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 Previous: FCC Amateur Radio Enforcement Letters for the Period Ending July 24, 2004 |  Next: The K7RA Solar Update |
NEWINGTON, CT, Jul 29, 2004--Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES) volunteers in southern Nevada are assisting firefighters attempting to quell the so-called Robbers' Fire. The 290-acre timber and brush blaze in the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest some 36 miles northwest of Las Vegas has led authorities to close at least three state highways. The National Interagency Fire Center indicates the fire is 40 percent contained. Earlier this month Nevada ARES volunteers at the opposite end of the state assisted the American Red Cross during the destructive Waterfall Fire.
 The Waterfall Fire. [Chris Ketring/Nevada Division of Forestry Photo] |
"The activation of Clark County ARES/RACES continues for the Robbers' Fire on Mount Charleston," said Southern Nevada District Emergency Coordinator Glenn Hale, KB7REO, in a July 28 report to Nevada Section Manager Dick Flanagan, K7VC. "It does appear that things are getting under control. Clark County ARES/RACES will be active at least through the weekend working 24 hour shifts."
Hale said that while ARES/RACES volunteers have handled some tactical messages for supplies, their primary tasks have included programming and issuing radios for firefighters as well as monitoring fire service radios. "We have successfully coordinated and implemented an ARESMAT [ARES Mutual Assistance Team] response from southern Nye County," Hale said. Southern Nye County Emergency Coordinator Betty Field, AB7LJ, has contacted the Nye County Office of Emergency Management to coordinate with the Clark County OEM to approve the mutual aid request for Nye County ARES members to assist in the incident.
After the Waterfall Fire broke out in mid-July, Bruce Wade, NZ7A, the American Red Cross disaster relief operation director, contacted Northern Nevada District Emergency Coordinator Don Carlson, KQ6FM, seeking ARES assistance.
"An evacuation center was being set up, and he wanted staffing for both the evacuation center and at the Red Cross chapter headquarters in Reno," Carlson said. Judy Carlson, KE6GIW, set up at the chapter headquarters, while Nevada Section Emergency Coordinator Dick Creley, KJ7UK, headed for the evacuation center in Carson City--the state's capital.
"In less than an hour from the initial call," Don Carlson said, "Amateur Radio communication through ARES had been established, and messages were beginning to pass between the two locations." Meanwhile, Washoe County EC Doug Abramson, KA7FOO, put out a successful plea for operators via the Western Nevada Noon Net.
"The operations continued as the fire raged out of control, coming dangerously close to the state capital city itself," Carlson said. "At one point the fire was about a quarter mile from the governor's mansion and a local college."
The Carson City Sheriff's Office ordered evacuations, and by the evening of July 15, hundreds of residents from communities west and northwest of Carson City started arriving at the evacuation center--by then an official Red Cross shelter.
 Another view of the Waterfall Fire. The blaze, which threatened Nevada's capital, Carson City, destroyed more than a dozen homes. [Greg Liddicoat Photo] |
Carlson says Gary Grant, K7VY, returned from a camping vacation to help support the effort after he heard the fire-related traffic on the repeater. "Another volunteer even offered to work an evening shift on his third wedding anniversary if he was needed," Carlson added. "He said that he knew that his wife would understand and want him to stand with us." A second shelter, opened the next day at a high school in southern Washoe County, immediately got Amateur Radio communication support.
Carlson said the ARES activation continued until a formal stand down was declared July 18. During the four-day event, more than 35 amateur operators from three Northern Nevada counties participated. The Waterfall Fire burned over more than 8700 acres and destroyed more than a dozen homes. The ARES activation drew words of praise from Wade on behalf of the Sierra Nevada Chapter, American Red Cross.
"At all times your operators were on the ball and helped make the disaster relief operation go much smoother," Wade wrote. "Message handling was prompt and accurate. You were always at your post when needed. Because it took a long time to get cell phones to all the our key people, many times you were the only link between the headquarters and the shelters."
Carlson noted that many of the participating ARES volunteers had taken the ARRL Amateur Radio Emergency Communications Level 1 course, and several had completed Level 2.
"This lends tribute to the worthiness of these courses and
demonstrates once again that training, drills, exercises, SETs and teamwork
really pay off!" he said. "The commitment and dedication of Amateur Radio
operators is exemplary and is a true testimony to what we can do when the need
arises. The ARRL Field Organization and ARES system really do work."
| Previous: FCC Amateur Radio Enforcement Letters for the Period Ending July 24, 2004 | Next: The K7RA Solar Update |
