emergency Comms
Center Officer, I would like to give a detailed write-up of our operations and
SKYWARN here at the National Weather Service San Joaquin Valley. Ideally, I'd
like to present it over several articles, such as one week on how Emergency
Comms has been set up at this office, the next week on how Spotters call in
life/property saving reports via ham radio, the third week on our Pager Alert
System (PAS), fourth week on an overview, etc. We have Amateur TV (FSTV &
SSTV), air support, 150+ mobile and fixed spotters, etc. We have the best
advanced SKYWARN program in Western Region and most likely the most
advanced/sophisticated in the country. I think this will be interesting for all
and to show how we have set up satellite ECCs (Emergency Comms Centers) in
various parts of our eight-county warning area to ensure communications coverage
through the "terrain's." I'm sure it will give new ideas in emergency
management and demonstrate that the unthinkable can be done.”
Scott Borgioli, Chief ECC/Radio Officer
National Weather Service HNX (Hanford, CA)
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+ (CTCSS: 123.0) Mt. Ashland / 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
checkins 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 < gpederson@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 < gpederson@orednet.org > via
e-mail or on 147.26+ (123.0) Mt. Ashland).
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.
www.emcomm2002.net
+ UPDATED - To all ARES teams, clubs, and private individuals:
In order to promote preparedness, (and have some fun) we are planning a “Car
Show”! Urrr, make that a: “Mobile Unit Show and Competition” for EMCOMM
2002! A competition, complete with awards, for privately owned and sponsored
(i.e. non-agency) mobile EMCOMM units. There will be two categories:
CLASS ONE - Best ARES or CLUB owned mobile EMCOMM station.
(Includes non-publicly-funded RACES/ACS or CDF/VIP mobile units.)
CLASS TWO - Best INDIVIDUALLY owned mobile EMCOMM station.
AWARDS will based upon: design, function, appearance,
innovation,
multi-agency capability, and use of re-cycled and/or surplus gear.
Although EMCOMM 2002 is still eight months away...we are
announcing this
NOW, in order to allow plenty of time for you, your ARES team, or your EMCOMM
oriented club, to get your entry ready!
Watch the 5-1-2 Bulletin, or check: www.emcomm2002.net
for updates and
more information as the time approaches.
+ 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!
