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<H1>Santa Cruz hams provide support during wildfires </H1>
<DIV><FONT face=Verdana><A id=thumbnail
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<H1><FONT face=Verdana><FONT size=3>As wildfires threaten the central California
coast near Santa Cruz - located between San Jose and Monterey - area radio
amateurs have been providing support to law enforcement and fire
authorities.</FONT> </FONT></H1>
<P><FONT face=Verdana>According to Santa Cruz County Public Information Officer
<STRONG>Bill Conklin, AF6OH</STRONG>, the Santa Cruz County Emergency Operations
Center requested support from ARES on Wednesday, August 12: "We activated and
established an informal Net to provide fire support resources."<BR>Just two days
later, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger declared a State of Emergency for Santa
Cruz County.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Verdana><A id=thumbnail
href="http://www.arrl.org/news/images/nms/fullsized/234.jpg"><IMG
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src="http://tbn1.google.com/images?q=tbn:VNRt934WGZxfqM:http://www.arrl.org/news/images/nms/fullsized/234.jpg"
width=106></A>On Thursday, three amateurs staffed the County's Emergency
Operations Center for the ARES Net, beginning at 5 AM and going for 16
hours.<BR>Monterey County ARES District Emergency Coordinator <STRONG>Dave
Burbidge, W6IIQ</STRONG>, also helped to provide coverage.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Verdana>"Once we were activated, about 30 amateurs signed in to a
Resource Net on a local repeater managed by <STRONG>Bob Wolbert, K6XX</STRONG>,"
Conklin said. "These hams were assigned various duties, including providing
support for animal rescue operations. Some were assigned to specific locations
in order to support law enforcement and fire authorities. The Santa Cruz Chapter
of the American Red Cross initiated staffing and evacuation centers on Wednesday
night, and we deployed the ARES Step-Van to support a shelter in Davenport,
about 15 miles north of Santa Cruz on Highway 1. Due to the low volume of
shelter clients, these facilities did not require further staffing by local ARES
team members."</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Verdana><A
href="http://images.google.pt/imgres?imgurl=http://chengineering.com/web_images/evacuation.jpg&imgrefurl=http://chengineering.com/index.php%3Fp%3D1_3&usg=__YiU07t4v8cMZqwJuvapd95yyRNk=&h=583&w=385&sz=28&hl=pt-PT&start=58&tbnid=1hTV9wbniDCMNM:&tbnh=134&tbnw=88&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dmandatory%2Bevacuation%2Bin%2Bthe%2Baffected%2Barea%26gbv%3D2%26ndsp%3D20%26hl%3Dpt-PT%26sa%3DN%26start%3D40"></A><A
href="http://images.google.pt/imgres?imgurl=http://pic.regex.info/4/2006-01-11_11:31.48__00151.jpg&imgrefurl=http://regex.info/blog/2006-01-20/135&usg=__X_-A_A7rMXCyCG2ZOVz79nlOqM4=&h=339&w=512&sz=29&hl=pt-PT&start=38&tbnid=PwWU6vyMThMYcM:&tbnh=87&tbnw=131&prev=/images%3Fq%3DRescue%2BTeam%26gbv%3D2%26ndsp%3D20%26hl%3Dpt-PT%26sa%3DN%26start%3D20"></A><A
id=thumbnail href="http://www.abc.net.au/reslib/200902/r337418_1531022.jpg"><IMG
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width=107></A>Officials declared a mandatory evacuation in the affected area on
Thursday, namely for the towns of Swanton and Bonny Doon; an estimated 2500
people were evacuated from their homes. On Sunday, officials allowed residents
from Bonny Doon who had been evacuated to return to their homes, but warned them
to be on a state of alert and to be ready to move as needed.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Verdana><A id=thumbnail
href="http://www.abc.net.au/reslib/200902/r337418_1531022.jpg"></A>Dubbed the
Lockheed Fire, the blaze was 90 percent contained on Friday, August 21. More
than 7500 acres are affected by the blaze; the cause of the fire is under
investigation. Approximately 2000 firefighters -- equipped with almost 300 fire
engines, 14 helicopters, 30 bulldozers,<BR>six air tankers and 21 water tenders
-- were trying to get the fires under last weekend. As of August 21, there are
1595 fire personnel on site with 125 engines and five helicopters. To date, no
homes have been destroyed by the fire, but 13 outbuildings were burned to the
ground. The damage is estimated at $21.4 million.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Verdana><A
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href="http://images.google.pt/imgres?imgurl=http://chengineering.com/web_images/evacuation.jpg&imgrefurl=http://chengineering.com/index.php%3Fp%3D1_3&usg=__YiU07t4v8cMZqwJuvapd95yyRNk=&h=583&w=385&sz=28&hl=pt-PT&start=58&tbnid=1hTV9wbniDCMNM:&tbnh=134&tbnw=88&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dmandatory%2Bevacuation%2Bin%2Bthe%2Baffected%2Barea%26gbv%3D2%26ndsp%3D20%26hl%3Dpt-PT%26sa%3DN%26start%3D40"></A><A
href="http://images.google.pt/imgres?imgurl=http://pic.regex.info/4/2006-01-11_11:31.48__00151.jpg&imgrefurl=http://regex.info/blog/2006-01-20/135&usg=__X_-A_A7rMXCyCG2ZOVz79nlOqM4=&h=339&w=512&sz=29&hl=pt-PT&start=38&tbnid=PwWU6vyMThMYcM:&tbnh=87&tbnw=131&prev=/images%3Fq%3DRescue%2BTeam%26gbv%3D2%26ndsp%3D20%26hl%3Dpt-PT%26sa%3DN%26start%3D20"><IMG
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width=131></A>Conklin said that the Santa Cruz County Equine Rescue Team was
activated in response to the fire, providing large animal rescue support. "In
the past year, many members of the team received their Amateur Radio license,"
he explained. "They were instrumental in organizing and rescuing horses, llamas,
alpacas, goats, sheep, chickens and ducks, as well as arranging transport for
100 head of cattle. Working in conjunction with County of Santa Cruz County
Animal Services, they were able to transport and relocate the animals to safety
at two sites within the county."</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Verdana><A
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src="http://tbn0.google.com/images?q=tbn:lBwUVHRiQPO12M:http://media.sacbee.com/smedia/2008/10/02/15/748-LS_HORSE_RESCUE.standalone.prod_affiliate.4.JPG"
width=137></A>Volunteers staged an equine and large animal rescue at the cement
plant in Davenport. A shelter for smaller animals was established at the Santa
Cruz County Fairgrounds in Watsonville, about 15 miles south of the City of
Santa Cruz.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Verdana><A
href="http://images.google.pt/imgres?imgurl=http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/j/msnbc/Components/Photo_StoryLevel/080520/080520-wildfire-hmed-8a.hmedium.jpg&imgrefurl=http://skywatch-media.com/2008_05_01_archive.html&usg=__Xgwztkh5NDvwsLv4H4IDeahybUc=&h=270&w=423&sz=18&hl=pt-PT&start=1&tbnid=0kIBtTd3va1YLM:&tbnh=80&tbnw=126&prev=/images%3Fq%3DSanta%2BCruz%2Bwildfires%2BRescue%2BTeam%26gbv%3D2%26hl%3Dpt-PT%26sa%3DG"><IMG
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height=80
src="http://tbn1.google.com/images?q=tbn:0kIBtTd3va1YLM:http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/j/msnbc/Components/Photo_StoryLevel/080520/080520-wildfire-hmed-8a.hmedium.jpg"
width=126></A>The weather continues to be a major concern, as do the steep
terrain and limited access to the fire's perimeter, Conklin said: "Conditions
continue to be very fluid and may change quickly based on weather factors.
Firefighters will continue to construct fire line around the perimeter of the
fire." Governor Schwarzenegger visited the Fire Operations Center in Watsonville
and thanked all of the firefighters for<BR>their assistance.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Verdana><A
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src="http://tbn0.google.com/images?q=tbn:sj6Uq7wPLC63tM:http://home.comcast.net/~wx2nj/ares-cl-lrg.jpg"
width=130></A>"Once again, Amateur Radio and ARES proved to be an essential
resource in times of emergency," Conklin said. "The citizens of Santa Cruz
County are fortunate to have this trained, technical resource available to
provide these essential communications resources."</FONT><BR></P></BODY></HTML>