Most of you wouldn't know this; but, I am a certified Disaster Service Worker for the City and County of San Diego. I volunteer for a program through the City of San Diego and the San Diego Fire-Rescue Department called San Diego Community Emergency Response Team. We are regular civilians trained to support professional responders during major disasters with things such as: search & rescue, medical triage, fire suppression (like wastepaper basket fires, not hillsides!), disaster operations, logistics and so on. Some people are on "special teams" such as the support team for Urban Search and Rescue and also Helicopter Operations (as I am).
At appx. 10pm last night, I received word from the CERT Liaison Team that my team was being put on standby for immediate activation. As the Team Leader for central area of San Diego, I spent a few hours calling down my team to solicit volunteers at 12am.
At approximately 2:30am I deployed to a local high school (Mira Mesa, for those familiar) to assist with getting our evacuees into the shelter. Let me tell you, the wind was whipping something fierce through the hours of 3am-4am. I greeted car after car of crying evacuees to get them parked and inside.
Lots and lots of frail elderly people arrived by cars and buses - I think they evacuated a retirement community.
I've gone off-shift and am now home and attempting to coordinate the members of my team who are available for daytime support.
These fires are horrific and many are being evacuated. At the present time, neither I nor my family are in immediate danger.
Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers along with our professional responder firefighters, sheriff's deputies, CDF, etc.
.....Kelly
