CEDAR Fires Destroyed our Family Cabin –
. . . was the message that devastated my family 10 years ago today.
Today is the 10th anniversary of the San Diego County Cedar Fire which tragically burned 280,278 acres and was one of 15 Southern California wildfires during October of 2003. Unfortunately, the Cedar Fire hit very close to home. My family and I lost our family cabin in Julian. It took us 13 years to build. It took the fire 30 minutes to destroy!
As I reflect on the tragedy of the 2003 fires, and the sad loss of our cabin we loved so much, I am reminded of how important it is to prepare for disasters.
Since that fiery October, we as San Diegans have worked much harder at emergency preparedness. We have become more aware of how important and helpful it is to prepare BEFORE disaster strikes. This week is a good time to evaluate how well you are doing with your emergency preparedness.
One way to evaluate how prepared you are is to go to ReadySanDiego.org which has a well written preparedness guide including helpful tips on how to prepare for disasters common to the San Diego area. There is also a link (www.readysandiego.org/alertsandiego) which takes you to the system called Alert San Diego. A system used by emergency response personnel to notify homes and businesses that are at risk during an emergency. As this system uses the 911 data base, this notification will only be given to landline telephones. Cell phones and email addresses must be registered on the site in order to get notification.
I urge you to do something today to become more prepared for a disaster. Go the the readysandiego.org site and register your cell phone and email address in the Alert San Diego System. If you are still feeling motivated after registering, check out the preparedness guide to see how prepared you are for an emergency.
Lastly, I urge you to set two or three preparedness goals you might be able to accomplish during the next week. Some day as you are asked once again to evacuate your home, you will thank yourself for the things you did in advance to protect your loved ones and property in the event of an emergency.
Please call me if I can be of any assistance to you or your family.
Gary Quackenbush
Lastly, I urge you to set two or three preparedness goals you might be able to accomplish during the next week. Some day as you are asked once again to evacuate your home, you will thank yourself for the things you did in advance to protect your loved ones and property in the event of an emergency.
Please call me if I can be of any assistance to you or your family.
Gary Quackenbush