The Comm Room
  • Home
    • About Me
    • Personal Website
  • Amateur Radio
    • SkyWarn >
      • What is SkyWarn?
      • Getting Started
      • What Do I Report?
      • Severe WX Reporting
      • Spotter Safety
      • Overpass Safety?
      • SkyWarn in Arizona
    • Public Service & Events >
      • 10 Ways to Optimize Your Effectiveness
      • Are You Making a Difference?
    • ARES Information >
      • ARES Net
      • Prowords
    • Emergency Communications >
      • Emergency & Disaster Radio Operating Procedures
      • ECom Do's & Don'ts
      • Emergency Management Cycle
    • Training
    • EMCOMM Bulletins >
      • RACES >
        • 1995-96
        • 1996
    • Virtual QSL Wall
  • Incident Command
    • DHS Position Paper on NIMS & the ICS
  • Emergency Preparedness
    • Emergency First Aid >
      • First Aid for Pets
    • Planning For Pets
  • Social Media
    • Social Media vs Ham Radio
  • Links & Awards
    • SkyWarn Links
    • Public Service Links
    • ECom Links
    • ICS/NIMS Links
    • Emergency Prep. Links
    • Training Links
  • Radio Logs
    • Contest Log
  • Photos

1992-1994 RACES Bulletins

  • Starting in 1992, all of the RACES bulletins were classified into 1 of 6 separate topic categories: Management, Operations, Miscellaneous, Training, Technical, and Time-Sensitive (later deleted because their content is dated in nature).

Back

Wildfire Roles (RB356-357)

12/12/1994

0 Comments

 
From a report by Tim Low, N6ZUC:
The Santa Anas are hot, dry winds that have their beginnings in Colorado. As they move west, picking up speed in the mountain passes, they lose their moisture. By the time they arrive here in southern California, they are very strong and very dry.

Just before 7 a.m. my RACES group was called out to provide communications for the Escondido Police and Fire departments. I had been monitoring our RACES repeaters and heard the call out for Strike Teams for animal rescue. The fire was big and out of control, being fanned by gusts of 50 miles-per-hour or more. I knew it would be a long and nasty one. Animal Rescue was busy transporting domestic animals and pets from the fire path. The county EOC, located in the San Diego Sheriff's Department, was acting as a communications center, coordinating the efforts of all RACES personnel, Animal Rescue, ARES/Red Cross, and ARES/Salvation Army.
Shortly after 9 a.m. I received word via Amateur Radio that the fire was moving rapidly into the city and that structures were in danger. I informed Police and Fire, which immediately dispatched personnel to the area and began fire fighting and evacuation efforts. Through the quick response to an Amateur Radio operator's call, property as well as perhaps lives were saved. All danger to the Escondido area passed by mid afternoon.

On day two another fire advanced on the city of Poway. We had RACES observers stationed along the fire front feeding reports on its movement. These were fed to the county to help the fire fighting teams coordinate their manpower.

On day four I was called to see if I could find personnel to relieve the tired Amateur Radio volunteers providing communications for the Salvation Army at the Wild Animal Park and the Army's headquarters in Escondido. I took off my RACES badge, put on my ARES badge and went to work finding licensed Amateurs to fill the need. Through this whole ordeal, I was very gratified to find so many unselfish people willing to provide support.

By day 5 the fire had been contained and fire units were beginning to be sent home. At this time all RACES, ARES and Animal Rescue volunteers were ordered to stand down. For the many Amateur Radio people involved in the effort, it had been a long battle.

Once again we proved the invaluable service that we as a group of trained volunteers can provide in times of emergency. Comments made to us from county fire and police officers proved this out. There were times that we were the only reliable means of getting information to these groups as all their communications were overloaded. At one point, we were the ONLY way available to the local fire department to find out where the fire lines were.

I hope you'll get involved in your local RACES and ARES programs. It's not enough to respond to an emergency. Without the proper training provided by ARES and RACES, you can be of little help. A trained pool of volunteer communicators can be invaluable in the saving of lives and property. There is no way that the public sector can provide the manpower and equipment to handle these emergencies. Your assistance is needed.

---By Tim Low, N6ZUC@KJ6VC.#SOCA.CA.USA.NA
* * * * The preceding report underlines the importance of training by and with local government officials and its ACS, RACES or equivalent personnel. Such personnel provide Public Safety communications and services for state and local governments. Such training and know-how cannot be obtained out of publications and printed references alone. Your volunteers cannot operate in a vacuum. They deserve your regular attention, management and encouragement. Don't leave absolutely everything up to your Radio Officer to serve as a buffer between you and your unpaid staff. To do so will doom the volunteer program to failure. We seek more reports, such as that by Tim Low, to describe the separate but vital roles of those in the RACES and the ARES.

To our Eastern and some other readers we must point out that, in the West, for any emergency imaginable, there is always a government agency charged by law to respond to that emergency and never a volunteer group answerable to no one. We appreciate that the latter reflects the spirit of volunteerism of over 200 years in some states, but that condition is dwindling. We cannot self-dispatch ourselves. Volunteers are answerable in every case to a designated authority. It is for those authorities and their coordinated volunteers that these BULLETINS are addressed.

Thank you one and all. ---Stan Harter, California State Office of Emergency Services, KH6GBX@WA6NWE.#NOCAL.CA.USA.NA 
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    RSS Feed

    RACES Bulletins

    CA State OES began the Bulletins in the early 1950's to assist agencies and radio operators to become more familiar with RACES. They were issued periodically until 1985, at which time they began to be issued weekly over voice and digital radio systems of Amateur Radio and in print. Originally intended for California, increased demand, and a 1988 request by the ARRL for national distribution, led to their eventual worldwide distribution.

    Archives

    December 1994
    November 1994
    October 1994
    September 1994
    August 1994
    July 1994
    June 1994
    May 1994
    April 1994
    March 1994
    January 1994
    December 1993
    November 1993
    October 1993
    September 1993
    August 1993
    July 1993
    June 1993
    May 1993
    April 1993
    March 1993
    February 1993
    January 1993
    December 1992
    November 1992
    October 1992
    September 1992
    August 1992
    July 1992
    June 1992
    May 1992
    April 1992
    March 1992
    February 1992
    January 1992

    Categories

    All
    1 Management Bulletins
    2 Operations Bulletins
    3 Miscellaneous Bulletins
    4 Training Bulletins
    5 Technical Bulletins
    ACS/RACES Plans
    Activation Of A Races Unit
    Administering The Flow Of Responders
    Agencies That Say NO!
    Agency Budget Planning By The Radio Officer
    Agency Mission Statement
    Archive And Additional Sources Of Bulletins
    Are YOU Trained Or Untrained?
    Bulletin Categories
    Bulletins-By-Topic Information
    Calling In Outsiders
    Comfort Is A Radio Officer
    Communications Shortfall
    Critical Incident Stress
    Declared & Undeclared Emergencies
    Demobilization
    Direction Finding In The Races
    Don't Ask Me To Do That -- I'm A Communications Expert!
    Do You Ham A Problem?
    Ema Assistance Available
    EMA /Volunteer Partnership
    Exercise Technique
    Familiarization And The Eoc
    Fcc Rules Part 97 Races
    Fema Funds Short Fuse
    Fire Training
    Follow The Chain Of Command
    Glossary For Communicators
    Helicopter Use
    How Hams Didn't Use Ham Radio
    How Long And How Soon?
    Information Unused??
    Is It True What They Say?
    Keys To Successful Operations
    Management Philosophy
    More Opportunities To Use Your Races
    Must A Radio Operator Own A Radio Station?
    New Amateur Radio Callsign For Ca State Oes
    Nifc Boise
    No Exercise Is EVER A Failure!
    Observations
    Official Relay Stations
    Participant Classification
    Policy: FEMA & The RACES
    Portable Radio Batteries
    Principles Of Management For The Radio Officer
    Protecting Digital Terminals
    Races Activation
    Races Cannot Be Confined To One Department
    RACES In Action - Non-Emergency Events
    Races Mission Varies With The Jurisdiction
    Radio Officer Category
    Radio Officer Liaison
    Radio Officer Or Races Radio Officer
    Responders And Their Vehicles
    Responder's Checklist
    Responding To A Call-Out
    Semantics
    Skill Categories For Communications Volunteers
    Skills Inventory By The Radio Officer
    Solution Or Problem?
    Solving The Impossible
    So You Want To Equip An EOC?
    So You Want To Help?
    Strengthening Your Emergency Services Staff
    Strike Teams
    Successful Races Units
    Team Building
    Teamwork
    Techniques
    Tell It Like It Is!
    The Buddy System
    The Committed Volunteer
    The Fcc One Hour Rule
    The Importance Of Planning
    The Manager's Resource Data
    The Mission Of The Races
    The Need To Inform Government Officials
    The Net Control Station
    The Radio Officer As A Manager
    The Use Of Outsiders
    Too Much Of A Good Thing?
    Traffic Vs Information
    Training Ideas
    Unit Activities
    Using Volunteers In Your Comm Center
    Volunteerism?
    Volunteers
    We Wait But No Calls!
    What Are Some Of The Problems With RACES Nets?
    What Is A Responder?
    What Leads Them To Serve?
    What Officials Need To Know
    What's RACES?
    Who Activates The RACES?
    Who Makes The Decision
    Why Not Multiple RACES Membership?
    Why Packet Radio?
    Why Simplex Frequencies?
    Wildfire Roles
    Wild Fire Volunteers

Search This Site:



© Copyright 2009-2022, David M. French.

All original content by David M French is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Other names, titles, and images are registered trademarks of their respective companies or organizations. All rights reserved.
Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.