Preparedness/Roads
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Our Roads and Emergency Preparedness
The Working Area ( temporary )
CalFire Rich's first comments were to the beauty of our Canyon, and to risks involved in evacuation and fire response. He estimates that the Canyon has half an hour to evacuate before firefighting equipment starts rolling in. At that point the roads will be quite chaotic.
He observed that the Ranch Road area has a couple of exit roads - but we don't. And he doesn't think that we're going to have one. To that end he urged us to
- develop Escape Plans. There would be a few depending on just what's happening. In our case this has to mostly focus on escaping in vehicles. ( Note: in our BCERT meetings Casey has been grammar police in distinguishing between 'escape routes' and 'exit routs' - running up the side of the hill in a fire is not an escape. knowing how to exit due to flood/landslide is the point of our hikes. )
- these will include procedures for locking OPEN the gate, temporary 1-way signage, routing signage for arriving first responders...
- identify and reduce choke points.
- roads should be 12-15 feet wide
- vegetation should be cut back 10 feet beyond the road edge, and at least 10 feet above the surface of the road. ( this describes a trapezoid, in case you are wondering )
- double check that the drainage 'dips' in the road are passable by the larger fire trucks
- identify possible pull-outs.
- pull-outs will probably need to be engineered - they should be as long as a city bus and should be able to bear a fully loaded water tank trunk ( tender )
- additionally identify opportunities for side-cuts supporting 2 way traffic
- identify and build turn-arounds for fire trucks
- if the driver feels they can't get out, they won't go in.
- need 30' radius circle ( end of Madrone quite possible w/some work )
- Fire Hydrant locations should be
- clear of brush
- protected by bollards to reduce chance of damage during evacuation / holidays
- Roads should have more edge marking and reflectors; it'll be tough at night
- homes should have reflective / visible numbering
The Dump
John's notes pertaining to roads
1. Access, Access, Access: Emergency responders need to get us out, and themselves in. Here are ways that we can improve our roads:
- We need to reduce choke points so that fire and water trucks can get it and we can get out.
- Escape routes should be planned. Escape routes should not be on foot. Our steep canyon walls make escape routes challenging.
- A second road will not be an option, so we will have to work to improve our existing roads. Adding "pull outs" will be important.
- Road should ideally be 12-15 feet wide. Wider roads also last longer.
- Some residents driveways could be "designated" pull out areas.
- First person out should leave the gate open. There is a key to the gate behind the bulletin board.
- Are our water hydrants standard thread, or do they need adaptors?
- Consider steel posts on either side of each hydrant, and painting hydrants with reflective paint.
- Joan will send the neighborhood map and emergency plan to Rich Samson.
- Pescadero High School would likely be an evacuation center.
- Since evacuations are often in the middle of the night, roads should have lines and reflectors.
- Better Signage: Strongly recommends better road signs and house numbers. Cotton has offered to design a standard curbside house number system, with 3” reflective numbers.
- Fire fighters would likely use the girl scout camp as a staging area. There would likely be 1-2 trucks deployed per house. Approximately 10,000 gallons per structure.
- Note that its possible that local engines and fire fighters may be at another fire in another part of the state. So responders may be from out of the area and won't know our neighborhood as well as the local fire fighters do.
- Cal Fire wants to help us with an evacuation plan. Kevin Pearson is the Captain in Pescadero. Kelly Nelson is the queen of grants for the Fire Safety Council, we should contact her.
- Ken suggested that we use Redwood Avenue as the "intake" road and Madrone Avenue as the "exit" road.
Casey's roads notes
- access and escape. Big engines will have a hard time getting in here as it currently stands. The small engines ( ?wildcats? ) are only operational during the dry seasons, and are mothballed the rest of the time. ( I think he said this is a statewide decision, so some regions may still be well suited to the small all terrain engines but won't have them available )
- the canyon needs turnouts. these need to be engineered to support a loaded water truck, and to be about as big as a city bus. As the route in is essentially 1-way the trucks won't be coming in if they see smaller vehicles blocking the road.
- the canyon road system needs 30 circles to turn the trucks in. If a branch of the roads doesn't end in such a turn around the truck isn't going in.
- quick dips for drainage are bad for standard fire trucks. The lack the clearance of the little trucks. He cited the dip up on Madrone as you head to the dead end, after the Fern bridge.
- the trucks need clearance from vegetation. they need a 15' high top clearance which is 10' across. They need 10 feet on either side of the road, so in the end one needs to clean a trapezoid shape for fire engine access. his phrase 'everything you see that's green will be on fire' he repeated a number of times, as he outlined the difficulties he sees in the Canyon's road system.
- he suggested we find a contractor who has a 'masticator' or flail cutter. These are the mowers-on-arms you've seen the County use along the roads. These would be used to en-mass cut back vegetation from roadways.
- the water company should consider cutting side routes around some of the larger trees, and removing stumps close to the road ( within the trapezoid he described )
- sight lines have to be good enough to allow the equipment operators to feel confident about their activities.
- there need to be bollards around the fire hydrants. this is because they will break when a panicked person happens to run into them in the dark, and ... well cascade failure in my terms ( casey )
- ( casey's note: the projection is that 1 of 10 houses will catch fire in the big one, so we have to remember we're not just talking about wildfire. we could be in a blocking landslide and a house fire during fire season... that has to go into the scenarios )