By Ryan Orr
Daily Press
Copyright 2008 Daily Press
WRIGHTWOOD, Calif. — When the power went out in the small mountain community of Wrightwood, residents sprang into action, providing assurance that they will be ready when a large disaster strikes.
For several hours last week, the public had no phone or 911 service because of an outage of all telephone landlines and cell phones. Capt. Steve Roeber, a paramedic at the Wrightwood fire station, asked leaders of community emergency-response teams to activate their squads. Mobile ham radio operators were dispatched in vehicles to further coordinate activities as needed. T he Wrightwood Radio Group also activated its lowpower AM radio station, which broadcast emergency information on AM 1610. A message began broadcasting to residents within a 3- to 5-mile radius Aug. 25 within an hour of the phone outage. The message let residents know about the outage and informed them of how to obtain emergency assistance, officials said.
The following day, the power went out and CERT teams went door to door and found two residents in need of medical assistance.
One resident couldn’t refrigerate insulin, while another was using an oxygen generator that lost power, said David Zook, spokesman for 1st District Supervisor Brad Mitzelfelt.
“When a situation occurs like this communication outage, they take it upon themselves to take the opportunity to practice on a real-time basis, their skills,” said Mitzelfelt, who lives in Wrightwood. “It just shows the level of involvement and concern that the residents display in Wrightwood.”
Mitzelfelt said the outage was the ultimate proof that CERT teams, citizens on patrol, and search and rescue teams are volunteer organizations that can make an impact on public safety in their community.
He said he is planning to complete CERT training in the near future.