A wildfire that broke out in the back country of Japatul Sept. 5 saw families ordered out of the area to safety by CalFire.
Two evacuation centers were set up: one at Joan MacQueen Middle School and another at Steele Canyon High School.
Although both evacuation points were initially staffed by the American Red Cross, the Joan MacQueen Middle School site was temporarily closed on Sunday then reopened by Alpine Union School District Superintendent Richard Newman on Monday, this time with community volunteers on hand to help.
Newman said Kiwanis was helpful to the community in providing food and drink to volunteers an evacuees.
“East County people evacuate with their animals and I made the unilateral decision that we were opening back up with water and air conditioning for anyone in our community, including anyone showing up with or without animals,” Newman said.
Volunteer and retired CalFire firefighter Mark Ostrander said he was there Tuesday to help with the Community Emergency Response Team because having local volunteers is key to reducing stress of evacuating families. He regularly works in the back country as a volunteer with the emergency response team and believes local know-how is an asset in an emergency.
“It really helps to get locals involved because they know you, they trust you. Familiarity is key so they believe what you’re telling them, especially when you’re telling them to evacuate,” Ostrander said.
He said he remembers working the 2003 Cedar Fire that burned over 270,000 acres and his biggest challenge wasn’t the fire— the struggle was getting residents out who had waited too long to safely leave their homes.
In a Tuesday press briefing, County Supervisor Dianne Jacob said the American Red Cross had been working for months to coordinate individual hotel rooms in the event people needed shelter during the pandemic, and would continue to provide hotel rooms and congregate care, if needed for the duration of the emergency.
She urged residents in the areas that had already received evacuation warnings to be prepared for potential evacuation orders.
“Now is the time to make your evacuation kit, not in the middle of the night,” Jacob said.
CalFire Chief Tony Mecham reiterated her advice , saying “when the sheriff tells you to leave, just leave” .
