Community involvement the number one priority
“You don’t understand what’s going on. There is no one coming to help you.”
Those chilling words were spoken to Margie Hanselman as she fled her home as the Pocket Fire loomed close on Oct. 9. Hanselman had called 911 to report the fire and had asked the operator where the fire department was, as there were no crews in sight as she and her neighbors escaped the flames.
In the aftermath of the historic firestorm of 2017 most of Sonoma County has been considering how to be better prepared for future emergencies, but for those people, like Hanselman, who live in rural areas of north county, “neighbors helping neighbors” is going to be the basis of those plans.
At a meeting held at the Geyserville fire house on Jan. 20, various members of the fire department, law enforcement and emergency services, along with community members from areas including Cloverdale, Healdsburg, Alexander Valley and other unincorporated areas got together to hear about best practices, plans and volunteer needs and some new groups getting ready to launch as part of better emergency preparation. (Note: there is currently paperwork underway to annex the Knights Valley into the Geyserville Fire Protection District, and they would be added to the community list.)
The meeting was led by Geyserville Fire Chief Marshall Turbeville, who announced the formation of a steering committee and local area committees to implement better communication throughout communities in case of emergency. While fires are certainly the threat at the forefront of everyone’s mind, Turbeville pointed out that both flooding and earthquakes are disasters our area should be prepared for.
According to Turbeville the proposed steering committee would be comprised of industry leaders, an emergency supply coordinator, a strategy and funding coordinator, a communications coordinator and leaders from the various local communities.
“The intent is to have one organization with everyone on the same page,” he said.
He envisions the duties of the steering committee to include coordinating quarterly meetings, sending notifications to community leaders for predicted weather events like floods and red flag fire warnings, distributing a monthly emergency preparedness message, developing a series of handouts and reference materials on things like power line safety and fire department compliant fittings, arranging for scanner monitoring and providing emergency information to vacation rentals. They would also be involved in pursuing grant opportunities and fundraising.
The leaders from each community would be responsible for maintaining contact information for community members, disseminating notifications from the steering committee to community members, developing and updating the community on specific emergency plans, holding a minimum of one meeting a year on emergency preparedness and providing the updated contact information and community preparedness plan to the steering committee by May of each year.
Other suggested duties of the local community leaders include developing and maintaining community signage (such as fire danger signs), organizing things like “community chipper days,” maintaining rosters of local residents who would be in need of assistance during an evacuation, organizing drills and acting as a communication liaison with firefighters and law enforcement during an emergency.
The emergency supply coordinator would be in charge of keeping the status of locally available resources such as generators, food potable water, fuel, etc.
There was also discussion of a parcel tax for the Geyserville fire district. To date, there has not been one for the district, unlike many other local fire districts.
“We are the only fire district in Sonoma County that doesn’t have one,” Turbeville said. “More funding would equal more firefighters.”
Also speaking at the meeting were representatives of the Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office, who discussed emergency preparation tips (see sidebar) as well as Hanselman herself, who was there to promote the formation of a Northeastern Geyserville C.O.P.E (Citizens Organized to Prepare For Emergencies) group and to promote the formation of other C.O.P.E. groups in the North County.
“We are here to empower you to help neighbors out,” Hanselman said. “Citizens need to organize and prepare for emergencies.
“We love these guys and it’s not a critique of them,” she continued, pointing to Turbeville. “But in an emergency, we may have to find a way to help ourselves.”
According to Hanselman, the original parent group was formed in Oakmont by the Santa Rosa Fire Department to assist elderly residents in case of emergency. Healdsburg currently has two C.O.P.E groups and Hanselman encouraged other areas to start them as well. The idea would be for C.O.P.E teams to be become de facto community groups that report to, and are a part of, the steering committee.
“Ultimately, we hope for six teams in Geyserville,” she said. “Three on each side of the river.”
The northeastern chapter will be inside a boundary that runs north along River Road, north of Moody Lane, and then up to Vanoni Ranch and will include areas such as Ridge Ranch Road and Highland Ranch Road.
There was a brief Q&A period with the audience, and many of the questions were focused on brush clearing, fire road cutting and other preventative measures. While Turbeville offered a lot of ideas and assistance, he also made a point that state and county resources were only going to be able to do so much and that community members may be better equipped to determine their needs and execute them.
The overall message from the meeting was the need for rural residents to be willing to protect themselves and their neighbors in the event of major disaster.
If you’d like to join the northeastern Geyserville C.O.P.E group, they are having their first meeting on Sunday, Feb. 18 at 10 a.m. at the Vineyard Club on Rockmound Road in Geyserville. Hanselman is also happy to share the documents and framework with any other areas that may want to begin a C.O.P.E. group of their own. Anyone interested in becoming part of the volunteer steering committee or a community leader through the Geyserville Fire district can contact them for information.
