LESSONS LEARNED FROM THE CEDAR FIRES OF 2003

LESSONS LEARNED FROM THE FIRE INFORMATION NET - CEDAR FIRES OF 2003

Obtain Better HT Antennas, Tiger Tail, AEA Hot Rod or Diamond Antennas, Pryme Whip, Maldol & Comet Carbon-Fiber for SMA.

In the Outback – need big antennas, 12 to 33 foot mast, hi-power. Tripod, Coax. See DK9SQ 33 ft mast MFJ 33 ft Mast Portable Quad $7 Yagi For Homebrew See ARRL Pages & Homebrew Antennas including ground planes, J-poles, etc

Have Lots Of Backup Power, Shells, Akalines, Gel Cells, Auto Batteries, Generators. For power connectors - Anderson Powerpole connectors to provide a connectivity standard.

Use Earphones and a Hand Mic for noisy locations

Have all SD repeaters in memory – there are about 37 - 2M in SD County. See ROARS Page. Also have all common simplex frequencies in memory.

Have a Southern California list of repeaters and PL’s

Have a cheat sheet to program ur Radio freq, offset, PL. N6FN has a nice wallet sized programming guide. For PLed Repeaters, You can ride the squelch tail for quick access. Another station can quick key to hold up the repeater.

Be prepared for an extended stay – clothes, food, water, first aid, hepa filters, maps, GPS, long coax, long extension cord, FCC License, flashlights, audio recorder, name tags and ID vests - they help when milling around in the masses. See Go-Paks

Be aware of ITU Phonetics, and message handling protocol. Q-Signals would save time but not everyone understands them, so probably best avoid them depending on the net, however you will hear them and here is what they mean Q-Signals used on VHF. Q-Signals on HF QN Net Signals

Be brief – no need to give call sign in a over situation – give it when thru. Emergency conditions call for increased awareness and practice of communications courtesies: listen before transmitting, keep transmissions brief, minimize rag-chewing, etc.

Make it clear when signing if you are standing by, changing frequencies, or going off the air.

If you cannot attend training sessions – lots of info on emergency procedures at AC6V.com – see emergency pages – training and resources.

CEDAR FIRES PHOTOS

Cedar Fire in Scripps Ranch - Photo Gallery

Poway Fire (Cedar) October 26, 2003 Images

Web-based Mapping Services for San Diego Wildfires 2003

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URL's AND FREQUENCIES USED DURING THE FIRE

California Wildfires 2003

Escondido Info:                    http://www.ci.escondido.ca.us/news/

SD Fire Alert:                        http://www.sandiego.gov/newsflash/firealert.shtml

Lost Homes:                        http://www.kfmb.com

Scripts Ranch Details:       http://www.scrippsranch.org/special/fire_address_list.asp

State Fire Map -- To view a map of statewide fire activity created from satellite imagery, please click on the web link listed below.

http://activefiremaps.fs.fed.us/archive/cgb2003300_0700.jpg

California Wildfire Viewer                http://wildfire.cr.usgs.gov/ca_geomac/viewer.htm

NOAA Satellite Viewer                      http://www.firedetect.noaa.gov/viewer.htm

NOAA Forecast Discussion             http://www.firedetect.noaa.gov/viewer.htm

Current City of San Diego Road Closures    For more information, go to http://www.chp.ca.gov or http://www.sdcdpw.org

More Road closures: http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/fires/roadsclosed.html

Red Cross number to find people in Shelters 1-800-951-5600 or http://www.sdarc.org

Satellite w/motion: http://www.wrh.noaa.gov/satellite/animation.san.1km.vis.html

Satellite Fire View: http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/gallery/?2003300-1027/California.A2003300.2055.1km.jpg

North County Times;           http://www.nctimes.com

Channel 10                           http://www.thesandiegochannel.com/index.html

City of Escondido:               http://www.ci.escondido.ca.us/news/

Local Ham Radio Frequencies

1.          145.260        -     107.2          Chula Vista

2.          146.175        +    107.2          Red Mountain             Fallbrook            Alt. For Palomar

3.          146.265        +    107.2          Palomar Mtn.              PARC                 Red Cross Control

4.          146.730        -     107.2          Palomar Mtn.              PARC                 Info Net

5.          146.880        -     107.2          Escondido                  EARS                 Damage Assess

6.          147.030        +    103.5          Palomar Mtn.              ECRA                 Ramona Rptr. Dn

7.          147.060        +    127.3          Chula Vista                Hilltop ARC

8.          147.075        +    107.2          Palomar Mtn.              PARC                 machine down

9.          147.100        +    110.9          Coronado                   CP ARES

10.      147.130        +    107.2          Palomar Mtn.              PARC

11.      147.195        +    114.8          Cuyamaca Peak         SD Races

12.      147.300        +    103.5          Boulder Mountain        Poway ARS

220.900       -        107.2      Palomar Mtn.

HF Emergency Frequencies 7.233 & 3.905

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This Page Last Updated: February 27, 2006