The Electra fire charred roughly 800 acres in the Mokelumne canyon before being contained last month. While many things went right with regard to the response by emergency officials, they have looked at glitches in the system to better prepare for the next big emergency. Photo by: Bill Lavallie Fire officials' anticipation of a blaze in the Mokelumne canyon helped them contain it relatively quickly last month. Photo by: Bill Lavallie

Even as the smoke-filled skies over California begin to slowly clear, the distant glaze is a stark reminder of the imminent danger of the next big one. With temperatures hovering in the 90s, the rainless spring of 2008 may be leading into the fieriest summer in recorded history.

"Unprecedented," is the word used by CAL FIRE Captain Bob Strazzo to describe this year's fire situation, the most active he's ever seen. In his 29th season as a California firefighter, Strazzo knows what he's talking about. Nearly 300 fires are still actively burning in the state, stretching firefighting resources incredibly thin.

Strazzo had just returned from the raging blaze in Butte County, which has destroyed 50 residences and threatens thousands more. Personnel from Amador County are still there, including CAL FIRE Battalion Chief Dennis Tremelling.

No one really wants to talk about the impossible nature of what has always been thought of as a seasonal preparation problem. California has always had a fire season. At the end of the rainy season, be it March or May, fire stations are reopened and readied for action, as soon as the seasonal need is recognized. Official fire season in 1999 was from June 1 to Jan. 18. In 2001, it began on May 22 and ended on Dec. 3. Those days may be gone forever, as Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger recently said very clearly.

"Now there is no more fire season," he said. "We have fires all year round. What we see now means that we will need more resources."

Glitch in the toolbox

In early June, the Amador County Sheriff's Office of Emergency Services conducted a practice wildland fire evacuation of Burke Ranch, the rural subdivision near Plymouth. Shortly thereafter, on June 13, county emergency personnel were given the opportunity to utilize their expertise on the real thing - the Electra fire.

"What the exercise did is make us aware of what to do in a wildland fire," said OES Director Lynne Olson. "It was a reminder of what we have to be ready for."

Emergency personnel were highly prepared for the Electra fire, except for one major, unanticipated problem. The fire turned off the electricity, which snowballed into a significant communications problem.

In 2005, Amador County purchased a telephonic warning system called Reverse911. Activated by the OES during an emergency, the system automatically dials the phone numbers of everyone in a geographical area, informing them of the type and severity of the looming danger. Through interfaces with the Volcano Telephone Company and AT&T, OES placed calls to 277 numbers within the area threatened by the Electra fire.

Answering machines picked up 100 of the calls and 10 people hung up on OES Director Olson's voice, informing them that she was calling from the sheriff's office to warn them of approaching fire danger.

Olson readily admits that the Reverse911 system needs tweaking. "In Electra, we called people," she said, "and they started panicking. Where should I go? What should I do?"

Rumors that the system had battery or generator problems proved unfounded. "Each system is set up to run with a battery or generator," explained Duke Milunovich, marketing director for the Volcano Telephone Company. "We had one sub-area with a slight glitch."

Milunovich also said that Volcano Telephone is in the process of installing more backup generators, one of which will be powered by hydrogen fuel cells. "We take emergency services very seriously," he said, "and we'll keep doing all we can to keep people informed."

"Reverse911 is just one tool in the toolbox," Olson continued. "We also have door-to-door and neighbor-calling-neighbor. We need to concentrate more on our Web page. The Internet is becoming more and more important every day."

Supply and demand

A second, less life-threatening emergency situation led to another activation of the Reverse911 system during the 800-acre blaze. The power outage caused by the Electra fire turned off the pumps in the Amador Water Agency's Central Amador Water Project.

Residents in the CAWP area depend on the Buckhorn Treatment Plant for potable water. The water treated at Buckhorn is pumped up from Tiger Creek Afterbay by 250-horsepower pumps.

Power outages are not unusual, but they normally last only a few hours. Storage at Buckhorn and the massive pumps have always been a cushioning combination, so much so that no generator is installed at the Tiger Creek Afterbay. On that fateful Friday the 13th in June, the fire prevented Pacific Gas and Electric Co. from restoring power for nearly 36 hours.

AWA Operations Manager Chris McKeage looked back on those trying times in his report to the agency's directors on Thursday, highlighting the obstacles faced and the lessons learned.

An extended power outage upcountry has two water- and pump-related effects that can become disastrous. Without pumps or careful conservation measures, storage supplies can last only 24 hours and pumped septic systems can fill quickly to dangerous levels. The storage level at Buckhorn fell rapidly, so Reverse911 was activated, placing more than 4,000 calls to customers who might be unwittingly exhausting their own water supply. Warning signs, which McKeage believes should be replaced by larger ones, were set in place.

Due to the time of day and the modern world of cell phones, cordless phones and answering machines, a disappointing 25 percent of the calls reached their targets.

Agency staff relocated generators to Tiger Creek Afterbay and Silver Lake Pines, raising the number of operating generators to 11, all of which required refueling as the outage continued. A tanker truck of diesel made the rounds.

The generator brought to Tiger Creek was provided by the Federal Emergency Management Agency during the emergency caused two years ago by the collapse of hundreds of feet of the pre-transmission pipeline ditch.

Enough customers became aware of the extreme need for conservation and the emergency generators did their work, so that there was no break in service to water customers on the CAWP system.

Should this happen again, the agency should be even better prepared, as the lengthy power outage has spawned improvements to the emergency system. Installation of battery backups, larger fuel tanks, bigger batteries and modernized septic tank alarms is underway.

"Most of the time, customers don't even know that there was an incident, because there was no interruption of service," said a relieved Jim Abercrombie, general manager of the water agency.

Commenting on plans for tweaking their system in preparation for the next emergency, Abercrombie added: "The only way you get better is to identify the areas that need improvement."

Heightened public awareness is the agency's mission for the future. Water users are likely going to be bombarded with advice in agency newsletters and media announcements. The lesson seems clear and simple: no electricity, no power for water or wastewater systems.

Power to the people

Olson had a suggestion for everyone. "Put together a neighborhood emergency watch program," she said. "We need people to take responsibility for themselves and for their neighbors. People shouldn't wait for us to tell them what to do."

Many people aren't waiting. The Amador Fire Safe Council is comprised of concerned volunteers from the community. Director Cathy Koos Breazeal, the non-profit council's sole employee, has worked with the Pine Grove-based council for three years. "We've got a mission and we're going for it," said Breazeal. That mission is, "To Protect the people of Amador County and their property from the effects of catastrophic wildfire through education, cooperation, innovation and action."

During her tenure, the council has partnered with numerous state and federal agencies to make strides in not only educating people about the need to create defensible space around their homes, but actually helping them to create that space. The Bureau of Land Management funded completion of four firebreaks through Pine Acres. The U.S. Forest Service financed senior citizens' defensible space projects in Buckhorn, Rabb Park and Silver Drive.

"The good thing (about the Electra fire) was no houses were lost and no one was injured," said Breazeal. She did point out that the power outage crippled HomeTownRadio, a major force in emergency communication, though it didn't disable non-powered phones owned by savvy folks who live upcountry and have experienced this before.

Breazeal has been thrust into the public eye by all the recent fire activity. She has high hopes for increased awareness and cooperation in the firefighting community and would like to invite everyone to attend a public meeting of the Amador Fire Safe Council at 3 p.m. on July 16 at the General Services Administration Building in Martell, at 12200 Airport Road.

Defensible space is variously interpreted by insurance companies, with some now demanding 1,000 feet, according to AAA Insurance Sales Representative Connie Gonsalves. "Some companies," she said, "are canceling insurance in our upcountry due to brush and defensible space." AAA Insurance only insists upon 50 feet, while the California Department of Forestry is pushing for 100.

With the fire danger hovering over everyone, Gonsalves had some words of advice for all who live in forested areas. "Having an escape plan is extremely important," she said, "as is making sure you have an updated insurance policy, with a full inventory of the home's contents."

Renters have an added danger. "A landlord's policy does not cover renter's contents or liability," Gonsalves explained. "Renters should get their own contents policy."

Insurance was also on CAL FIRE Captain Strazzo's mind. Asked about his opinion of the tax increase for paid firefighters in Amador County, he at first thought the question referred to the governor's proposed 1.25 percent property tax surcharge to fund CAL FIRE. "It's such a paltry sum, $12 on home insurance," Strazzo said in support of the proposal.

On the topic of Amador County's upcoming half-cent sales tax measure, targeted for the November ballot, Strazzo expressed greater interest in the possible efforts toward consolidation.

"Riverside County," he explained, "has a consolidated county fire department. Five or six cities contract with the county, which contracts with CAL FIRE. They can get 30 engines get together quickly."

Amador County's autonomous fire districts and departments have been discussing consolidation for some years. The Amador Fire Protection Authority was formed in 2003 to enhance inter-departmental communication, perhaps someday leading to consolidation.