Event draws 460 people to the Event Center, while 353 watch on Zoom

By Mike Wood

Staff writer

 

Monday, January 27 (11:30 a.m.): An example of how quickly things turn with a disastrous wildfire came when Chris Bachman’s time at the Firewise Town Hall was cut short.

Bachman, assistant chief and fire marshal for the Contra Costa Fire Protection District, received a dispatch in the parking lot on the afternoon of Jan. 14 before heading into the Event Center for Rossmoor’s second major Firewise event.

He learned that he was being deployed to Los Angeles to help with the devastating wildfires that began a week earlier and that he needed to be there that evening. Taking the town hall’s first guest speaker slot, he cut out early so that he could serve as a public information officer for the countless displaced residents at shelters.

“That’s how the California fire system works,” Bachman told the packed crowd. “That in the event of a large disaster, we’re able to extend, we send resources.”

That Bachman would need to head south was no surprise – he was next on a deployment list, showing the extent of planning and preparedness. Those two themes were central at this town hall, hosted by Director of Mutual Operations Jeroen Wright, which drew 460 people to the Event Center and 353 more on Zoom.

The importance of making plans with neighbors pays off in emergency situations, especially for those who are not be able to self-evacuate, Walnut Creek Assistant City Manager Charles Ching said.

“I heard on the radio today that your neighbor is your first responder, and I think that really holds true, especially for our community here in Rossmoor,” Ching said. “Because once an evacuation order is declared, there is no more opportunity for non-emergency workers to come into the area.”

When taped to a window near a front door in an emergency, a “need help” sign with big red lettering – found on the second page of Rossmoor’s Resident’s Guide to Wildfire Preparedness and Evacuation – helps responders evacuate those who cannot leave on their own, Lt. Holley Connors of the Walnut Creek Police Department said.

“If you are in a position where you cannot evacuate, it’s very important to leave your front door unlocked so we can get to you,” Connors said. “So, if I see (the “need help” sign), I know there’s someone there that needs me, and I’ll get right into that residence.”

Rossmoor’s first Firewise Town hall was in June, but the effort really began a year earlier, around the time Wright became MOD director. Residents formed a Firewise committee, with Wright as chairman.

The extensive work to make Rossmoor more fire-resilient, much of which the community had already been doing, was documented and helped earn Rossmoor official Firewise recognition. Attending events like this town hall helps accumulate volunteer hours so that Rossmoor retains that Firewise certification.

A key component is work done on “defensible space” surrounding Rossmoor homes. GRF Landscape Manager John Tawaststjerna described work done in three zones of distance from any home. There’s zone zero, or the immediate zone, that’s 5 feet from a home. Zone one is 30 feet away and zone two is 100 feet away. In zone zero, “we want to remove that flammable mulch in that 5-foot zone,” Tawaststjerna explained, and replace it with hardscape materials such as granite or cobble.

What residents can do, from planning with friends and relatives, signing up for emergency alerts, and preparing a grab and go bag, is the other critical side of the preparedness coin.

“I cannot stress enough that preparation is going to be your biggest ally,” Connors said. “If you can prepare today … and start and call a family member or friend and have a conversation or talk with your neighbor and get a plan. … The time it happens, when you need to get out of your house, that is not the time to say, ‘What do I need to grab?’ ”

Simply chipping away a bit at a time to prepare can lead to a sense of calm, said Noell Cross, fire education coordinator for ConFire.

“When you prepare for these things, when you’re ready for these things, when you understand what you’re going to do, you stay calm,” Cross said. “Calmness is what’s going to keep you safe during any kind of event.”

Evacuations were discussed at length, particularly Rossmoor’s eight evacuation zones and the difference between an evacuation warning and an evacuation order. Before an evacuation order is made, in which residents must evacuate immediately, residents should self-evacuate if they notice something troubling, Tom Cashion, GRF director of public safety, said.

“Self-evacuate means ‘I see smoke in the Las Trampas wilderness down near the south part of Rossmoor … Gosh darn, if there’s a fire there, it’s going be a big one,’” Cashion said.

Asked in a Q&A session about roadways for exiting Rossmoor that could be opened up in an emergency – there are six – Cashion stressed that residents who are evacuating should not head there, unless directed. Those areas could be staging areas for firefighters and other emergency personnel.

“The only people who can open those up are the police department or the fire department,” he said. “To find (those emergency exits), they will direct you to them. Your role, in case of any kind of emergency evacuation, is head to the gate. If they’ve opened up something else, they’re going to direct you to that location. Please, do not go there on your own.”

Only in the most dire situations should residents head to the golf course, Cashion said. Otherwise, it’s best to head out of Rossmoor, if evacuating.

“You go, you drive out, and you see a line of cars, and you are not going to get through the gate,” he said. “There’s fire coming over the ridges, embers are flying by overhead, landing and catching things on fire.

“This is the last resort thing you do,” he added. “You get on the golf course. … Am I clear on that? That is not the first thing you do. That’s not the second thing you do. That is the last thing you do, if you cannot get out of here and you are threatened by fire. Get on the golf course and stay low.”

There were some audio and video issues for a portion of the live Zoom feed. The town hall will air in its entirety on Rossmoor TV, starting Thursday, Jan. 23, at 7 p.m., and will be available at https://tinyurl.com/4dccnezh on the Rossmoor TV YouTube channel.