Our speaker was Mike Kinney, President of the Sierra Madre Fire Safe Council.  Mike began by giving us a chronological history of the natural disasters in the state of California and explaining how after each one there was movement toward establishing more urban search and rescue teams and EMT’s who would have more medical training. 

In the case of Kathy Fiscus, the young girl who became trapped in an abandoned well in San Marino in 1949, coverage from KTLA reporter Stan Chambers sparked the need for urban rescue teams to be ready for future disasters.  In 1952, we experienced the Tehachapi earthquake, then in 1961 the Bel Aire fire where many homes were lost due to shake roofs igniting.  By 1971 actor Jack Webb’s production company began filming a new series called “Emergency” which portrayed the lives of L.A. County Fire Department Paramedics and the flood of rescue and specialty fire services began.  We had finally realized the true need in California for real expert rescue services.

 Mr. Kinney also spoke of other disasters since the late 80’s, such as the Whittier Narrows earthquake, the Landers and Northridge earthquakes, the Oakland fire and the San Diego fire.  Thru ought all of these disasters we learned many things about disaster preparedness and fire prevention.  Mr. Kinney mentioned one of the most significant lessons learned was the need for what he called “Ember Intrusion” prevention.  A firefighter designed a certain type roof vent that extinguishes embers when caught in the vent but still allows air to flow.  Currently, most homes have a screen roof vent, which traps embers and allows them to continue to ignite with a simple breeze. 

Mr. Kinney also announced that the Interact Kids will be on hand at the Rose Bowl on July 14, 2011 for the Emergency Preparedness event and invited all of us to come out.

(Pat Dolphin)