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 Previous: Hurricane Charley Response Reaffirms Amateur Radio's Value |  Next: ARRL Southwestern Division Convention to Feature Goldwater Theme |
The Knob Backbone area of the Bear Fire. |
Crews evaluate the situation during the Bear Fire. [California Department of Forestry Photos] |
"A section-wide Amateur Radio Emergency Service mutual assistance standby alert was issued, as ARES teams in Butte and Shasta counties scrambled to respond to the three major incidents," said Sacramento Valley Section Emergency Coordinator David Thorne, K6SOJ. He says the ARES operation in Shasta County likely will remain active at least through August 20. As a result of the three wildfires, he reports, more than 20,000 acres have been burned and more than 100 homes destroyed. Some 4000 firefighters are on the lines, with 15 injuries reported, Thorne said.
Thorne said the fire response marked "the first serious field test" in the Sacramento Valley Section of the Amateur Radio Communication Team (ARCT) concept he introduced in the December 2003 and January 2004 issues of QST (see "ICS and Amateur Radio Communication Teams" in the "Public Service" column). ARCTs simplify the process of ordering needed resources within the Incident Command System.
"It worked flawlessly," he said. "It is flexible enough to work well, yet provide a standardized structure." Thorne said one unexpected bonus was that a Type 1 ARCT was able to cover two simultaneous major incidents some 25 miles apart.
The basic system resource, a Type 1 ARCT, is a complete 12-person Amateur Radio emergency/auxiliary communications team for single or multiple agency communications. It is a full field station with four mobile/portable units and has short-range (VHF/UHF) and long range (HF) voice and digital capabilities operating independently of outside power sources.
At the Oregon Fire in Butte County one ARES Type 1 ARCT was deployed while several Type 5 ARCTs were activated under mutual assistance from nearby counties. A Type 5 ARCT is a single-operator supplementary resource with a vehicle and a Technician or higher-class license, equipped for VHF FM. A Type 5 ARCT may be assigned to a specific agency or to supplement or relieve an existing ARCT. These teams demobilized August 13.
The Bear and French fires in Shasta County produced serious challenges, Thorne said. One Type 1 and three Type 5 ARCTs were activated by Shasta-Tehama ARES. Later, one Type 4 and one Type 5 ARCT were called in from El Dorado and Butte Counties under the Sacramento Valley Section's mutual assistance plan. Similar to Type 5, a Type 4 ARCT consists of two individual radio operators with one or two vehicles.
"One especially harrowing event occurred near the historic mining town of French Gulch," Thorne said. "As the fire approached, 300-plus residents escaped over mountainous back-country Forest Service roads. This area is dotted with mineshafts and inhabited by rattlesnakes." It took three hours for the evacuees to top the mountain and make it down into Weaverville.
Trinity County ARES was activated and a Type 2 ARCT--a four-member team with digital capabilities--provided VHF FM, HF SSB and VHF packet tactical, health and welfare and administrative communications between a now-closed Red Cross evacuation center at Trinity High School and Red Cross headquarters in Redding. Evacuees have been moved to the Redding evacuation center. For a time, the French Fire caused the closing of Highway 299 between Redding and Weaverville.
The Bear Fire, now 100 percent contained, was 10 miles northeast of Redding. It burned over some 10,500 acres. ARES supported Red Cross Disaster Services with damage assessment and health-and-welfare support.
The National Interagency Fire Center says the US remains at a National Preparedness Level 3 as wildland fire activity increased over the weekend. Three new large fires were reported in Idaho, North Dakota and Arizona yesterday, while three large fires were contained in Utah, Southern California and Arizona.
| Previous: Hurricane Charley Response Reaffirms Amateur Radio's Value | Next: ARRL Southwestern Division Convention to Feature Goldwater Theme |
